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| In awe of the beauty! |
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| Here we go! |
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| Approaching Stewart |
Friday, August 29, 2014
Approaching the End - Day 27
Hi everyone,
I haven't heard from Chuck since Tuesday. I've only received three pictures - two of glaciers and one that leads me to believe it's the road into Alaska. I heard a rumor they made it already, but you know how rumors go. Until I hear from them myself, I'm not going to post this as fact. The pics came with little details, so I'll share with you what I have.
In case some are still wondering, the men decided to go to Stewart, BC (which is on the Canada-US border) instead of Prince Rupert. It made for easier AK entry.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Day 25 and Finally Rain!
DAY 25!
Guess what? It’s raining out this morning. Let’s hope by the time we take off it will have stopped.
Guess what? It’s raining out this morning. Let’s hope by the time we take off it will have stopped.
It rained all night. We finally took off about 8:30 AM as it had let up. We made it about 8 miles and it started sprinkling (or is that sprinklering Sandi?). It got a little harder and we finally had to seek shelter under a tree at about 11 miles. My head and heart are no longer swollen. The rest of the day continued in the same fashion . Not a down pour but hard sprinkles enough to make us stop and take shelter. Fortunately today Tim followed us in the motor home so-to-speak and we were always close enough to catch up and seek shelter there. We realize how fortunate we’ve been. If we would have had weather like this off and on throughout the trip we’d probably be back in Edmonton! Ouch.
As long as we're talking about rain, let’s talk again about trains. Mike counted one with 151 cars (he’s been going nuts since I counted one with more than he had counted). He wins! About time he won something!?
GOOD NEWS: We made 82 miles today and we have only about 70 to go tomorrow to reach Stewart. It looks very mountainous however. We’ll see. WE ARE SUPER EXCITED. And, we are told Hyder is a community of old hippies so we might just fit right in!? (at least Tim and Mike will). We are also anxious to see if we can see Grizzlies getting salmon in the river. Mike says they probably aren’t there now...what a naysayer.
COMMUNICATION: Jim Larson saved the day. Tim Bradwell knew Jim as a computer expert and a customer and suggested I call him with my communication/computer problems (which were serious). Anyhow, spending almost 30 minutes on the phone with Jim as I tried (sitting in McDonald's) to get my computer to communicate. Trying to do this over the phone really makes it tough. Jim came through and somehow by the end I was communicating again. If you need an expert call Jim. My HERO!
We’ve learned that as we draw closer to Stewart and Alaska communication is going to be even tougher...so if there’s a black out period that’s why.
HOME: Our trip home might be just as adventurous as the trip out as we are going back to Jasper and then south to Calgary and into the states. That’s lots of mountains and I hope this old buggy can make that. If not we will hang our hopes on Tim "Mr. Fixit" Bradwell to come to the rescue.
~Chuck
As long as we're talking about rain, let’s talk again about trains. Mike counted one with 151 cars (he’s been going nuts since I counted one with more than he had counted). He wins! About time he won something!?
GOOD NEWS: We made 82 miles today and we have only about 70 to go tomorrow to reach Stewart. It looks very mountainous however. We’ll see. WE ARE SUPER EXCITED. And, we are told Hyder is a community of old hippies so we might just fit right in!? (at least Tim and Mike will). We are also anxious to see if we can see Grizzlies getting salmon in the river. Mike says they probably aren’t there now...what a naysayer.
COMMUNICATION: Jim Larson saved the day. Tim Bradwell knew Jim as a computer expert and a customer and suggested I call him with my communication/computer problems (which were serious). Anyhow, spending almost 30 minutes on the phone with Jim as I tried (sitting in McDonald's) to get my computer to communicate. Trying to do this over the phone really makes it tough. Jim came through and somehow by the end I was communicating again. If you need an expert call Jim. My HERO!
We’ve learned that as we draw closer to Stewart and Alaska communication is going to be even tougher...so if there’s a black out period that’s why.
HOME: Our trip home might be just as adventurous as the trip out as we are going back to Jasper and then south to Calgary and into the states. That’s lots of mountains and I hope this old buggy can make that. If not we will hang our hopes on Tim "Mr. Fixit" Bradwell to come to the rescue.
