Arctic Family Bus

[Biscuitsjam]

The wheel straps keep working loose, so we've been stopping a lot to check. What I can figure out is the Uhaul ratchet straps aren't strong enough to handle bumps.

The section of the Alaska Highway from Tok to Destruction Bay (200 miles) is built on muskeg. Muskeg is formed when permafrost is within a few feet of the surface of the ground. The layer of ice won't let the ground drain properly. Usually, it is dry at the surface during the summer and looks like normal ground. However, just a few inches below the surface, everything is mud. Put something heavy on top (like a vehicle or road) and it sinks. Digging down to the permafrost doesn't help either, because the top layer melts, leaving more permafrost below. The bedrock is too deep to dig to it, meaning the road subsurface is inherently unstable.

Frost heaves happen when frozen ground contracts and expands as the ice changes temperatures. Interior Alaska and the Yukon can shift from -50 to +10 and back again repeatedly through the winter, making the ground buckle. They invest a lot of money in maintaining this road, but the frost heaves are like roller coasters. Some are marked with flags and signs, but it's impossible not to hit at least some at full speed. We haven't seen any where the pavement has actually cracked yet, but some must be at least two feet between the low and high points. Some are even shaped like ramps and can be spaced so that just as your suspension is rebounding up, you get launched by a second or third frost heave. I think the trailer has actually gotten airborne a couple times.

All that bouncing, and the wheel straps keep working loose. To make things worse, the snow spray is sticking to the camera, so we can't see what's going on. I added my own ratchet strap, which may be helping, and everything is now covered with ice, which might help too.

One time pulling over, the road angled so I had to get back on going the other direction and turn around a few miles later. Another time, it took an hour to find a place to turn odd. Few of the side roads are plowed, and we missed one rest area because it wasn't marked at all. When we finally turned off to stop and check the trailer, I had to back up to turn around and get back on the highway.

The border took a little while, but the Canadians were really nice. We declared our beer and wine, a decorative sword, and they sent two agents to inspect the vehicle. They searched the bus for 30-40 minutes, finding some Naproxen (over the counter Aleve) and a pistol magazine (no ammo).

One of my two plastic fuel cans in the trailer was leaking and dumped two gallons in the bed of the pickup truck. It got all over the gloves of the border agent as she tried to fix it. Ultimately, I dumped the rest of the fuel into my generator (using a funnel because the spout wouldn't work right) and I'll throw that fuel can away when I get a chance.

The border agent inside said that he has to drive to Whitehorse for groceries about 350 miles away. He makes the trip every other month, there and back in the same day, with a one hour power-nap before the heat runs out in his truck (engine heat plus space heater).

We packed up two copies of the Milepost (2018 and 2019) in an unknown box, so we're driving blind. I don't know where hotels, etc. are. I've stopped at a half-dozen stores and gas stations, but nobody has one yet. Some stores only stock it during tourist season, while others normally have winter copies too. However, an unusual number of winter travelers sold them all out.

Also, when I crossed the border, my phone suddenly displayed an error message that it is "not activated". Of course, there isn't much internet anyway. There is a town every 100-200 miles and most have some cell service, but there is nothing between. I called Verizon using my dad's phone, but it transferred me to "account services" despite my choice of "tech support." The employee transferred me, but by the time he did, they closed for the night.

We saw almost no traffic after crossing the border. It was dusk, and I guess nobody else is dumb enough to drive the Alaska Highway in the dark in February. Interestingly, we have seen no wildlife yet. No moose, no snowy owls or foxes or bison or anything else. My dad was hoping for the aurora but it looks like we'll miss it.

On the plus side, the weather is perfect. Clear, low winds, no snow, and just cold enough to keep the snow/ice fully frozen without being too cold. There was a long icy downhill stretch near Haines Junction, but the road was wide and freshly plowed within traffic.

We're now in Haines Junction and going to push a bit further.

[cowlitzcoach]

In regards to the straps on the car trailer, what has worked well for me in the past is to reduce the air pressure in the vehicle on the trailer by about half, get the straps as tight as I possibly can get them, and then I air the tires back up to full pressure.



