August 12 2009 by Darrin.

Signed, sealed, delivered.  We’re outta here.  The camper’s packed, we have food for WEEKS in the freezers and drawers, and a couple cabinets still empty!  By the time we’re in Ketchikan on the way home, the food will be mostly gone and we’ll be stocking up on halibut and salmon.

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August 12 2009 by Darrin.

We’re packed up, and ready to roll in the wee hours.  All that’s left is to load the PCs and camera gear.  Here’s a last shot from home…

See you from the road.  The long, long road North to the Future.  Sorry - I had to use that.  It’s the state motto of Alaska.  One of the guys on Deadliest Catch thought it was, to the ladies, “Just remember, when you leave Alaska, you’re ugly again.”

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August 9 2009 by Darrin.

Fridge Problem - Solved!   The new Nova Kool is nearly silent, thanks to the German Danfoss compressor.  In fact, all you hear is a small muffin fan running.  It is Kool.  And it freezes 20 oz. of water in a few hours, at 4/7th of its coldest setting.  The Norcold is a smidge larger, and the food storage on the door is more functional, but we’ll gladly compromise for the lack of noise.  In all fairness, the Norcold is a good fridge when functioning properly.  Their current level of customer support, however, sent us packin’.

Cushion Problem - Solded!  Our new upholsterer in Loveland came through and did a great job.  The cushions are a little brighter than we expected in full light.  They aren’t really “navy blue” under flash, as you can see in the shots below.  (LED lighting vs. flash.)

Today, it was pre-trip truck maintenance.  I changed the two-year-old “nearly-new” oil for fully synthetic Shell Rotella 5W-40.  It should be good for the entire 7500 mile journey.  And new oil for the generator too, as it’s been sitting since the summer of 2007, just like the chassis.  There was just 1.5 hours on the little Kubota diesel, and I doubt we’ll use it much on this trip, but I won’t have to worry about acidic oil if it’s been replaced.

The last little projects completed today were:

• the support legs for the sofa extensions (they turn the couches into bunks)
• the back-up ladder mount (the ladder’s for getting into the camper when there’s no room to deploy the stairs)
• power to the amateur radio gear
• an extra cushion behind the seats, for Puppy, or Anna if I’m snoring like a buzz-saw

Here are some random shots of that stuff…

 Mechanically, the vehicle is ready.  I even had a chance to pack up a bunch of tools, and load the rear box with maintenance fluids…

 So what’s this about rattlesnake sex?  Well, full moons like this one a few nights back…

…must put romantic ideas into little reptilian brains!  Anna, her dad Frits, and I were heading to Casper Thursday for the final parts-run.  I don’t know how Anna saw these in the grass next to the road - at 35 mph - but she did.  This is how the Prairie Rattler gets it on…

 Three days to go here.  There’s lots of packing to do, and we have to refresh the planning we did months ago.  See you on the road, or just before.

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July 26 2009 by Darrin.

Click the thumbnail below to view a ~5 minute video (WMV format) from the shake-down cruise last week…

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March 18 2009 by Darrin.

We’ve finally settled on a likely itinerary for the journey!  We know the route, where we’ll camp, where to fuel, etc.  It’s going to be one heck of a trip, and I’m already looking forward to getting safely home.

The numbers in the [brackets] correspond to locations on our maps.  You can browse “The Big Route” below:

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March 8 2009 by Darrin.

We’re about five and a half months from departure now.  Alaska!  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and something I think I’ve convinced Anna she wants to do too.

Of course, the first priority is to get the camper finished.  For those who aren’t aware, I build “expedition campers” on big Class VI four wheel drive trucks.  I’m finally building what I hope to be our own camper, and as always, things are running a little bit behind schedule.  The current project is another set of folding stairs for an entry ladder.  You can see how they work in this little video.

Once the stairs are done, I need to put the top coat of paint on the inside of the cabin, install the windows, and get to building the interior.  With luck, I can have the interior finished by the end of May, and get her all wired up and functioning in June.  (Thinking of the work load makes me panic.  No time for blogging…)

On to Alaska…  The goal is Deadhorse and a bus ride to the Arctic Ocean.  Once that’s done, it’s back by Denali.  We’re seriously thinking about the Inside Passage on the way home.  Should we do it?  It saves some road miles and lets us visit Haines, Juneau, Petersburg, Ketchikan, and Prince Rupert.  But our puppy…  He loves going on trips, and loves the campers, but he has to stay in the RV when it’s on the ferry.  And he’s not a puppy.  He’ll turn eleven on this trip.  Can a 77 year old man hold his bladder for nine hours?  We’ll have to see!

I’ll close now with a thumbnail of our currently proposed route…

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