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Tag Archives: highway
How does Jack stay warm? Part 2
Another way Jack stays warm has to do with the generator in his truck that enables him to turn off the truck’s engine in the winter and not worry about the cab freezing or the engine not starting again. In fact, this generator is supposed to run at all times that the truck isn’t and keep the cab at room temperature or close to it. Unfortunately, reality is not quite that ideal. The generator sometimes breaks down and at those times Jack is forced to run the truck all night at any temperature below about 40 or 50 degrees (since even though Jack has an inner furnace, even he has a hard time sleeping when it’s below 50 degrees).
When I first learned that trucking companies run big trucks all the time during the winter, or at least used to before they got generators to keep the cab warm even when the truck was not running, I was shocked at the amount of fuel that must be needed on a daily basis throughout the winter. This is unfortunate, and it’s impressive that Carlile is one of the first trucking companies in Alaska to start using the generators in order to cut down on fuel use.
This 4KW generator runs on diesel which it draws from the truck’s fuel tank. It powers an electric heater under the bed in the cab and a fan blows heated air into the cab from there. On top of that, the generator serves another purpose: to circulate antifreeze through the truck’s engine in cold temperatures, preventing it from getting too cold to start. It’s a great deal and all big rigs driven up here should have them to cut down on fuel usage.
More Dalton Highway Wildfire Photos
In the last post I described the terrible forest fires of 2004.
Here are more photos that Jack took that year. Don’t forget you have to click on them to see them at their proper size.
Scary!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
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Trucking Through Fires 2004
I just wanted to share with you this amazing photo Jack took in 2004 when wildfires were raging on the Dalton Highway. Trucks were still moving through but the air quality for drivers was terrible. Smoke combined with dusty dry conditions. This was a non-digital photo that I scanned and ran some enhancing on, to a surprisingly interesting effect.
The Alaska West truck has just driven out of heavy smoke and has a substantial dust trail (click photo to enlarge to proper size). Windy dry conditions exacerbated the fire intensity and level of destruction.
Wikipedia says about the 2004 Alaska fire season:
The 2004 Alaska fire season was the worst on record in terms of area burned by wildfires in the U.S. state of Alaska.[1] Though fewer individual fires formed than in 1989 when almost 1,000 were recorded, more than 6,600,000 acres (27,000 km2) were burned by the approximately 700 fires that ignited. The largest of these fires was the Taylor Complex Fire, which encompassed 1,700,000 acres (6,900 km2) and was the largest fire in the United States from 1997 to 2007.[2] The Boundary Fire, Wolf Creek Fire, Chatanika Fire, and a fire that enveloped the Trans-Alaska Pipeline also received notable attention from firefighting services and the media. All together 426 fires were started by humans and 215 were started by lightning.
Map from Wikipedia:
You can see how at least one fire burned right over the Dalton. Even Jack thinks it was a little scary to drive through these fires. You really can’t see the road but for a few feet… he says the drivers call it “driving by Braille”. 🙂
Thanks for reading! More wildfire photos to come.
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Road Trip: TripAdvisor Tips & The Terrace Motel
(The following post doesn’t have much to do with trucking but you can be rest assured that I will be going back to that topic in the near future.)
Jack and I stayed in about 25 different hotels and motels on our long road trip to the States and through Canada. We perfected a routine about choosing and booking hotels that I want to share with you in case it will save you any time or grief in the future.
Each day I would make reservations for the next day’s hotel stay. First, I would pull up the town we were going to stay in on www.tripadvisor.com. (via smartphone or laptop) I would find the hotel list for the city, then check the box “Pets Allowed” on the left hand side (and sometimes “Kitchenette”). Of that new list I would choose one of the top rated hotels after reading a few reviews. I skipped anything that indicated lots of noise or smells, and always read the “Terrible” reviews of a hotel I was going to pick (since that’s where someone is going to complain about bed bugs!).
The next part is important. Instead of calling the 800 number that is provided on the TripAdvisor site I would put the name and address of the hotel into Google and bring up the direct phone number. If you call the 800 number provided it will take you to a calling center that will try to place you in one of their hotels. I fell for this several times. Once, a woman insisted to me that a certain hotel was booked up (I had already seen that it had availability through the TripAdvisor site but I gave her the benefit of the doubt in case she had more up-to-date information than I did). She then tried to convince me to stay at one or two different places. Whether they were more expensive or not I don’t remember, but I figure now it was one of the hotels that paid them more money. (The 800 number calling center must have a database of hotels that pay to be promoted.) When I insisted these other hotels wouldn’t work for us, that I would have to talk to my husband and call back, she relented and said wait wait, let me check again on the one you originally called about. And guess what, it mysteriously had a pet room open for the night we needed.