I also chain the chassis of the vehicle on the trailer down as tight as possible as well. What is moving stuff around is the vehicle bouncing on their own springs on top of the trailer. If you look at new cars being delivered they are held down to the transporter by the chassis and not just the tires. If the chassis is held down tight it won't be bouncing much while going down the road.


The less the vehicle on the trailer can move around the less apt the tie downs will get loose.

[Biscuitsjam]

Day 3 (6 Feb):
We started rolling at 0920 Alaska time after cooking cinnamon rolls and bagels for breakfast. It was mid-20s outside. The roads were pretty clear, but they were starting to melt, which is a bad thing.


Breakfast


Typical road conditions


Teslin Bridge


Snow machine tracks on the river


In Whitehorse, I called Verizon Tech Support to get my phone working again because it kept insisting it was not activated. The Indian working the call just kept running me through her checklists and I don't think had ever even used a Verizon phone. After an hour of power-cycling my phone, removing and reinstalling the SIM card, and other tasks, she finally stumbled on the fix ("reset network settings"). We filled up on fuel in Whitehorse ($1.42 Canadian per Liter - $340 Canadian total). Gas is expensive, but less in Whitehorse than anywhere else in Canada that we had seen.


Driving through Whitehorse

In the afternoon, it started getting hilly and colder (low 20s and high teens) and the road had more curves. On the plus side, there aren't any more frost heaves, but our average speed is lower, because we have to slow down on the icy slopes. Often, we're going 40 downhill, accelerate to 58 just before we hit the next hill, which slows us back to 30 mph. One steep slope with an 8+% slope slowed us to 17 mph, and several to the low 20s. Seeing the road became a big problem. It was all white from shoulder to shoulder, with a few scattered patches of pavement. It was 3-4 lanes wide (1 lane each way, 1/2 lane each shoulder, plus sometimes a passing lane). However, with no markings visible at all, over the hours, we drifted back and forth across almost all the lanes. Visibility was great and other vehicles were rare, so it wasn't a big deal.

There are some spectacular views, but there isn't much to do in the winter. The parking for the hiking trails are unplowed, and the shops and museums are closed. We tried stopping at a Tlingit museum that said it was open. When we got there, a bunch of employees had cars in the parking lot, but their sign said closed too.


Max speed going up an 8% hill while pulling a trailer

Long bridge

A typical view

For dinner, we pulled into a parking lot in Watson Lake, and I cooked New York Steaks, lima beans, and premade scalloped potatoes. Those were some of the best steaks I've had in a while.


Dinner


Watson Lake is festive

We're switching off driving about every 100 miles. On flat roads, that was every 2 hours. In the hilly terrain, it's closer to 3. However, my dad keeps pushing past when he's supposed to stop. He insists he's fine until it's long past when he should have switched. Pull-offs are so rare though that it can be up to an hour before finding somewhere. We've finally just parked on the shoulder a couple times and quickly changed drivers, but neither of us like parking on the road.

Because the pickup kept shifting on the trailer so much the first couple of days, we added a cargo strap to the front, but after 100 miles, it was missing. I added two more straps that were rated at 4500lbs each. After another 100 miles, I found that both had snapped mid-strap. However, the trailer's wheel straps held, so I suppose we are fine. I'm not going to add my own cargo straps again, but I'll keep checking the trailer's hardware each stop.

Tomorrow, it's supposed to be mountainous, so we're going to take the pickup truck off the trailer and drive it separately. Hopefully, it's not icy because it has sharp turns and no guard rails. My understanding is our direction is mostly on the outside of the turns, with steep dropoffs. The pickup will be in lead and we'll have Wally talkies. After 150 miles, we'll be past the difficult stretch. But before we start tomorrow, we're planning to get in the hot springs.

I've been running the generator most of the day so we can keep a space heater next to the driver with a blanket over his knees. It's almost too warm when the weather is over 10 degrees. But, there is a metal panel by the driver's left leg that is the back side of the fuse panel and gets really cold. It also has some small holes that let through a little draft. I insulated in front of the driver some with spray foam, which helps, but the driver's seat is still the coldest in the bus. With the heater though, we've been staying warm. The windshield has only frosted up a couple of times when stopped.

