Congress – Page 12 – On the road with Jim

Resolutions and Revisions

Another new year is here bringing hope that finally, this one will be ‘our year’. It’s a clean slate; a fresh start. That’s why so many resolutions begin with a new year, and they’d probably be more successful if we didn’t have to drag so much of last year’s baggage with us. We at least have to give it a try . . . besides, if the resolution doesn’t make it to the first weekend, what’s the difference?

Snow on the Weaver Range — The Weaver Range white with snow on Christmas morning.

This year ends in a seven, and those are the years I dread. It means I’ve survived another decade. I’m beginning to run out of those. At best, I can count the ones I have left on one hand; at worst, one finger. That’s why I have to put a lot of thought into my New Year’s resolutions.

Top of the World Highway — Clouds kiss the mountain tops along the Top Of The World Highway.

As I’ve written before, the Queen and I have gone through a lot of changes in the past year. We’ve retired, moved to a new town and took a trip years in the planning. Now that the dust has settled, I have more free time. After several months of pondering, I’ve decided to use that time to focus more on my photography. I have a new freedom to go out shooting more often and if you’ve visited my Web Site recently, you may have noticed that it’s been under going several revisions.

Merritt Pass Palo Verde — The after-glow of a sunset lights a Palo Verde tree in Merritt Pass.

For almost seventeen years now, I’ve been publishing this newsletter and my subscription base, although small, has been very loyal. Some issues have been easy to write, especially when Anne or I do something outrageous that make for a good story. When that happens, my fingers can’t type fast enough to keep up with the words coming out of my head. The newsletter seems to write itself. Other times, I’ll stare at a blank screen for hours while trying to think of something to say.

The Date Creek Range at sunset on Christmas Day

During our trip last summer, I tried my hand at blogging. It started off shaky, but after I got the hang of it, it became easier. I found that I could come up with something to write about and do it more often than on a monthly schedule. Some topics were whimsical while others were more somber.

I’ve discovered several advantages in using the blog format. It allows me to write without scheduling constraints. I can communicate when I have something to say, whether it is daily or weekly. I can cover a broader range of topics. There is a built-in mechanism for you to respond and leave public comments so you can see other people’s reactions. Search engines index the blog articles, so readers can Google (Yahoo or Bing) our discussions (you won’t believe how many people want to know about Chicken Alaska). Finally, the blog is open to a world-wide audience.

Wenden Sunset — Sunset near Wenden Arizona December 2016.

With those arguments in mind, I’ve decided to move my regular newsletters into my blog pages. This will be the last regular newsletter I send via email. After that, I will only be publishing news on my blog. At the end of January, I will drop this email list and close my Emma account.

I am publishing this exact newsletter, word for word, here and on the blog, which you can see if you click on this link. I would be very much honored if you followed. If you would like an email notification when I publish a new article there is an easy way for you to sign up. At the end of the article, scroll down to the section titled Leave a Reply.

At the bottom of the Reply section:

Check the box that says “Notify me of new posts by email”
Click the POST COMMENT button. That will trigger a new dialog box where you enter your email address. You’re welcome to add a few words in the comment box, but it’s optional.

I hope to see all of you on the blog, but if that’s not your choice, I’d like to thank you for being a loyal subscriber these years and maybe we’ll meet On the Road.

Till then

Congress – Arizona

Here’s a final list of numbers from Fritz’s trip meter.

12,079 total miles driven
329.21 total hours the motor was running
37 mph – the average road speed
18.3 mpg – Fritz’s average miles per gallon for the trip

To put that in perspective, twelve thousand miles is just short of half way around the world. It’s about a third more that the 9,000 on Fred’s itinerary, but he based his number on point to point distances. We made a lot of side trips. My original budget proposal was only 7,000, based on a Google Maps trip to Fairbanks and back.

Yesterday’s drive went just as I imagined it. We left Bakersfield at 7:30 and stopped in Tehachapi for gas and coffee. We hit the I-40 Bridge over the Colorado River at 12:15, and then stopped for lunch in Kingman at 1:00. That’s how I called it in my earlier post.

