Road trip from Fairbanks Alaska to Arkansas

[Matt_G]

Is it true the skeeters are so thick you need to shovel them too?

I remember once, some friends and I were fishing for pink salmon on Troublesome creek.
That is at milepost 137 of the George Parks highway, between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
I'm sure @Glaciers knows exactly where I am talking about.

Anyways, we were headed towards the Chulitna river and I made the mistake of busting through a bunch of willows.
Never seen skeeters that thick in my life.
I reached out and clapped my hands together and had enough goo for a bug butter sandwich.
I'm exaggerating some but not a whole bunch...

 

[fiver]

snow’s general gone, and the mosquitoes are in full swing.

had both today, gonna have more sunday-monday-tuesday...siiigh.

 

[Glaciers]

Well looking at the weather in Texas Karyn and I dodged a bullet. What we did get caught in was significant but not horrible. Apparently there was some tornado activity as well.

 

[smokeywolf]

Thickest I ever saw mosquitoes was on the folks' property along the Little Deschutes river outside of Bend, OR and along the northeast shoreline of Lake Isabella; east of Bakersfield, CA

 

[Glaciers]

We’ve had very bad mosquito years and of course years that are very light. No different than other places. But the quantity is higher than most places. It is after all the Alaska State Bird.
First couple years in Alaska I was bothered by mosquitoes but you start to get used to them. Plus with experience you can reach out and pinch a mosquito between your index finger and thumb.
In 1985 we planned a river trip up to Lake Minchumina. We would be putting in at Nenana on the Tanana River. We would travel the Tanana to the Kantishna River to the Birch River then the Muddy River. The Toklat River came roaring in from the Denali drainage. Very high water that summer. Before we reached the confluence of the Toklat into the Kantishna we were actually running through the birch forest because the Kantishna was running very high. But we had to camp along the rivers for two nights. I have never seen mosquitoes that thick.
Karyn, brother Joe his son Andrew 8 our three sons Tommy 13, Talon 4, and Cole 2, lead by yours truly. The boys were miserable. Everyone had to wear head nets. First time ever for me. Haven’t worn one since either.
Had to pre stash quarter barrels of gas before along the route with a stash of extra barrels in the final to be taken with on the last leg.
We had a custom Woolridge 24 foot inboard jet boat for the trip.
There was a fair amount of hardship on this trip but the mosquitoes are very memorable.
I’ve lived in Alaska for 50 years, 1985 took the cake for mosquito misery.

 

[fiver]

worst i ever seen was out in the Utah Desert.
you heard me.
those bastards will literally chase you down, and the only way to get rid of them is to kill every single one of them that finds you.

the toughest ones i've ever dealt with were the little tiny ones in North Dakota.
they'd climb up in every crack and crevice and nail you hard enough it'd make a lot of guys scream a little bit when they got zapped.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I grew up in south Florida and I don't think it would have been habitable for humans in those days without the public programs to eradicate mosquitoes. There was still a great deal of swamp land near the urban areas. The local government routinely sprayed pesticides to control mosquitoes and it was before the ban on DDT. I suspect that activity would be frowned on in today’s world but at the time, I was grateful for “better living through chemistry”.

 

[dannyd]

I grew up in south Florida and I don't think it would have been habitable for humans in those days without the public programs to eradicate mosquitoes. There was still a great deal of swamp land near the urban areas. The local government routinely sprayed pesticides to control mosquitoes and it was before the ban on DDT. I suspect that activity would be frowned on in today’s world but at the time, I was grateful for “better living through chemistry”.

That's also why the large cities don't have Fireflies or Lightning Bugs, but they have stopped spraying like they used to, so the mosquitoes are making a come back like the Alligator.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

If I must give up firefly’s to also get rid of malaria, then so be it.

 

[fiver]

never seen a real fire-fly in person.

 

[fiver]

it took me till i was over 50 to see a white tail deer, and just as long to catch one single large mouth bass.
it wasn't till i was over 55 before i shot a real wild turkey too.

different world.

 

[JWFilips]

it wasn't till i was over 55 before i shot a real wild turkey too.

When I started hunting here in Pennsylvania in 1964 I asked my brothers what was the wild turkey tag on my license.
The told me don't worry about that because I would never see a Wild Turkey again in PA!
Moving ahead to 1984 and we started having wild turkeys feeding in our yard! Now in 2024 We have so many turkeys around... We end up feeding them scratch grains so they do ruin our gardens and dig up our lawns

 

[Glaciers]

Well got the truck organized, blended in tools and stuff from the clean out of the old motorhome. Mostly duplicate tools and camping gear. Easy chance to haul stuff back to the Great White North for the price of stuffing it in the truck.
Saturday it wasn’t raining so did the repack on the trailer bearings. Found a broken wire to the driver side brake. It seemed like the truck would pull ever so slightly to the right when braking. Besides what seemed like slightly reduced brake response.
Thursday night we all went out to eat at a local Ashland Mexican restaurant. Well the beans were good, better than I’ve had in a while. I love pintos.