The last 110 miles after dinner to Liard Hot Springs were interesting. My dad called from Watson Lake and let them know we were coming, but we were going so slow on the hills that we quickly figured out we would be late. The road follows the Liard River and is pretty steep in a lot of places. After about an hour of driving, we pulled over onto the shoulder to unload the pickup and drive it ahead to the hotel.

The ramp on the right side came straight out, but it came too far and fell on the ground. The one on the left side wouldn't budge - I think it was frozen. We couldn't get the ramp back in, so we finally set it on the floor of the bus and just drove.

We finally got there around midnight and woke up the employee. She gave me the key to the room and asked me to pay in the morning. She said "room 8" but handed me the key to "room 6." I don't think she completely knew what was going on because she had just stumbled out of bed.

The room was decent. Sparsely furnished but comfortable and clean, with a decent shower.


Hotel room

The parking lot was full of trucks idling. I'm not sure the story, but it sounds like that's a common stopover for the truck drivers.

[tugboater]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

In regards to the straps on the car trailer, what has worked well for me in the past is to reduce the air pressure in the vehicle on the trailer by about half, get the straps as tight as I possibly can get them, and then I air the tires back up to full pressure.



I also chain the chassis of the vehicle on the trailer down as tight as possible as well. What is moving stuff around is the vehicle bouncing on their own springs on top of the trailer. If you look at new cars being delivered they are held down to the transporter by the chassis and not just the tires. If the chassis is held down tight it won't be bouncing much while going down the road.


The less the vehicle on the trailer can move around the less apt the tie downs will get loose.

I second cowlitzcoach here...whenever we secure wheeled vehicles on barges for long voyages, we always lash to the frames. Bouncing away on the shocks/springs, it doesn't take long to loosen...even worse break free.

Eric

[Biscuitsjam]

The truck hasn't shifted again. I strapped the wheels down so tight they are slightly squished and it hasn't moved. The trailer also has backup chains to the frame, but they aren't super tight.

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

The truck hasn't shifted again. I strapped the wheels down so tight they are slightly squished and it hasn't moved. The trailer also has backup chains to the frame, but they aren't super tight.

Straps are okay for what they are but you can't beat chains and binders if you want to keep stuff from moving.



Again, I let air out of the tires first and then I chain everything down tight. I then put air back in the tires to full pressure. With that much force put on the chains the vehicle is NOT going to bounce around on top of the trailer.

[Biscuitsjam]

Day 4 (7 Feb):

205408 on the odometer, temperature around 30 degrees in the morning and warming up until it started getting back into the low 20s in the mountains.

We adjusted our watches for local time and got up around 8:30 AM, took showers and got dressed. We moved pretty slow, so it was 9:30 before we headed over to Liard Hot Springs.

The hot springs are pretty interesting. There is a boardwalk leading up to it that goes over a marsh - the water is apparently warm enough that it never freezes. There is something akin to spanish moss hanging from the trees, and the original (English) name for the place is Liard Tropical Forest.

The hot springs are about a half mile from the parking lot, and we stripped down to our swimsuits and got in. The U.S. Army when building the Alaska Highway dug out a pretty large pool around the top hot springs and there is gravel on the bottom, with underwater benches to sit on. It's about 3 feet deep, then drains into a second pool that is presumably cooler before flowing down a stream into other pools and finally the marsh.


Moss hanging from the trees

The marsh

Some of the water is uncomfortably warm, like an overheated hot tub, and some of the water feels like cool bathwater, probably a 30-40 degree difference. . The blobs of hot and cool water slowly move around, so at one instant your left arm is really hot while your body is cool. A few seconds later, it might be reversed. There is a smell of minerals but not unpleasant. Overall, it was a very nice experience. And, it was only around freezing outside, so getting dried and redressed wasn't bad since we were still really warm from the springs.




The "hanging gardens" trail was closed, but we would very much have liked to see it. Apparently, there are some neat rock formations and strange plants on them.

On the way out, I realized that we didn't have power from the generator. I spent about 45 minutes with a multimeter before I figured out that my automatic transfer switch isn't working properly. I fiddled with it enough to get it to engage, but I'll need to do more work on it later.

