Yesterday the crew travelled from beautiful Whitehorse to the tiny gas-motel-stop of Beavercreek, just at the edge of the Alaska border.

Yesterday morning the Vidals and FCA’s cinematographer split off from the group and, thanks to Stephen Reynolds, enjoyed a plane ride over the mountains. Moreover, Stephen and his employer Tourism Yukon  paid for the Convoy team’s meal Tuesday night. So a big hearty thank you for making Hugo’s party even more special! On top of that, Stephen is an awesome guy!

After the Vidals left, David went down to check on his jeeps and found a pylon in the back of Patterson. You might notice the water bottles in the back, too. They are flavored waters that taste terrible, but no one seems to want to steal them.

With Hugo and Fernando on their own, the rest of the group hit the road at 8am, making it as far as the onramp to the Alaska Highway, before pulling off to do some patching. Andreas needed his exhaust patched again, Joe needed a part rewelded to his trailer, but most of all Bill had some cracks in his trailer arms at the elbow. Had they broke, it could have been a bad situation!

Always-Prepared-Marty and Miracle-Don pulled out the battery-powered portable welder and some flat steel. Then, with the help of several others, set out to create metal patches to reinforce both sides.

As they worked away, the crew encountered their second rude Canadian of the trip. The guy was upset that the group was sitting on a side road. He was all in a kerfluffle because we had parked on the government’s property (which made no sense since most public roads are owned by the Canadian government??). Rob explained to him that the group was fixing some problems and needed a little time to get going again, but that didn’t soothe the guy at all. Oh well, can’t please everyone. Continue reading →

Yesterday the group split, with the Eilers and Vidals leaving Watson Lake early for a special event. Eventually, they met up again in Whitehorse.

The group split for most of Tuesday. Ann, David, Fernando and Hugo took off earlier than the others for a special birthday event for Hugo. Before they left, they stopped at Watson Lake’s sign forest. One count places the number of signs at 75,000!! It truly is a forest of signs. It’s so big, that the convoy crew told me they spent almost an hour there. Here is a mix of photos from there.

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Today we drove from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake, a distrance of 326 miles. Partly overcast as we left the city, we could see some dark clouds on the horizon, lingering over the pass we had to climb.

The group was only a few minutes outside of Fort Nelson when David and Ann spotted photographer Monicque Jacobs, who took pictures at Dalex Auto Service’s event on Sunday evening. That’s when Ann shouted, “Oh crap!”

“What’s the matter,” David asked.

“I was supposed to let Monicque know when we were leaving the city…..,” … oops!

Monicque, this is David & Ann’s apology to you! Fortunately, Monicque is a professional and was ready for the group to exit.

A slight drizzle started, then turned to full rain as they climbed up the nearby pass. The speed dropped and road tightened into a snaking mountian road, climbing until they were surrounded by mist.

When they summited, they took a break. Those that had Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association hoodie-sweatshirts lined up for a photo in the rain.

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Most everyone arrive on Friday afternoon, but a few hearty souls rolled into Dawson Creek after midnight. On Saturday it was awesome to wake up and see all the jeeps around the motel.

We spent much of Saturday swapping stories. Much of the action was out front of the motel. That in turn caused locals to drop by, say hello and share their own jeeps stories.

Four of those that stopped by were local police. They were very enthusiastic about the trip, so much so, that we had them sign jeeps and pose for photos.

We had Hugo pose with the officers.

They also shared some patches, cut off of their outfits.

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