09/06/2026
Left Deadhorse 0931 Thursday. Pulled into Wasilla 1936 Saturday.
58 hours. About 800 miles.
Eight hours sitting at road construction, noon to 8pm. While we sat we found an electric brake locked up on the 36’ gooseneck and a hub hot enough to cook on. Packed it with grease, got it spinning free. Sent Brett Poos three hours back to Deadhorse for bearings in case it let go anyway.
Got past the construction. Rear dually had a hole in it. Patch wouldn’t hold. Slept in the trailer at a pullout by the DOT building and waited on daylight.
Morning: DOT let us use their tire machine. Broke the bead, tried an internal patch. Didn’t hold. Leased truck came with no spare. So we drove to Deadhorse. Again. A customer got on the phone and found us a tire — shop wouldn’t mount it, so we hauled it back to the DOT yard and swapped it ourselves.
An hour down the road Brett radios that he thinks his axle is about to fall out. He was right. The leaf spring mount had torn off the frame. Pulled out a tarp, a generator, and a welder and put it back on.
Fairbanks at 0500. Slept till 0945. Father-in-law met us with a truck the owner of Valley Car Rentals, LLC loaned him so we didn’t have to run the leased truck down and
Home at 1936.
Thanks to the AK DOT crew, Valley Car Rental, and every one else who helped us along our journey.
The black Chevy is still in Fairbanks getting a new engine. Alaska charges a toll. We’re still paying it.
We are cleaning things and resetting for the next two days before boats start to go out for moose season.