While I was messing with it, family came walking from the lodge. The 6 of them had come from North Pole, AK driving a tractor trailer with all their belongings and an extended sleeper cab. I wasn't sure if the van in the parking lot was theirs too or if they all rode in the cab.

The mountains were a lot curvier than what we have seen before. Some places had guard rails and others don't, but there is no real reason for which is which. Some places missing rails had big drop offs. The road, however, is still in very good shape. We haven't seen a pothole yet on the trip.


Typical road view

Some of the uphills would slow us to 35 or 25 or once even 16 mph. On the downhills, we were often at 50 or 40 or sometimes even 30 mph. Average speed was probably around around 40mph. The roads were fairly clear, but the warm temperatures melted the snow, so they are wet with some slush on them. The slush has completely coated the pickup and keeps covering the backup camera.


The pickup is a little dirty

We stopped to take pictures of group of 35 bison on the shoulder of the road, then passed another 10 and another group of 30. They seem placid, just laying in the snow and eating grass. We also saw about 8 bighorn sheep in the road and slowed down to let them cross.


Bison

Bighorn sheep picture didn't come out

I got fuel today to top off. $470 Canadian. I never did the math to translate it to gallons, but I think it was around 70.


There's all kinds of ways to travel the Alaska Highway in February. I bet she has an interesting story.

Views never seem to out quite right in pictures

Here either

[Biscuitsjam]

Day 5 (8 Feb):
10 degrees overnight, 20s and 30s during the day.

The winds started getting bad last night, the roads started to freeze over with ice, and we lost power from the generator. A few wind gusts pushed us out of our lane. We decided to stop early for the night at 205663 miles on the odometer.

We pulled into a campground which was fresh-plowed, but we discovered about 400 meters in that there was a fallen tree across the road. We shut down the bus and watched the movie Sully, starring Tom Hanks, with beer and popcorn. I ran the power cord from the generator to the shore power inlet to bypass the bad transfer switch.

It was a pretty good movie, but it was a little unbelievably how incompetent they made the safety review board look.

In the morning, I cooked bacon and eggs, then I did my walk around of the bus and discovered we had a flat tire on the trailer. It must have happened right before we stopped, but we had no idea. The rim was still undamaged, and the Uhaul manager had given me a spare. Still, changing the tire took a while, because we had to dig through all the packed tools to find the right size socket, get a cheater pipe for the ratchet, jack the trailer up, put blocks of wood under it, so that we could put jack plated under the jack and raise it a little further....


Breakfast

Flat tire

Cheater pipe on the ratchet

View of the bus - back door is open because I was working on the generator

We finally finished, cleaned all the lights and the license plates, and I rewired the electrical system to bypass the failed transfer switch and give us generator power again. The furnace also quit giving heat - I've been running off the 100lb tank this entire time. I opened one of the 20lb tanks and it started right back up. I'm not sure if the 100 lb tank is empty or if the system just needed to be power cycled. Under the bus, I have a 100lb tank and a 20lb tank on an automatic failover regulator, then two 20lb tanks on a second regulator. I also have 4x 20lb tanks in the pickup bed. I've only turned on one tank at a time so far, but I could open the valves on all 4 under the bus if I wanted.

I'd left the bus off overnight, but it was able to start first crank despite only being 10 degrees outside. I think the oil pan heater made a big difference. This was, incidentally, the first night I'd not idled the bus all trip. I was nervous, but it worked out. I backed up about 200 yards with the trailer, using the camera to keep it on the road, so I could turn around. We finally got under way at 1130 local time (we thought we were on Pacific time, but British Columbia is on Mountain). We had some steep uphills and downhills. One uphill was 2 miles long with a 10% grade that slowed us to 15 mph.

In Fort Saint John, we stopped at a Mr. Mike restaurant for about an hour, then got back on the road. From here on, there was a fair bit of traffic in both directions. The roads were also completely clear of snow or ice.


Dirty bus

A short while later, in Dawson Creek at Mile Marker 0 for the Alaska Highway, a car swerved around the bus into oncoming lanes, pulled in front of us, and slammed on its brakes. We watched in some trepidation as the driver opened the door and started running towards us. Were we about to get in a fight? Was the bus on fire?

