Joy Wiebe Memorial Convoy “Joy Ride”

Sep10

Jack participated in the Joy Wiebe Memorial Truck Convoy last Saturday that started at the Colville yard (Joy worked for Colville) on Van Horn Way and ended in Fox for a gathering. There are 4 videos here with the 1st, 2nd and 4th being sped up versions of the convoy, as viewed from the dash cam in Jack’s truck. The 3rd video in the sequence is “Joy’s Last Call” and comments from truckers over the radio, then the convoy goes by the pipeline viewing station where many onlookers are gathered and Jack lays on the horn like he was told to do. There were 70-80 trucks in the convoy.

Below are the videos of the Memorial “Joy Ride” and here are a few photos Jack took of the procession and gathering. If you aren’t interested in the sped up versions of the convoy and just want to see the real time comments on the radio just watch video #3.

From Brandilyn Mehrer/Facebook

Joy’s GoFundMe Page

Jack meets Lisa Murkowski

Aug27

Jack was able to meet Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski this past week! There was a get-together to discuss the condition of the Dalton Highway, and to try to raise money to improve the notoriously pock-marked and wash-boarded road. Also attending were the head of the US Dept of Transportation, Elaine Chao, and several other Carlile drivers and employees. Click on the first one to enlarge, and scroll to the right.

Tom Hendricks, Jack Jessee, Elaine Chao, Lisa Murkowski, John Slater and Phil Kromm

The conference room in Prudhoe Bay where they met…

and the drivers with blue booties on.

The Carlile guys.

Lisa Murkowskit being given a pipeline memento by Alyeska Pipeline president, Thomas Barrett.

Secretary of Transportation, Elain Chao; Jack; and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski

A scruffy Carlile driver with our highly esteemed Senator.

Valdez Avalanche Photos

Jan25

A major avalanche happened very recently along the Richardson Highway, about 20 or so miles from Valdez. Below are photos Jack was able to acquire from a friend – taken by Alyeska (and we hope no copyright has been violated by posting them here).

You can see here where the snow has covered the highway and the river that runs alongside it:

Here is the same thing but farther away.

And the rest are from another angle, showing the pooling of river water that is covering a long stretch of the highway.

So needless to say the Richardson Highway is closed and people who live in Valdez can only get out of the town by water or air. Jack says the snow will be removed by loaders but that sure seems like a dangerous job…!

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Clean up time in Fairbanks

May29

Snow was falling only 3 weeks ago and now we’re getting 70 and 80 degrees every day! What a crazy spring we’ve had.

The snow is finally gone and what now occurs in Fairbanks, Alaska (as well as in many other northern areas I assume) is that the veil of white puffy stuff is lifted to show gobs and gobs of TRASH!

Yes, trash everywhere. Wet cardboard boxes, broken pieces of Styrofoam, and all forms of plastic like cups, bags, kitchen utensils, food containers of all sizes. You name it, it’s out there. Beer bottles and to-go cups. It’s really sick. But it’s also entertaining. So a few years ago I decided to document this amazing array of trash on a website called www.trashoffairbanks.com. Take a look if you are interested! Here’s a sampling:

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Happy New Year from Jack & Judy!

Jan1

We love New Years here in Alaska because you can actually see the fireworks! (As opposed to the 4th of July. Plenty of people celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks but it’s not the same with the midnight sun lurking along the horizon.)

Best wishes for the New Year!

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Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum Fundraiser – July 2010

Aug20

In July of 2010 Jack helped raise money for the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum along with Lisa Kelly and Carey Hall.

It was a fun day, but this little guy was the cherry on top!

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For a few more photos of old airplanes at the aviation museum click here.

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Jack & the band Heart at a Special Olympics Fundraiser

Jul7

Jack went up on the stage for a photo-op just to prove later that it really was the band Heart at “The World’s Largest Convoy”, a fundraiser for the Special Olympics in Seattle, Washington in September 2009 (see last post for more on this topic).

Jack and a local radio guy introduce the day’s festivities.

Jack signs “Ice Road Trucker” T-shirts and photos.

The band is rockin’out so hard Jack can’t hear this little guy!

Jack signs a poster someone brought to the fundraiser.

Thanks to Carlile Transportation for taking these great photos and sharing them with us. What a worthy cause!

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Click on the below image to make it full size:

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World’s Largest Convoy 2009 – Special Olympics Fundraiser

Jul4

In September of 2009 Jack took part in a fundraiser for the Special Olympics in Seattle, Washington. Over 250 trucks lined up and drove through part of the city to create the “World’s Largest Convoy 2009”.