~Chuck
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| We are in the mountains again! |
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| Downhill is good. |
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| What a view! |
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| I'm always ahead of Mike |
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| We could not ride this road. |
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| Beautiful. |
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| Here we go! |
Communication Challenges
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| Signs sometimes cause confusion: we didn't know where we were suppose to go? |
Hi everyone,
Chuck and Mike apparently are having communication challenges, so Chuck's posts are lighter than normal. In fact, the Day 23 post was cut off at the bottom and apparently I missed some information (which is kind of funny if you read it and compare it to the Day 24 post). Chuck just emailed me with concern asking me to post what was missed, so here ya go:
"Today we also saw another helicopter carrying a big bucket below it; we’re sure this has something to do with the fires. Another gorgeous day, couldn't be better. We have been so blessed in that regard.
On a negative note, we can’t communicate...something with the server I think. I called Cosby (my son) and he suggested the same and maybe wait till we get a different server? Keep your fingers crossed.
I’m too tired to write much more; hopefully we’ll be able to communicate soon and the pictures will help tell the story.
THANK YOU: We think it’s about time we said a HUGE Thank You to Paula Elert, our editor, our blogger, our creator, our coach, etc.. Paula was the inspiration and the spark behind the blog. Without her it wouldn't be. She keeps us going. Thank you Paula!!"
Awww, thanks Chuck. It has been my pleasure. There are so many people to thank, I'm sure it's hard to remember to name everyone. So many of you have helped, supported, and cheered Mike and Chuck on in some way. I know it means the world to them and I know they are looking to thanking all of you in person when the get back home!
More pics and stories to come, I'll get them posted as soon as I can.
~Paula
Monday, August 25, 2014
Day 24 - The End is in Sight
Day 24
This isn’t just beautiful it is AWESOME!! The glacier. The smoke and the smoke disappearing. The beautiful dog. The helicopter carrying the buckets of water. The waterfalls coming down from the glacier. We are nearing the end and we are about at the end!
We are having fun, getting to know each other and Canada a lot better. Did we tell you about the trains? Lots and lots of trains. We’ve frequently seen trains with 100+ cars (today there was one with 132 cars). There have been many train stops where you had to wait for the train to pass for more than 5 minutes. When in Jasper, there were two trains passing (one going each way) and it took over 10 minutes. Reminds me of when I was a kid and had long waits for a train to pass. Anyone else remember that?
A bit of trivia - with all these miles you have a lot of time to think. I have counted the number of cars going past me (my side of the road) many times and have calculated that almost 50,000 cars have whizzed past us while riding through Canada. We had one pass yesterday that was the closest ever. We were on a shoulder that was 3’ wide at best. This SUV was pulling a bigger camper that stuck out on the sides and the camper missed me by about 12”. It wasn’t a thrill. It was a stunner! Mike just said, "WOW"! Yeah, wow.
Rain - This may be the most incredible thing to happen yet. It is raining right now (fairly hard actually). We finished our walking, after our riding, about 15 minutes ago, with no rain at all during either. Last night it rained almost all night but stopped early this morning. In our prescheduled and unchanged days of riding while training there were 42 days scheduled for riding (during the months of June and July) and we never had to face rain during that period. During the past 24 days in Canada we have not faced rain yet during the day. Wouldn’t you agree our God is and Awesome God!?!
We plan to reach Alaska in two days (or maybe the 3rd day). Yes, TWO DAYS! We are a little ahead of schedule for three reasons: 1. No Rain! 2. Getting in shape and picking up the pace. 3. It is actually 73 miles closer than predicted to Alaska.
A few special THANK YOU's...
Please Please pray for us during the next two days. God Bless You! We hope to see you all SOON!
~The Grace Fund Crew
This isn’t just beautiful it is AWESOME!! The glacier. The smoke and the smoke disappearing. The beautiful dog. The helicopter carrying the buckets of water. The waterfalls coming down from the glacier. We are nearing the end and we are about at the end!
