Road trip from Fairbanks Alaska to Arkansas
- Thread starter Glaciers
- Start date
glassparman
"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
Yucaipa?? CZ93X62 is just down the road. I pray all is well with him and his wife.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well currently sitting in an RV park in Bishop California. I was having a cup of coffee thinking about posting an update when Rick posted.
We finally escaped Southern California. What a rat race. We slid out late yesterday morning after getting fuel, finding a place to dump the tanks and get the propane tanks filled.
We enjoyed our stay in Yucaipa and our visit with Alfonso, Barbara and their extended families. Thursday we traveled down to the heart of the Beast to visit Ruben and or grandson Zach. Both live in Brentwood about 3 miles from each other.
Boy traffic was bad and we chose times, mid Morning to go in and after 8 at night for the return. Just another reason to avoid these regions.
Karyn, yours truly, Ruben and his absolutely crazy mutt Coco.
This is a painting of The Ukraine Government writing a letter to the Turks telling them where to go. There are 4 of these paintings, one in a museum, one in Kyiv and the third is in Ruben’s apartment. The fourth is lost. Ruben was born in Kyiv.
Great visit with Ruben, great family friend.
Our grandson Zack who took us out to a local noisy sports bar for a bite. Zack is doing quite well, happy with his job and where he lives.
We had to move Friday from Yucaipa as there wasn’t any space for us Friday and Saturday night. So we traveled the fringes of the Beast down to my brother Joe’s place in Santa Ana.
Friday just chilled out at Joe’s and went out for dinner with Joe and his girlfriend.
Saturday went to visit Andrei in Newport. Andrei is Ruben’s son, both of which were on the fishing trip in PWS last summer. Andrei lives in a gated community where I might be able to get a job as a maintenance man if I cleaned up a bit. Fancy expensive area. 8,000 square foot lot goes for 4 million.
Very good time, first time meeting Andrei’s wife and two little boys.
Got back to Joe’s in Santa Ana late. We were planning on leaving Sunday but waited till Monday instead.
Cleared the craziness finally and hit 395 heading north. Stopped in Bishop for the night and for a breath of fresh air.
Tomorrow we have 495 miles to go to get to Ashland. Will be going across the Cascades from Susanville to Mount Shasta on Interstate 5 for the last bit.
Be good to see Talon and family.
This will close the loop from here on is country we travelled on the way down. Although when we get into British Columbia we will be taking the Cassier highway into the Yukon.
That’s all for now as we need to get rolling on to Ashland.
We finally escaped Southern California. What a rat race. We slid out late yesterday morning after getting fuel, finding a place to dump the tanks and get the propane tanks filled.
We enjoyed our stay in Yucaipa and our visit with Alfonso, Barbara and their extended families. Thursday we traveled down to the heart of the Beast to visit Ruben and or grandson Zach. Both live in Brentwood about 3 miles from each other.
Boy traffic was bad and we chose times, mid Morning to go in and after 8 at night for the return. Just another reason to avoid these regions.
Karyn, yours truly, Ruben and his absolutely crazy mutt Coco.
This is a painting of The Ukraine Government writing a letter to the Turks telling them where to go. There are 4 of these paintings, one in a museum, one in Kyiv and the third is in Ruben’s apartment. The fourth is lost. Ruben was born in Kyiv.
Great visit with Ruben, great family friend.
Our grandson Zack who took us out to a local noisy sports bar for a bite. Zack is doing quite well, happy with his job and where he lives.
We had to move Friday from Yucaipa as there wasn’t any space for us Friday and Saturday night. So we traveled the fringes of the Beast down to my brother Joe’s place in Santa Ana.
Friday just chilled out at Joe’s and went out for dinner with Joe and his girlfriend.
Saturday went to visit Andrei in Newport. Andrei is Ruben’s son, both of which were on the fishing trip in PWS last summer. Andrei lives in a gated community where I might be able to get a job as a maintenance man if I cleaned up a bit. Fancy expensive area. 8,000 square foot lot goes for 4 million.