I feel bad for “tricking” the TripAdvisor website this way. I really like TripAdvisor, in fact I relied on it greatly for this purpose. But I want to make a reservation with a person at the hotel I’m going to stay at, not someone thousands of miles away from it. I want to ask a question about parking or the stairs and have someone not just say yes yes it won’t be a problem, but to get a real answer from someone who works at the hotel and lives in the town I’m going to stay in.
On part of the return trip we were hauling a trailer so needed ample parking. It got to be a bit of a hassle because then we needed a hotel that accepted pets AND had a big parking lot (which is not a choose-able option on TripAdvisor). One hotel we called in Canada actually suggested a different hotel that had a bigger parking lot. So it really helps to call the hotel directly, especially if you have special needs.
One good TripAdvisor find was the Terrace Motel in Munising, Michigan. We met Larry, the owner, and snapped a few pictures of the place.
Be sure to stay at the Terrace Motel if you are looking for a clean affordable place to stay and are passing through the upper peninsula of Michigan, or if you are wanting to explore the beautiful Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore which is nearby. (To see photos of Pictured Rocks click here for a link to my bird blog.)
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By the way, thank you for each and every comment that is made. I enjoy seeing them and even if I don’t answer each one, do know that I read each one to Jack!
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Back at Home in Alaska
Jack and I are at home enjoying normal life again. We had a wonderful trip coming back, saw more wildlife and beautiful landscapes… gained hours but lost sunlight and warmth. And now we’re settled in for the winter.
The thousands of photos I took on our trip down south will enable us to revel in our great times for days to come. We’ll be sharing them with you over the next couple of months.
It was cloudy most of the way through Canada until the last day of our trip when we crossed over into Alaska. Clear and cold!
Jack bought a trailer and plow in Minnesota. The truck took a bit of a beating.
…a wonderful trip, but it’s good to see the Alaska Range again!
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Deadwood, South Dakota
Jack and I recommend a visit to Deadwood, South Dakota. Especially if the sun is shining!
This statue is of Wild Bill Hickok, the most famous Old West character associated with Deadwood.
If we remember correctly from reading about the history of Deadwood, this creek at one time flooded the town and is now specially engineered to flow through and under the town.
This is Adams Museum, a beautiful building with 3 levels packed full of interesting items from Deadwood’s past. Here are some highlights:
And here is another striking statue, this one of a Cowboy on a bucking horse.
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The signs on the main street of Deadwood are really fabulous!
We wish we could have spent time in each of these places. But we have to say that the Deadwood Social Club Restaurant is terrific…they make their own blue cheese dressing and it is more than worth the walk up those stairs!
We happened upon a darn fine Wild Bill impersonator.
And then ran into a fan of Jack’s, Ed, running the parking garage.
Thanks Deadwood for showing us such a fun time!
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Truck Shots From The Road
Taking photos from the truck is tough, but possible, as we have discovered.
The back of this truck looked quite fabulous reflecting the sunset.
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Driving out of the sunset, surrounded by trucks.
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The trucker didn’t know that this piece of wood was near to falling off the rear of his truck. It must have worked its way out of the load. Jack tried to tell him on the radio but wasn’t able to find the right channel and soon we were passed him.
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This dump truck was losing it’s load, spraying gravel all over the road. (The coffee cups look like they are floating but it’s just the reflection of them sitting on the dash.)
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Trucks pass under these wildlife corridors in Canada with plenty of room to spare.
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And Jack, enjoying the setting sun, driving south.
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Sign Post Forest & Fans
One of the best places to stop along The Alaska Highway (aka “The Alcan”) is The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada. Even back in the 70s it was a sight to behold but now it’s almost too much to take in: thousands upon thousands of license plates, signposts and pieces of metal or wood with the names of hometowns showing how far people have traveled to get there.
There was also some old heavy machinery that was used to build the Alcan.
That’s one big wrench!
And these are some fans we happened upon.
People are still adding to the Sign Post Forest. Hope you can make your way there someday and leave your own signpost. 🙂
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Wild – and Not So Wild – Animals
This wolf was the first serious wildlife Jack and I saw, soon after entering Yukon Territory, Canada. Quite a thrill for both of us. Maybe a little more for me since Jack drives the Dalton and sees this stuff all the time…
Driving near the border of Yukon Territory and British Columbia we saw some bison relaxing in the late afternoon sun.
And then big horn sheep in Jasper National Park.
And here’s our not-so-wild dog Sport jumping over a log, acting like he is 4-years-old again.
Last but not least… us enjoying the late afternoon sun on a mountain in the Black Hills.
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