We are having fun, getting to know each other and Canada a lot better. Did we tell you about the trains? Lots and lots of trains. We’ve frequently seen trains with 100+ cars (today there was one with 132 cars). There have been many train stops where you had to wait for the train to pass for more than 5 minutes. When in Jasper, there were two trains passing (one going each way) and it took over 10 minutes. Reminds me of when I was a kid and had long waits for a train to pass. Anyone else remember that?
A bit of trivia - with all these miles you have a lot of time to think. I have counted the number of cars going past me (my side of the road) many times and have calculated that almost 50,000 cars have whizzed past us while riding through Canada. We had one pass yesterday that was the closest ever. We were on a shoulder that was 3’ wide at best. This SUV was pulling a bigger camper that stuck out on the sides and the camper missed me by about 12”. It wasn’t a thrill. It was a stunner! Mike just said, "WOW"! Yeah, wow.
Rain - This may be the most incredible thing to happen yet. It is raining right now (fairly hard actually). We finished our walking, after our riding, about 15 minutes ago, with no rain at all during either. Last night it rained almost all night but stopped early this morning. In our prescheduled and unchanged days of riding while training there were 42 days scheduled for riding (during the months of June and July) and we never had to face rain during that period. During the past 24 days in Canada we have not faced rain yet during the day. Wouldn’t you agree our God is and Awesome God!?!
We plan to reach Alaska in two days (or maybe the 3rd day). Yes, TWO DAYS! We are a little ahead of schedule for three reasons: 1. No Rain! 2. Getting in shape and picking up the pace. 3. It is actually 73 miles closer than predicted to Alaska.
A few special THANK YOU's...
To our coaches and gear experts, Frank and Duane, at Cyclova in St Croix Falls. The gear they sold to us:
- Gloves
- Long sleeve shirts and short sleeve shirts
- Funny hat
- Shoes
- EXCELLENT bike (will last the whole trip and worked and wore well)
- Hand pump
Please Please pray for us during the next two days. God Bless You! We hope to see you all SOON!
~The Grace Fund Crew
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| I went for my prayer walk outside the campground and this guy came up and nipped at me a little bit then followed me for over 2 miles running out and then always back to me. I got back to the campground and he followed me to out site and sat outside the door and waited. Finally I came out to do my computer update and he just sat there with me. I never fed him or gave him water or anything. The owner of the RV park came with a rope and took him away and tied to a tree. He was a beautiful dog, if I could have I’d have brought him home. |
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| We are staying in Glacier View RV park. What you see is a glacier. AMAZING. We just sit and keep staring. |
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| As we pulled into Smithers you could see the ski slopes. |
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| This is our arrival late yesterday in Smithers. That’s a glacier in the back ground. |
Day 23
We saw our first bear today! It was a black bear off in the field and he ran across the road in front of us. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a picture. Next time. We think we are down to five day before we reach Alaska. The days are getting colder, we are getting older, but the bikes are holding up well. We are trying to be at par with them. We road over 70 miles yesterday and we can smell the finish line. Walking didn’t keep up as only put up 2 miles doing daily prayers of thanksgiving and safe requests for the future. Please keep praying for us, it is making a difference. Thank you!