Very good time, first time meeting Andrei’s wife and two little boys.
Got back to Joe’s in Santa Ana late. We were planning on leaving Sunday but waited till Monday instead.
Cleared the craziness finally and hit 395 heading north. Stopped in Bishop for the night and for a breath of fresh air.
Tomorrow we have 495 miles to go to get to Ashland. Will be going across the Cascades from Susanville to Mount Shasta on Interstate 5 for the last bit.
Be good to see Talon and family.
This will close the loop from here on is country we travelled on the way down. Although when we get into British Columbia we will be taking the Cassier highway into the Yukon.
That’s all for now as we need to get rolling on to Ashland.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Nice pics of Miss Biscuit and the lovely Mrs. Glaciers.
farmboy
cookie man
Your journey isn't over, but I think you are on the right track. I am sure that a lot of forum members followed your progress daily. Now you can put a face on a few new friends and have fond memories. It has been great for me to set back and watch it happen because I know I could never have a chance to experience such a fantastic trip. And could not physically be able to do it. "Thanks for the memories" as Bob Hope said.
glassparman
"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
Be safe out on the road!
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well we arrived in Ashland at Talons just about sunset. Got the trailer into the backyard and called it good.
3,712 miles since leaving Mountain Home. This closes the loop of leaving Ashland on March 30th. Total miles traveled since leaving Fairbanks now is 9,212. If we don’t do anything else but drive straight to Fairbanks which is 2,626 miles to our front door, which would bring our miles traveled to 11,838. But, I suspect we will be putting on a few miles here in Ashland and Renton Washington without dragging the trailer everywhere. Parts store, RV supply, groceries, couple restaurants along the way. I believe by the time we reach our homestead in Alaska we will hit 12,000 miles.
I need my head examined.
But great trip so far, lots of beautiful country that we will not forget, and a couple places to avoid, LA comes to mind. Got to see friends and relatives and meet some new friends along the way. Our stay in Mountain Home was certainly a highlight, one the Eclipse, which was the biggest factor in this craziness, meeting, John, Cindy, Rick and the Smokeywolf and Mrs Smokeywolf. But we were also stationary for 8 days.
Yesterday we got on the road up 395 northbound from Bishop California to Ashland about 500 miles. 395 was a lot of up and down on the way to Reno Nevada and I expected the road from Susanville CA over the Cascades to be more of the same or worse. I was pleasantly surprised that the highways 36, to 44, to 89, to interstate 5 at Mount Shasta were fairly easy driving and a mixed bag of beautiful views and large treed forests. But on the down side about, I would say one third was burned in the fires of the last couple years. The forest devastation is massive. These fires were on national news, but seeing it firsthand was an eye opener.
Lots of the damaged trees have been removed.
But lots of virgin forests remain. Beautiful.
This sign says to me that there is only 14 miles to go.
We will be staying at Talons for the rest of the week to visit and sort through our junk in the truck and trailer but also our garage and apartment here to see what we should transport back home.
Also need to inspect the wheel bearings on the trailer before going further.
We will have been thru 17 States, one Canadian Province and one Territory before for we tie up to the dock in our home port in Alaska.
3,712 miles since leaving Mountain Home. This closes the loop of leaving Ashland on March 30th. Total miles traveled since leaving Fairbanks now is 9,212. If we don’t do anything else but drive straight to Fairbanks which is 2,626 miles to our front door, which would bring our miles traveled to 11,838. But, I suspect we will be putting on a few miles here in Ashland and Renton Washington without dragging the trailer everywhere. Parts store, RV supply, groceries, couple restaurants along the way. I believe by the time we reach our homestead in Alaska we will hit 12,000 miles.
I need my head examined.
But great trip so far, lots of beautiful country that we will not forget, and a couple places to avoid, LA comes to mind. Got to see friends and relatives and meet some new friends along the way. Our stay in Mountain Home was certainly a highlight, one the Eclipse, which was the biggest factor in this craziness, meeting, John, Cindy, Rick and the Smokeywolf and Mrs Smokeywolf. But we were also stationary for 8 days.
