Seafood Festival

Great concert with Grand Funk Railroad, they only played for a couple of hours but were fantastic. Would love to see them again.

Ice Road Truckers

After driving the legendary Dalton Highway all summer, I finally got to spend a little time with some of the Ice Road Truckers that I had been waving at through a bus windshield.


George is the old pro and is retiring after spending thirty years on the "Haul Road." Surviving that long on one of the most dangerous roads in the world takes a lot of skill and a little luck, he's lost some good friends along the way that had as much skill but just ran out of luck.


Jack is all business and it shows quickly, he's the one that pulls the really big, difficult and dangerous loads today.




Tim survived his first season on the Dalton without a major incident. I asked him how much the show has changed his life, "I'm amazed that people recognize me now, I'm just a truck driver but it has been all been a great experience and a lot of fun."


Lisa is trying to balance all the attention that the show has thrust upon her as well as a new husband. She gets dozens of request for pictures every day, but politely declines those wanting a kiss on the cheek, even one from a shaved head bus driver that had to settle for a hug and a bruised ego.

Lol..... it won't be the last time Tyler is told no.

The Kenai

A quick trip down to the Kenai Peninsula for the weekend was a much needed respite from the smoke that has plagued the interior for the past two months.

The Homer Spit is a great place to visit, it is a little narrow sliver of land that juts out into Kachemak Bay. The atmosphere in the Salty Dawg Saloon is great and the baked halibut at Captain Patties is without a doubt the best that I have ever had.





Other than the fifty miles or so along the coast the drive down the Kenai is not that picturesque.

The road is good but you better be watchful for moose, especially late in the evening, we saw twelve on the way back and that doesn't inclued the one that was hit by a truck just a minute or two before we met them.



The fires burning north of Healy have really increased in size and are pumping out a tremendous volume of smoke. The wind had been blowing from the north for a couple of days but shifted again and is now from the south, bringing the smoke back into town. The ash is covering everything and the air quality is so low that centers have been opened in Fairbanks to allow residents the opportunity to sit inside a sealed room and breath filtered air. It is not as bad as the summers of 2004 and 2005 were but it brings back a lot of memories.

Smoke In town

Thank goodness I'm off to Prudhoe Bay in the morning, the smoke is getting very thick in Fairbanks tonight. Lightning started a fire twenty five miles south of town yesterday and it has already spread to sixteen thousand acres. Ash is falling this evening and if the wind doesn't change direction in the next couple of days, it will continue to get worse as the fire grows.

Two more tours left this season and it's off to Fayetteville, North Carolina to spend a few days with Bryan before he deploys to Iraq for a year. It's getting here too fast.

Two Weeks On The Dalton

After two weeks and two thousand miles of the Dalton Highway, it is time for a little R&R.

The Ice Road Truckers show on the History Channel is doing thirteen episodes this season on the Dalton and several of the truckers that I have met are featured on there. The road is not the worst that I have ever driven but you had better know who and what's around you on some of the blind corners. The conditions can change quickly and there's not much room for error. Most of the traffic that you encounter is usually bigger than the bus that I'm in and at times we have to get off the road entirely for an oversized load from fifteen to twenty one feet wide and weighing up to one hundred sixty thousand pounds.

It's a four hundred fourteen mile adventure from the Elliott Highway to Deadhorse and most of it is gravel. The beauty of the north slope and the wildlife make this the trip of a lifetime though, it is almost impossible to describe it, you simply have to see and experience it to understand.

I have to make a quick run down to Skagway next week before heading back up to Prudhoe Bay the following week, it will seem strange to drive on the pavement all the time.

This summer is going by so quickly.

Days Off

Having three days off feels good, but it's time to saddle up again.

It's cloudy, cool and raining a little today, perfect day to have a bowl of ice cream. But then again I like ice cream when it's clear and hot too. Heck, I just like ice cream anytime.

Think I'll have a buffalo burger for lunch, they are the best.

Not much else happening, waiting around for Thursday to head back up north.

A Month Without Internet Access

Well I finally got access again, been away for more than a month now.

Just returned from the first tour of the season to Prudhoe Bay, the Dalton Highway was pretty rough, as it always is this time of the year. The caribou are finishing up their spring migration and there were hundreds of them along the road, all headed north. We'll see them again in late August when they head south.

Atigun pass was breathtaking, the snow is deep and this is the time of the year when it just looks like what you expect Alaska to look like.

The trip up was fun, it snowed all the way from the pass to Deadhorse and the temp was around 25. Much warmer coming back, it hit 70 in Coldfoot.

In addition to the caribou, we saw several moose, about 50 Dall sheep, a small pack of grey wolves and thousands of geese, ducks and swans. The mosquitoes are out already too, saw a few million of them.

Will be in town for a few days now and head back up the Dalton next Thursday.