Here is our recorded miles for the 1st 3 weeks and 1 day:
Day-Walk-Ride-Total
1 (8/2 Sat.) 7.5 55 62.5
2 (8/3 Sun.) 1 60 61
3 (8/4 Mon.) 5 52 57
4 (8/5 Tue) 4 14.8 18.8
5 (8/6 Wed) 8 60 68
6 (8/7 Thur) 8 47.1 55.1
7 (8/8 Fri) 12.5 60.2 72.7
8 (8/9 Sat) 28 35.2 63.2
9 (8/10 Sun) 7 30 37
10 (8/11 Mon) 16 53.9 69.9
11 (8/12 Tue) 4 57 61
12 (8/13 Wed) 18 50.4 68.4
13 (8/14 Thur) 11 49.4 60.4
14 (8/15 Fri) 14 61.1 75.1
15 (8/16 Sat) 15 55 70
16 (8/17 Sun) 6 62.6 68.6
17 (8/18 Mon) 16 60.2 76.2
18 (8/19 Tue) 17 64 81
19 (8/20 Wed) 2 60.5 62.5
20 (8/21 Thur) 11.5 50 61.5
21 (8/22 Fri) 16.6 52.6 69.2
22 (8/23 Sat) 2 75 77
TOTAL 230.1 1166 1396.1
Here is our recorded miles for the 1st 3 weeks and 1 day:
Day-Walk-Ride-Total
1 (8/2 Sat.) 7.5 55 62.5
2 (8/3 Sun.) 1 60 61
3 (8/4 Mon.) 5 52 57
4 (8/5 Tue) 4 14.8 18.8
5 (8/6 Wed) 8 60 68
6 (8/7 Thur) 8 47.1 55.1
7 (8/8 Fri) 12.5 60.2 72.7
8 (8/9 Sat) 28 35.2 63.2
9 (8/10 Sun) 7 30 37
10 (8/11 Mon) 16 53.9 69.9
11 (8/12 Tue) 4 57 61
12 (8/13 Wed) 18 50.4 68.4
13 (8/14 Thur) 11 49.4 60.4
14 (8/15 Fri) 14 61.1 75.1
15 (8/16 Sat) 15 55 70
16 (8/17 Sun) 6 62.6 68.6
17 (8/18 Mon) 16 60.2 76.2
18 (8/19 Tue) 17 64 81
19 (8/20 Wed) 2 60.5 62.5
20 (8/21 Thur) 11.5 50 61.5
21 (8/22 Fri) 16.6 52.6 69.2
22 (8/23 Sat) 2 75 77
TOTAL 230.1 1166 1396.1
Sunday, August 24, 2014
More Pics - Day 22
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| Cold weather gear |
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| Scenery is changing... |
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| Terrain & Traffic |
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| Mountains are getting closer again and so is more smoke... |
Friday, August 22, 2014
Day 22
Day 22
This has to be the most beautiful day we’ve had. Hard to say that because there have been so many, but the day started cool (that’s ok) and following that there was not a cloud in the sky and very little breeze. PERFECT.
We had a new situation to deal with: Illness. That’s right; Tim woke up with a cold (thought he felt hot the night before and then cool and then hot again). We stayed put and had him stay in bed all day which he did. He slept all afternoon: WOW. Tonight he feels much better. Whew! So, Mike and I rode down the highway east and then back. Then went for a walk. We put on some good miles without much forward progress.
Sidenote: When Mike and I rode past the local school the teachers were picketing. School hasn’t started yet and there were no cars in the lot, etc., so seemed kinda lame, but whatever (Chad). Anyhow, we stopped and asked a teacher striking what they were striking about - he said too many students in the class, too many special needs kids in each class, and not enough money! He said the supreme court has already approved all of this but the government hasn’t acted. I said good luck, my wife used to be a teacher and he immediately said, “where did she teach?” I said we are from Wisconsin and he laughed and said then you understand. ?????
I don’t.
This has to be the most beautiful day we’ve had. Hard to say that because there have been so many, but the day started cool (that’s ok) and following that there was not a cloud in the sky and very little breeze. PERFECT.
We had a new situation to deal with: Illness. That’s right; Tim woke up with a cold (thought he felt hot the night before and then cool and then hot again). We stayed put and had him stay in bed all day which he did. He slept all afternoon: WOW. Tonight he feels much better. Whew! So, Mike and I rode down the highway east and then back. Then went for a walk. We put on some good miles without much forward progress.
Sidenote: When Mike and I rode past the local school the teachers were picketing. School hasn’t started yet and there were no cars in the lot, etc., so seemed kinda lame, but whatever (Chad). Anyhow, we stopped and asked a teacher striking what they were striking about - he said too many students in the class, too many special needs kids in each class, and not enough money! He said the supreme court has already approved all of this but the government hasn’t acted. I said good luck, my wife used to be a teacher and he immediately said, “where did she teach?” I said we are from Wisconsin and he laughed and said then you understand. ?????
I don’t.
~Chuck
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| Scenery change - we are now out of the mountains (for awhile anyway). |
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