Yesterday we got on the road up 395 northbound from Bishop California to Ashland about 500 miles. 395 was a lot of up and down on the way to Reno Nevada and I expected the road from Susanville CA over the Cascades to be more of the same or worse. I was pleasantly surprised that the highways 36, to 44, to 89, to interstate 5 at Mount Shasta were fairly easy driving and a mixed bag of beautiful views and large treed forests. But on the down side about, I would say one third was burned in the fires of the last couple years. The forest devastation is massive. These fires were on national news, but seeing it firsthand was an eye opener.
Lots of the damaged trees have been removed.
But lots of virgin forests remain. Beautiful.
This sign says to me that there is only 14 miles to go.
We will be staying at Talons for the rest of the week to visit and sort through our junk in the truck and trailer but also our garage and apartment here to see what we should transport back home.
Also need to inspect the wheel bearings on the trailer before going further.
We will have been thru 17 States, one Canadian Province and one Territory before for we tie up to the dock in our home port in Alaska.
Wise move, very wise indeed.
I wondered about that, it's something that a lot of people either don't know about or just ignore. Since the trailer was unknown to you at the start of the trip who knows, could even be original factory grease in those bearings.
glassparman
"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
Those are fun times. Road trips are a must for everyone. There is so much to see out there.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well I had the dealer repack the bearings before we even picked it up in SLC. But, when I checked the brakes in Mississippi I wasn’t impressed. So I will disassemble clean (wipe off) and hand repack.
Yeah I lost a bearing on a trailer once, never again. I repack trailer bearings every spring for a trailer that actually gets much use. Very few do anything but local runs. But…
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Today Karyn and I are going to drive into Medford to the RV supply for a few things and hit ACE for some keeper pins and get keys made
But on the way we are going to stop at the Human Bean and get a couple dessert coffees.
Nice sunny day here. Going to go through the entire back of the Tundra and repack. Got some stuff in the garage that needs to go north.
But on the way we are going to stop at the Human Bean and get a couple dessert coffees.
Nice sunny day here. Going to go through the entire back of the Tundra and repack. Got some stuff in the garage that needs to go north.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
Packing wheel bearings is a skill that few people under the age of 45 possess. I've never been impressed with the devices made for that job (the two cones with a threaded rod and Zerk fitting). And I've seen a lot of jack-leg mechanics just smear some grease on the outside of the bearing and claim they re-packed the bearing (Nope - you did not).
I was taught how to do it properly and completely. It takes few minutes but it will save you a lot of grief.
When I was a kid my dad had a front wheel bearing go bad at the end of a 2000 mile trip. (old car, drum brakes on all four wheels). We were about 15 miles from home and the hub started smoking. He stopped and looked at it and knew that if he let it cool, it would likely seize. So he pressed on to slowly to close the gap home as much as possible. We made it home the and bearing seized up tight when it cooled off (as expected). A used spindle & hub plus new bearings and seals fixed it the next morning. Cheaper than a tow bill and we made it home.
He was mad at himself for not repacking the bearings himself before the journey and had relied on some mechanic that said he did it. He never made that mistake again.
I was taught how to do it properly and completely. It takes few minutes but it will save you a lot of grief.
When I was a kid my dad had a front wheel bearing go bad at the end of a 2000 mile trip. (old car, drum brakes on all four wheels). We were about 15 miles from home and the hub started smoking. He stopped and looked at it and knew that if he let it cool, it would likely seize. So he pressed on to slowly to close the gap home as much as possible. We made it home the and bearing seized up tight when it cooled off (as expected). A used spindle & hub plus new bearings and seals fixed it the next morning. Cheaper than a tow bill and we made it home.
He was mad at himself for not repacking the bearings himself before the journey and had relied on some mechanic that said he did it. He never made that mistake again.
Me,as well
How about that black coupling grease,,that stuff is a real mess!