Today started off great. We left the Holiday Inn in Gillette, Wyoming at 7:00 AM in order to get to Lu Lu Belles Café in time for the breakfast rolls only to find out they would not be ready till 9:00, guess Debbie has to wait for another trip to get her roll. We ate a big western breakfast, surrounded by ranchers with boots covered in…… well, you know what and started our trip to Canada. After getting fuel in Billings Montana, the Suburban developed a miss and the check engine soon light came on. OnStar advised us to take it to the nearest dealership in Billings, which we did. After four hours of trouble shooting the problem, what we thought was something simple was now a major engine problem, loss of compression in one cylinder. Like they say, things happen……. We get back on the road at 8:00 PM and make a group decision to drive another all-nighter to make up for the lost time and put us back on schedule. Now as a finish to this less than perfect day we hit a major winter storm in Butte, Montana just before midnight. They were only warning for between 6-18 inches of snow and high winds, trust me they got both right. After driving in near white-out conditions for the better part of three hours, the snow let up enough for us to make it down from the mountain passes and into Canada by day break. Needless to say, it was a very eventful 24 hours. Despite all of this, we have made it to Dawson Creek, BC and mile marker “0” of the Alaskan Highway. The bright spot was stopping for some homemade ice-cream in 44 degree weather. Janice and Debbie have been saying that they wanted some since Friday, well now they have had it. We have seen some great scenery and lots of animals (Elk, Caribou, and Deer), no bears yet. Still after all the setbacks of Monday, this has been a great trip and a learning experience. The big lesson is that no matter what happens in life, you have to have faith, make the best of it, and still go for that dream……… even if it is just a vacation. Tomorrow we head out on the Alaska Highway and on to Watson Lake, Yukon. Hope to get lots of pictures posted in the next few days.
Total Miles To Date: 3365
Lu Lu Belle's Cafe - A
Frontier Chevrolet Billings Montana - A
