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Alaska or Bust ! Plans are to add a log when we receive the first carrier pigeon from the
expedition. 5/2- Update - After a brave effort and about 1700 miles under their runningboard, Old # 7 dropped her transmission in the sparsely populated crossroads of Mennidosa, Manitoba. Fortunately AAA is honored by CAA and they were towed style to a GMC grg(sorry, I got carried away.) 20 klicks (kilometers) east in the thriving metropolis of Neepawah, Manitoba. 5/3 - NeepawahToday,the GMC mechanics dropped the old transmission and a brand new one will be installed tomorrow. If all goes according to schedule (thas what I'm sayin') our brave lads will be on the road Thursday afternoon. They should make Edmonton, Alberta Friday. Then Whitehorse in the Yukon sometime Saturday or early Sunday. We will update the Hodges & Buck icon on the map at "Where Are They Now" link below, as they report in. 5/4 - 2:15 pm CDT – Transmission installation in # 7 complete.After a long respite, our brave adventurers are preparing to depart Neepawah, Manitoba within the hour. A severe case of “Cabin Fever” is prevalent and the expedition is resolved to drive through the prairie night in hopes of reaching Edmonton, Alberta by daybreak. 5/4 - 9:28pm CDT - Phone communication report. Team has reached Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. #7 is running great and energy is high. Plans are to try to reach Edmonton, Alberta tonight or maybe farther. Sacre' Bleu, our heroes are on a roll and valiantly attempting to make up lost time. Apparently after the diamonds were removed from the old transmission and converted to Canadian dollars, the Canuck mechanics got busy and did a fantastic repair job. The explorers are hearing bits about the web site but really don't have a firm grasp of their worldwide cyber fame!! Laissez le Bon Temps Rollez! |
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May 5 4:30 PDT - Longitude 53 deg.55 min. 12 sec. N, Latitude 122 deg. 45 min. 0 sec. Prince George, British Columbia. 1000 MILES TO WHITEHORSE ! Our expedition has made it across the Canadian Rockies in record time. They are now in the Pacific time zone.The topic of conversation was the awesome display of the "Northern Lights" (aurora borealis) surrealistic on the horizon in the wee still hours of the early morning sky. This sensation will only get stronger the closer they get to the north pole. Fairbanks, AK is directly under the borealis line(ground zero). All is well and our heroes are men of few words as they doggedly eat up the miles toward their destination. Hopefully, some of the pressure is off, however our champions know that the roughest road and most primitive conditions are ahead of them. As # 7 races with new bones across the high prairies of western Canada, they are wise to not risk delay now for only the unknown lies ahead. See Big Buck's take on the journey and view info on the Northern lights linked to that page. Also added The Cremation of Sam McGee with a super aurora photo on Bear Lore link. Please sign the guestbook.
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May 6 - 9:30am PDT - Lat. 55.77, Long. 12.23, Leaving Dawson Creek, BC after a well deserved rest. Roughly 800 miles from Whitehorse and 600 miles from the Yukon Territory. Whitehorse,YT is the "front door" to Alaska and the staging place for excursions to Alaska from the Gold Rush days. May 7 - 7:15pm Alaska time (4 zones away). Richard says they are passing Glen Allen, Ak about 170 miles from Anchorage. The road is like a roller coaster. "Since we left B.C. you can multiply everything I knew about space and scale by 100.
Here's Jo Buck's journal entry to complete the log on this stardate ... Just as we were drifting aimlessly to sleep at 11:30 PM, grilled chicken and warm coffee mingling into bodily sustenance, the phone came alive. Guess who? Ken had a relatively good connection and Paul spoke with him for a couple of minutes. Morale is super-high! The guys were about 200 miles outside of Anchorage and planning to make the Anchorage cosmopolitan scene that evening. Since it was only 7:30 Alaska time, they felt confident that this could be accomplished. Going over the Alaska border as US citizens was quick---rumor has it they didn't even have to get out of the car! Maybe they looked more suspicious to the Canadians, or they looked just the right amount of suspicious to be welcomed into Alaska! Anyway, they plan to make the last leg of the trip today since Ken has to be at Denali by 4 PM. Film at 11. . . . Jo |
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