Road Trip: TripAdvisor Tips & The Terrace Motel

Dec9

(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

Nov17

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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Truck Shots From The Road

Oct21

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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The Shed Saga

Sep16

Jack is happy to report that he has finished at least one project so far this summer (actually it’s autumn now in Fairbanks).

He fixed the roof on the shed and shingled it. (I’m telling you, Jack can do anything!)

Here is a photo of him in the middle of the project:

This shed has a bit of a story.

When we first moved into our house, we had to move it since we wanted to build a garage and it was in the way. Jack tackled the job himself.

This is him putting the shed on the trailer, getting it ready to be moved:

We realize this is probably the equivalent of drinking while using power tools. Kids, take note, do NOT drink alcohol while moving a shed! 🙂

The next day, with the shed on the trailer, Jack just barely gives it a little gas to see how sturdy it is. It was just fine.

This is where it ended up.

(If you want to see a few seconds of this heavy haul project in progress, click here.)

The 4-wheeler is holding it in place.

He had to prop it up on blocks until he could give it a more stable foundation…!!!

Here is the “more stable” foundation when the project was mostly done.

This is not where the shed finally ended up, though he didn’t do the moving this time. It’s present and permanent spot you can see on the first photo. We will finish siding it at the same time we side the garage that has yet to be built.

Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for reading. 🙂

Why are the Wheelbases of Alaskan Trucks so long?

Jul26

Someone asked a question on Facebook about why the wheelbases of big rigs in Alaska are so long. Jack says they are so long in order to fit extra long loads.

Here is a photo of the long wheelbase being utilized:

Down in the states, the wheelbase would be much shorter on most trucks. In other words, the wheels would be much closer to the body of the truck and this sized pipe would result in more rear overhang, thus needing more permits and a more complicated set up. So to avoid that, the wheelbase has been lengthened, since these kinds of loads are commonplace in Alaska.

Since Jack has a long wheel base he can haul another trailer behind this one, as seen here:

This is the second trailer – it has a load of sheet pile (sheets of metal that are driven into the ground and used for road construction or for bridge construction).

(In the first photo you can see part of the second trailer but it’s hard to make out because there is another trailer of pipe behind it. In the second photo I erased the pipe behind so you can see the load on the second trailer better.)

Here are a few more photos of the Salcha-Valdez pipe haul.

The last piece of pipe being loaded!

Jack is so happy to be on his LAST VALDEZ RUN so he can get back on the Dalton!!

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(Don’t forget, if you need the font size on this page larger for easier reading, press Ctrl +++ at the same time.)

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Still Hauling Pipe

Jul16

Here are some photos of the job Jack is presently working on, hauling huge pipe sections from the port of Valdez to Salcha where there is a railroad bridge being built across the Tanana River.

Empty trailers, waiting for the pipe.

This is a photo from an earlier post: the trucks loaded with 2 lengths of pipe each, and more pipe in the background that still needed to be loaded and hauled to Salcha. Each section is 6 feet in diameter and 43 feet long. That stack has been transported by now but more has arrived from other barges.

Eight inch wood dunnage cradling the pipe. It gives space for the forks to pick it up and set it down, and the pipe chalks (upper wood pieces) stop it from rolling until they get it tied down. Each piece of pipe is 25,000 pounds.

The trucks have to stop at quite a few roadwork sites along the Richardson Highway. This is in the canyon just north of Valdez.

A couple of days ago Jack was held up at some roadwork for almost 2 hours. Since the Richardson is one of only a couple of major highways in Alaska, there must have been a line of ticked-off tourists 10 miles long!

Anyone interested in more information about this bridge project can go to this link: State of Alaska webpage.

Hauling Pipe from Valdez to Salcha

Jun24

This month Jack has been hauling huge pipe sections to Salcha, a small community about 35 miles from Fairbanks. The State of Alaska is building a railroad bridge across the Tanana River in Salcha and these pieces are probably going to be standing supports with concrete poured inside. Each driver manages to haul two sections a day, you can see them loaded here. In back of the trucks and in front of the shipping containers there are stacks of more pipe that need to be hauled to Salcha, so Jack won’t be off this project for a while to come. Yes, work means a paycheck, but ending up with one a a half days off a week is hard when you’ve got a home you want to take care of, and knowing there are only 3 months of summer in Fairbanks.

We’ll post more about this trip soon, so stay tuned and click “follow” if you are interested in getting an email each time a post is made here.