Alaska, 2.0
“The hum of the city”, was something my older brother Bob said to me the morning we started our first day of employment in Houston Texas. This was when he and I decided to quit our jobs in Illinois and head south to find work, in 1981. The sounds were just like that, a hum. Everyone starting their days and filling up the streets and highways with cars, trucks, and everything else with wheels. Then all of a sudden, coming to a complete stop because everyone had the same idea. I never knew that sound before then since I grew up in the rural town of Lanark, Ill. No city hums to be found within a hundred miles. I miss my brother a lot. He always was there with help and clear thinking to help us out. I can literally attribute my working career to him, since I would have never left Illinois by myself to start a new life. He gave me that opportunity to make that choice, and I thank him endlessly for that. Now, when my wife Kathy and I are out in our camper in these places where the only hum we hear is the wings of humming birds, I think of Bob and how fortunate I am to have had him as an older brother and mentor. I think he would have loved being here too.
Upgraded items on the Airstream, just a few of many.
Prep, prep, and more prep! I had prepping fatigue so bad getting everything ready for this trip. We learned a lot from the last one, and so, I did lots of fixes and upgrades to the trailer. The number one upgrade being going to Lithium batteries. I bought AGM, (absorbed glass mat), batteries for the trailer in 2019 and they did just fine, but they are still a lead acid battery, which can only be discharged down to 50% without causing lasting damage. Plus, they are heavy! The lithium have many more pros than cons and for far have performed extraordinarily well. The next was upgrading the onboard inverter from 1000 watts to 2000 watts. This will allow for residential appliances to be used, even when we are off grid camping. Items like a real Kurig coffee machine, and toaster. It’s those things that make life in the camper a little more fun. Then, the next big upgrade was the onboard CPAP battery. I built a lithium system from scratch to give us the energy needed for two CPAP machines for hopefully 4 nights without having to recharge. Then the list gets lengthy with all the little things, new shelves in the mid-trailer wardrobe cabinet to store my camera gear, new shelves in Kathy’s personal wardrobe, then I decided to add lighting to these spaces as well. So, all in all, I spent many, many hours building, fitting, crimping, sanding, finishing, painting, manufacturing, LEARNING, and completing all these projects. And, so far it feels like a good thing and time and money well spent. But, if anyone wants to be an owner of an RV, one needs to learn quite a few different skill sets to keep the thing in traveling shape. Thank goodness for YouTube!
The battery box with Lithium Battleborn batteries. A significant upgrade!
We departed home at 7:12am on June 15, 2024. We met our traveling friends at the Wyoming Welcome Center just south of Cheyenne. From there, we drove north on I-25. The weather was clear, very windy, and very hot. Kathy was an angel at finding a place to stop and have our lunch that turned out to be just so beautiful! It was 5 miles off of the interstate and it was called Ayres Arch State Park. It’s this little gem of an oasis in the middle of desolate and dry eastern Wyoming. The natural arch was impressive and it had a small creek flowing under it. We had help from the resident ranger to guide us into our lunch parking spaces. This was so needed after only sleeping 4 hours the night before and feeling very, very low energy.
Al, Monika, Kathy, and Dennis
We then continued our journey north to 7th Ranch RV park for the first night of the trip. We were met with some youngsters selling lemonade, which we paid $.75 for a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade. We then finished getting set up at our sites, and were having some dinner. The weather was getting cooler, and there were some scattered clouds around. Then out of nowhere, we were hit with a huge and powerful wind event. One moment it was calm and fine, the next it was blowing around 50 to 60 MPH. We had the awning out a little to help shade the trailer form the sun. Kathy said “Get the awning in”!!! So I rushed to push the button and we both went outside to help it retract. The wind and debris flying around was intense! The awning survived and so did we, but the wind continued for about another hour or so.
The second day of driving was pretty much uneventful. We made our fuel and lunch stops and arrived at Jim and Mary’s RV park in Missoula MT on time and ready to settle down for the night. Rain was forecasted and did start in the middle of the night and now that we are at our campsite inside Glacier National Park, it is still raining hard and steady. Snow is falling in the high altitudes and Going to Sun road is closed. So we will need to find other parts of the park to explore, which should not be an issue. I didn’t want the rain to stop my desire to spend some time outside this morning, so Kathy and I dressed up and spent about an hour walking around close by our campsite, getting soaked but still enjoying our soggy walk. We soon got soaked, since neither of had “water proof” jackets, so we then headed back the trailer to dry out. I believe it was that afternoon that we visited an outdoor store that was close by and we both bought new water proof jackets, hopefully they will work!
Lake McDonald
Avalanche Creek
On our third day, we went for a day hike on the Trail of the Cedars. It was about 4 miles out and back. The payoff was Avalanche Lake with spectacular views. This has to be one of the most traveled trails in Glacier. There had to be at least 500 people coming and going. Even though it was busy, everyone was very nice. The fourth and final day of our stay at Glacier was going for a boat tour on Lake McDonald. which lasted about an hour, and the nice girl giving the narrative of the area had a keen sense and humor. We thought she was joking around a bit too much, but she nonetheless gave us the information of the area.
Next up, Lake Louise