She warned us that one of the tires on the trailer had blown out and the back axle was dragging on the ground, sending up sparks. On the rear camera, you couldn't tell at all - the trailer looked fine, just imperceptibly leaning to the side. If she hadn't told us, we might not have noticed for a long time. As it was, we pulled into a parking lot and called Uhaul. After about an hour, they had a guy out there with two new tires. Both the old rims were in good shape, so he was able to get us back working pretty quickly and gave us our spare back. There wasn't any indication for why the tires blew. He speculated that maybe the previous trailer renter had overloaded the trailer, but there was no way to tell. The other two tires were in good shape. The Uhaul folks on the phone were very concerned that there wasn't an underlying cause for the tire failures that would leave us stranded and called several times to make sure the tire guy arrived and that he'd done quality work.


Second flat tire

Kali Tire fixing our two flats - we got our spare back
We got back on the road, having lost another couple hours total, and found we had heavy traffic now. The speed limits were also slower because of the congestion. And the wind was horrible, making it difficult to stay in our lane. Unlike the Alaska Highway, there were now potholes and uneven road surfaces.

About an hour later, the road got better. We could run a tour max speed of 58 mph. We kept pushing until 2234 locally time, odometer 206006, only 343 miles today.


Night in Dawson Creek

[plfking]

Really enjoying your narrative.....thanks for taking the time to share it.

[Biscuitsjam]

Day 6 (9 Feb):
26 degrees with high winds this morning, warming to slightly above freezing and then falling again. We had some snow flurries in the morning, but it didn't stick. By evening. We saw some light snow on the roads that had fallen before us.


Sausage and biscuits, breakfast of champions

The roads have gotten significantly worse since we left the Alaska Highway. All the roads in Alberta Province are in roughly shape, full of potholes, bumps, and generally an unpleasant ride. So far, though, none are bad enough to actually damage vehicles or endanger drivers.


Typical Canadian road

Largest fuel bill I've ever had

We stopped at the West Edmonton Mall today. It is the largest mall in North America, with an indoor water park, amusement park, ice hockey rink, full-scale replica of the Santa Maria (Columbus's ship), aquarium, and who knows what else. It was fairly crowded and business seemed to be booming. However, all we saw were the same nail salons, clothing stores, shoe stores, etc. That you'd see in any mall. We ended up not buying anything.


Ridiculous race cars

Four roller coasters, intertwined through the room

Championship youth hockey

Bus parked in the back corner of the parking lot

After we left, we headed towards the border. After copious research, we decided to cross at Sweetgrass, MT. We wanted to make it before new stopped for the evening, but there were severe crosswinds. With a 5 mile stretch, we saw three cars in the ditch that had lost control. A few miles further, and we saw two more. We slowed down significantly, but we kept going.


Crosswinds

Blurry picture of a car in the median

Later, we came to where there was already significant snow on the road. Although we didn't slip, it looked icy, so we slowed down again. Ultimately, we stopped just short of the border.

Odometer 206551, 545 miles total today.

[JackE]

Really enjoying the narrative. Makes me want to get out on the road in my bus. Don't think the family would be too happy about it since the only thing in it right now is the drivers seat! My daughter lives just south of Lethbridge, wave as you go by. Seems like you are making really good time. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. Especially the nice weather part!

[Biscuitsjam]

Day 7 (10 February)

Mid to high 20s today

Today was mostly just driving. The bus had trouble starting this morning - the batteries didn't have much charge. When I attached the portable jumpstart unit to the batteries, it started right up, then the voltage read in the normal range...

We took a wrong turn in Lethbridge, but it only added about 20 minutes to the trip. At the border, the road went past some odd contraptions. My best guess was radiation detection, but who knows? The border guard asked a couple questions about the bus, then asked if we had any alcohol, tobacco, or guns. We told him we did have alcohol in board, and he didn't even bother to ask how much. He just waved us through...

The roads in Montana are much better than Canada. I filled up a few miles past the border and prices were much cheaper. Since last fill-up, I got 9.1 miles per gallon. That is a dramatic improvement over the 6 mpg I got earlier.


