1022 August 25, 2023 Now What???

We needed to get back to our routines and so we took time this morning to exercise.  While Tim did his stretching, I walked into town.  It was very foggy and Tim had me wear his bright yellow raincoat so that I would be more visible!  I did 2.5 miles and when I got back, Tim had finished. 

We used the sani-dump and then by 8:30, we were off!

We stopped at the coffee shop on our way.

Just as we merged onto Route 43E/S, the sun crept out and the fog began to lift.

As we traveled there was intermittent dense fog.  We were in moose country.  As much as we love seeing wildlife, this was not the place to run into a moose!

The fog was finally gone at 11am.

We were on a 4-lane divided highway; nondescript and unremarkable. 

We had a small bird strike high on the passenger side of the windshield. It did not appear to cause any consequences to the RV.  I am not sure about the poor bird…

Today we had lots of long miles for reflection.  This trip has certainly been fraught with lots of mechanical problems.  This is all part of the adventure; though not the fun part.  But this trip was filled with highlights.  We loved our time with Kyle and Allison and a favorite memory is of the four of us sitting on the top of the Lulu Belle watching the glacier calve.  We were enthralled by the salmon and the sea lions at Valdez.  We were lucky to spend time with Lee and Claudia.  The trip on the Fjord Express to Juneau was great fun.  Our adventure on the Dalton Highway was everything that we hoped it would be.  Seeing a musk ox walking in the creek was amazing.  I was glad Tim had the opportunity to walk on Root Glacier in Kennicott…a once in a lifetime experience.  It was really special to watch grizzly mama and her three cubs at Denali.  Nabesna Road was a cool place rooftop tent camping. 

Alaska is my favorite place to visit.  The unparalleled beauty, the wildlife, and most appealing, the remote, vast wildness.

At nearly noon, we were about 30 miles from Edmonton when the engine light came back on.  Finally, we were near a big city where we could get good help.  We pulled into a gas station and Tim called the Cummins Dealer.  The guy told us to come right in.  The technician put the computer on the RV and did a scan.  Our exhaust system was still NOT happy.  Cummins could see us on Wednesday of next week. 

They did refer us to the Freightliner across the street.  This place works day and evening shifts from 6am-10pm seven days a week.  They could see us tomorrow.  That was the good news.  The “bad” news was that we had to leave the RV there.  We quickly packed and from the parking lot, we found a Holiday Inn nearby. 

We were wiped out and more than a little disappointed.  But we were safe and had a place to stay and all will be okay. 

We went out for dinner and then went to the grocery to get some things for coffee in the morning.