11/1/12

Days 18-20: Stuck in Fort Nelson


November 1
Fort St. John, BC, Canada to Fort Nelson, BC, Canada: 236 miles

Beautiful blue skies were above us today as we continued our drive along the Alaskan Highway. We drove through a tiny town called Pink Mountain, named for how the autumn leaves look on the mountains in the sunset. Of course, the only thing we saw were snow-covered trees. I bet the pink leaves are beautiful!

It was a winter wonderland as far as you could see. Still no moose sightings, but we did see a few deer and wild horses grazing along the side of the highway. We arrived in Fort Nelson and checked out the visitors center, where I also picked up my favorite postcards from the trip. We stayed the night at Kacee's Suites and they didn't charge us their usual pet fee - so kind. :)

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November 2-3
Fort Nelson, BC, Canada

Day 19: Today was a tough day. The radiator reservoir cracked in the Land Rover, and we were forced to stay put awhile longer. Thankfully there was an auto store across the road, but poor Sam still had to run back and forth across the highway all day since we were car-less. He was also on the phone all day with his dad (thank goodness for iphone apps like Talkatone that use wifi). Those two together make an awesome auto team. Originally we thought that we would have to wait until NEXT Wednesday for a new reservoir part to be shipped from Washington. For awhile, that was extremely discouraging. Staying here until Wednesday would mean about $1000 extra in hotel fees, the car part, food - plus the extra five days of just waiting around in the tiniest town ever.

Thankfully (seriously I think I cried), Sam and Gary came up with a DIY solution to fix the reservoir. We will have to see if it works; give it some time. We are praying it does.

It made me feel a little better to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on TV while uploading photos from our trip - and also going through old photos. Homesick, you know.

It was a discouraging and defeating day, but at least this didn't happen while we were driving. We're thankful for this cramped, warm room with Internet to stay connected with our friends and family back home. 

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Day 20: Well, we are pretty certain that the Land Rover will be good to go tomorrow!

Nothing much happened besides that. We just relaxed with the dogs. Sam and Kaia took a nap and looked adorable cuddled up together. We split a very expensive Subway meal for lunch ($14 for ONE meal. It's one of 3-4 restaurants here.), took the dogs on a short walk, practiced some tricks with the dogs, and played Phase 10.

If the rest of the trip goes smoothly ,we should be in the Yukon Territory tomorrow, then have three more days left til we're back in the USA!

Whew. What a trip!

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