Snow and slush at the border

Clear roads a few miles later

White on white

We passed snow-covered roads, slush-covered roads, and clear roads at intervals. Finally, off in the distance, we saw a large black storm and headed right towards it, getting closer and closer. We entered a thick snow storm just before our left-hand turn that took us right back out. For a couple miles, we ran about 300 meters parallel to the storm before we finally outran it.


Storm ahead

Running beside the storm

This evening, we got to the Little Bighorn battlefield after dark. We drove up to the gate, not seeing the sign saying "no turnaround after hours" until we were already on the road. I thought about just parking on the road, but it was too steep to be comfortable, so I backed up.... half a mile, with a trailer, using my backup camera.

Now, I'm normally pretty good backing up a trailer, but I couldn't see this one looking out the window, and the camera threw me for a loop. I kept over-correcting, under-correcting, or turning the wrong way. All until the end when I had to back the trailer around a corner. Then, when I could actually see the thing with my own eyes, it was easy...

We pulled into the parking lot of a hospital across the street, way in the back of an empty lot. About 30 minutes later, a police officer came by. He was extremely nice, asked a few questions, and told us we weren't breaking any laws and he didn't see a problem with us staying. About 30 minutes after that, the security guard showed up and told us we had to leave. He sounded embarassed.

The bus wouldn't start because of low battery voltage. I jumpstarted it again. These are new batteries, and the alternator is putting out normal voltage/amperage far as I can tell. The bus runs fine without dying... I think there may be a bad connection with the batteries - I'll check tomorrow when it's light out.

We drove to an empty lot nearby and settled in for the night. Right as we did, the transfer switch went haywire again, making a stuttering clicking noise. I spent some time with it and finally figured out my halogen work light was causing the problem whenever it is plugged in. I guess it has a bad internal connection? In any case, it's disconnected.

207052 miles, 501 miles today. We may hit a lot of weather tomorrow.


View of Montana

Another view

[PNW_Steve]

Thank you for sharing your journey.

I remember West Edmonton mall. I stayed at the theme room Hotel that is attached to the mall.

Went to the water park, played mini golf then tried to keep up with a bunch of English soldiers drinking Gueniss (sp?)........ Then enjoyed a two day hangover.....

Looking forward to your next installment.

Drive safe.

[Biscuitsjam]

We broke down in Broadus, MT. A bearing went out on one of the serpentine pulleys, slicing off a part of the serpentine belt and wrapping it around the fan shaft. We were right by a diesel mechanic who diagnosed the problem in 30 seconds and had the belt and pulley off in about 5 minutes. He's at the parts store now to see if they have the right stuff in stock.


Pieces of the serpentine belt that I removed. It's hard to see, but a pulley is crooked in the engine compartment.

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

We broke down in Broadus, MT. A bearing went out on one of the serpentine pulleys, slicing off a part of the serpentine belt and wrapping it around the fan shaft. We were right by a diesel mechanic who diagnosed the problem in 30 seconds and had the belt and pulley off in about 5 minutes. He's at the parts store now to see if they have the right stuff in stock.

Attachment 41532
Pieces of the serpentine belt that I removed. It's hard to see, but a pulley is crooked in the engine compartment.

WOW! That could have been so much worse a few days ago!



Those are the sort of failures that happen and are very hard to predict.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

sorry.
they give belt replacement intervals to go buy.
but they never give pulley or pulley bearing replacement intervals.
and if you dont know how to check them under tension then you wont know that they are going bad.
glad you have made it as far as you have.
EXTRA belts will always be in my toolbox even if they are the ones i just removed when i put new ones on.
GOOD LUCK with the rest of your trip.

[joeblack5]

So..how would you check pullet bearings them under tension ?

[Ronnie]

The best way I know is to take off the belt and spin each thing and listen for bearing noise, as well as feel if the pulleys spin smoothly.

[joeblack5]

yes Ronnie, that is what I would think and why I am curious about procedures that claim to do it with the belt on.

[JackE]

I use a stethoscope to give a good listen with the belt on and engine running. It takes a little trial and error to know what you are listening for, but when you do find one going bad, there is usually no mistake it's on it's way out.