All in all a very nice visit with Talon and family.

 

[Glaciers]

Our plan was to leave Wednesday morning, you know what they say about intentions. Finally hit the road at 12:30. Had to take the kids to school and hit the store, gas station, etc. of course then stopped by Talons job.

But before that, about 6AM, we heard a crash out in the driveway and the neighbors dog was going nuts. Finally got my act together and went outside to check and see what was going on. Not in a hurry as I know that there is a 3 year old bear that frequently visits the neighborhood trash cans. Yup quite a mess. And a present.


This also was part of the delay.
After saying goodbye to Talon we might as well wonder over to the coffee shop and get a dessert coffee for the road. Hey what’s the big deal? Leave in the early afternoon on a 459 mile road trip to Tommy’s house in Renton Washington, yeah, I just want to know when I can get my nap.
Anyway we arrived at Tommy’s by 10 PM. Traffic was bad thru Portland, of course we hit there just before 6. Traffic was not real good on interstate 5 in Washington.
Plan on staying with Tommy and Cyndee till Sunday when we are going to go camping with them at a campground close to the Canadian border so we can get going early Monday morning and cross into Canada.
Hopefully will be at our homestead by next weekend.

 

[Glaciers]

As of last night arriving here in Washington we have travelled 9,920 miles. 4,420 miles since Mountain Home.
The map program says it’s 2,180 miles to my front door in Alaska and that’s taking the short cut on the Cassier Highway. So that’s over 12,000 miles if there’s no side trips. Never driven the Cassier, certainly looking forward to it.
I’m ready to be home, been a long drive with some excitement and certainty some great folks along the way.
But, someone once said “there’s no place like home”.

 

[Rick]

Most definitely an epic vacation.

 

[Glaciers]

Most definitely an epic vacation.

Funny you should mention that.
Was just sitting here thinking about next winter say from October to March. Going to talk to a realtor friend about selling our place our leasing it out.
So think 6 months but want to be back to Alaska by first of April.
Would like to do cast rifle shooting in various places in the travels. Most interested in warmer country but a short stint in a mid winter for a shoot. There’s a couple in Washington, Spokane and tri cities area. Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, open to suggestions. I don’t know what’s out there and when. I’ve been in touch with the guys in Spokane and a few years ago talked to a fellow at a range outside of Phoenix, can’t remember the name (Ben Avery?) of the range but it’s big. We were talking about antique firearms with cast. I have a couple of 44-40’s one Winchester and one Colt. Other than that I would be interested in 30 and 32 cal levers.

 

[Rick]

Phoenix, should be Ben Avery or Black Canyon.

 

[fiver]

i thought i had the last of the Boolits TEE shirts....flags, magnets, ingot molds, and stickers.

probably got the only big truck door 'representative' magnet though.

 

[Glaciers]

When we arrived here at Tommy’s on the way down in March, we dropped off the dog kennel that we use to fly Biscuit back and forth. We also left our arctic winter survival gear with the kennel. Certainly won’t be needing that kind of gear here in the lower 48, so we left it on the side of their house. Now just had to fit it back into the truck for the ride home.
So Friday found an oil change shop that uses Mobile 1 as we were 500 miles from the appointed change mileage of 5,000 miles. Also got the propane tanks filled for the trip north.
After that I played with Biscuit for a bit and read my current book with more coffee. In the afternoon I washed the Tundra as it was looking pretty neglected. Shined up pretty good for a 22 year old truck.
I must admit other than the detailing that we hired out just before we started this trip, I haven’t washed the Tundra since I brought it in 2015. Not really useful where we live as we are on a 3 mile dirt road and that’s bad enough, but if it’s raining, well, 3 mile road becomes a 3 mile mud bath.
Relaxing with Karyn and my book for the rest of the afternoon in the backyard. At 7 we went down to the Melrose Grill in downtown Renton. Been in the same location since 1910. Great steaks.


Tommy and Cyndee bracketing Karyn and I.
T & C are planning on selling there house next year and moving out to mid State Washington. They are tied of the crazy masses of people in the greater Seattle suburbs.
They payed about $300K 15 years ago and should be able to sell for $800K to &900K now. Personally I’d keep going and leave the Blue behind and step across the line and enjoy the Red State of Idaho. But what do I know.
So today I am going to scrub on the trailer and see if I can find the shiny trailer under the grime. Got to hit the grocery store for the trip home and get ready to go camping we T&C at some State campground up by Mount Vernon.