 The
travel day that made the two RV Gypsies say
"What were we thinking"?????
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| The two RV Gypsies say "DON'T
DO IT - DON'T DRIVE THE ALASKA HIGHWAY UNLESS ROADS ARE FIXED."
Their car windshield was cracked and pitted in several
places and the front of the car looked like it was sand blasted. The car
was totally pitted and needed an entire paint job. The decals were completely
ruined. The motorhome had also taken a beating, not to mention the stress
on both vehicles and the two RV Gypsies. Another RVer asked the two RV Gypsies,
"Why are we all doing this?" Good Question!
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For about the last 350 miles on the Alaska
Highway in the Yukon Territory, much of the roads were dirt/gravel, mud
or just full of bumps and dips called frost heaves. The two RV Gypsies
found this to be extremely stressful. The worst frost heaves were marked
with red flags, but many frost heaves were not marked. The motorhome shook,
bounced and rattled like you would not believe. Clothes fell off the closet
rack and sweaters fell from their shelves making it almost impossible
to open the closet doors. Covers to ceiling lights fell off. And sometimes when a
car was in front of the RV or passing by on the dirt/gravel roads, the dust
was so heavy that the two RV Gypsies could not see through the windshield. These roads were watered at times and
that kept the dust down, but then the road became muddy. Have you ever
written "wash me" on a dirty car? Of course you have! But guess
what? When the mud dries on the cars and RVs you can not write on it because
it cakes and becomes thick like clay. Scroll down below for photos of
this event.
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The car's headlights do not have a cover
- that is caked on dirt that totally hides the headlights.
A regular car wash could not get this caked-on dirt off of the car.
It had to be pressured cleaned off with a
powerful pressure cleaner. This is solid road dirt that did not come off
easily. Luckily, the city of Tok had such a car wash (for a fee of course). |
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| In The Milepost Book (which is a must for anyone
driving in Alaska) - it says "Tok is known as the Sled Dog Capital
of Alaska" and "Judging by the number of Alaska Highway travelers
cleaning their cars and RVs in Tok each summer, it may also qualify as the
Vehicle Washing Capital of Alaska as well." - an Understatement!!!!! |
- DRIVING THE ALASKA
HIGHWAY 2009 -
WE ARE DOING THIS BECAUSE......................?????? |
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| Below: Tiny pieces of gravel got
thrown onto all vehicles - this is how the two RV Gypsies' windshield got
cracked in several places and the paint job got pitted. |
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BELOW: Having to pass
water trucks on a hill with no divider lines / lanes |
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Karen Duquette could not really photograph the frost heaves
because they just do not really show up in photographs. Actually some of
them are hard to see until just before you hit them, and some you do not
even see in time. The dirty muddy roads above caused the filthy cars and
cracked windshields, but the frost heaves are really stressful on the vehicles. |
| And unless the two RV Gypsies can get the ferry
back (it was booked on the way here) at a cost of about $8,000, they have
to drive through this area on the way back too. Hopefully, some of these
roads will be fixed by then, but since the work on these roads started in
2008, it is almost certain to be another stressful trip back. |