Lunch Break in Kingman — We got to Kingman at 1:00, just as I thought we would.

We had a leisurely afternoon drive down US-93 and were home by 4:00. I wanted to brag that we made the trip without hitting a moose (there are none to hit), and that I came home without a cracked windshield. I also wanted to say we drove half way around the world without incident, but I can’t, because as we say around here, I just made the newsletter.

When we pulled up in front of the house, our neighbors, John and Reenie greeted us with waves from their front porch. Then I started to back The Ritz into the drive and around the house and deck. That’s a big u-turn pushing the trailer backwards. I did it on the first try, but it wasn’t lined up perfect, so I pulled forward to straighten it out . . . and ran over the plastic stanchion that holds the water and electricity for one of our hook-ups. Instantly we had a nice little fountain in the back yard.

The Ritz at Home — All we wanted to do was to park the trailer in a place to unload easily. To get it there, we had to back it around the house in a U-turn.

John went across the street and retrieved a water-valve shut-off wrench and we turned off the main. Since the temperature was near the century mark, we unloaded all the wine into the cooling house. Then I unhooked the trailer and made a mad rush to the hardware store to get a cap and some PVC glue, so that we could at least turn the water back on.

Broken Stanchion — The stanchion holding the water line and electrical outlet, lays shattered on the ground.

I made it before they closed and after getting home, I cleaned up the broken pipe and glued the cap on. Satisfied that the repair was good, we then turned the water back on, only to find that I broke the PVC pipe under the concrete base. The whole thing needs torn up and replaced. So we’re waiting for the plumber to come this morning.

In the mean time, we’re living with water buckets from the John’s spigot, and bottles of drinking water we had stored in the freezer. It’s a challenge for sure, but it’s good to be home.

On another note, you’re probably interested to find out about the rest of the gang. You may remember that Fed, Deb and Sally wanted to spend more time in Canada. About ten days after we did, they crossed the border (without inspections). Then they recreated Patton’s March down the east side of the Cascades and Nevada and got home a couple of hours ahead of us.

So I guess this means, this chapter in our lives has come to a close. I have a newsletter to write sometime this weekend. If you’re a subscriber, I apologize. I guess I’ll do a follow-up of the trip. But this will be the last post about our trip to Denali. I’ve had fun writing these for you, but I’ve run out of topic and I don’t know what else to talk about.

What do you think? Have you had enough of us, or is there another subject to cover? I’d like to hear from you.

And so the adventure begins. The Alaska Journey

The gang poses for a portrait. — The gang takes a pack break to pose in front of the caravan. From left to right: Anne, Jim, Sally, Fred holding Gus and Deb.

Hold on to your hats, folks, because after a year of planning and packing, our road trip to Alaska and back to Arizona is finally kicking off tomorrow morning. We’ll be hitting the road from Congress, driving through Prescott, Verde Valley, and Flagstaff, and then spending the night in Kanab, Utah. I don’t know about you, but I won’t feel like I’m out of town until we’re on the other side of the San Francisco Peaks.

We’ve spent the last month getting our vehicles ready, but there’s always something else to pack. This morning, we had to make an emergency run to get longer chains because, of course, the hitch needed replacing. The pile of stuff in the dining room is smaller now, but I can’t shake this feeling that we’ve forgotten something… something important. But hey, at some point, you just have to get in the car and go. We’ll figure out what we forgot when it’s too late to turn back.

Our route will generally follow the I-15 corridor until we get to Montana, then we’ll cross the Continental Divide and head into Canada on the east side of the Rockies. From there, we’ll drive through the Canadian Rockies up to the Yukon Territory, and eventually reach Fairbanks.

We’ll make a loop through Alaska, hitting up Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, and the Kenai Peninsula before making our way back to Tok. And then, we’ll finally start the journey home. We plan to take a more scenic route on the way back, traveling along or near the coast until mid-California. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves – who knows what kind of trouble we’ll run into along the way.

I’ll be posting updates from our journey, but it would take something pretty catastrophic to stop me from doing so (knock on wood). But hey, if something does happen, at least it’ll make for a good story, right? See you on the road!