Good Morning guys from Haines Junction on the Alaska Highway! It's a brisk morning
today... It's about 9:30 the Sun is starting to come up over there... We stayed
the night in the camper! It was minus 9 this morning when we woke up... We stayed
in Destruction Bay. Normally we camp in the... When we are on the Alaska Highway... More
rural stretches but we're... This is like the coldest we have ever camped in this
thing! So we wanted to be somewhere where... If things went wrong, there were services
available! Because it is dire up here if... You know... It's minus 9, enough said!
So yeah! We're topping off the tank and... Making our push on the Alaska Highway
and ahh... This is the second video from the journey! So make sure you catch the first
one if you're jumping in on this one... But it's going to be fun and it's going to be unique!
Well, despite being -9 when we woke up in Destruction Bay this morning... We were
surprisingly comfortable and cozy in the back of the truck!
The Wallace stove kept the cabin perfectly warm! The Espar hardly had to
click on... The weak links in the cabin are showing themselves and next time we stop...
We'll take you back there and show you what we're talking about! But the FUSO
as per usual is a rock star! And this is exactly why we purchased this truck!
Because we didn't want to ever have to worry about traversing roads of this
nature and... Between the fact that we have the Espar which warms the engine while
we're sleeping in the back... And the four-wheel-drive components of the truck...
It's just exactly what we hoped it to be... And is working stupendously!... So yesterday
we covered about four hundred and seventy miles which was pretty darn good!
Considering that stretch always seems to take forever! Just between the canyon
outside of Palmer, the frost heaves on the top cut off... The frost heaves by the
Canadian and US border... It is just slow going and... For the most part we with road
conditions as well... We were only cruising about 40 to 50 miles an hour! Today, we're
cruising 62!... We always say one of these times that we drive the Alcan... We're
going to take our time and really enjoy Canada and all places along the way that
it offers! It's not gonna be this time though... This is a very inhospitable
environment! We are not dilly-dallying our way down the road...
It's already kind of unique because we do really have to drive in the dark in
order to make any kind of time at all! We're trying to balance it with stopping
at the hot springs and doing some enjoyable things like that but... This is
kind of all business! We got to get down the highway, get to warmer temperatures and
better road conditions... Alright our first stop of the day aside from that
gas break is at Takhini Hot Springs... We need a shower! It's been two days and
who doesn't enjoy soaking in hot water! The fact that we're able to heat the cab
with the coolant from the engine while we're driving... Ooh...
We're not level! It's a game-changer because it's 65 degrees in here right
now! So you remember Beck mentioning that
there are the weak links of the camper that we knew about... And they are showing
themselves! So now it's time to show them to you!... So I'm not sure what the proper
term is but... We have an aluminum walled camper and... It's not composite and
they're styrofoam in the walls but... Metal conducts electricity. It also transfers
or conducts hot and cold... So that is actual frost that is on some bolts that
kind of go into the frame of the camper! And this isn't too unusual for campers...
But there's frost forming on the door frame and... Those little screws that hold
the RV lock are frosting up as well!... And the other weak link in our camper has to
do with the gray tank! It's outside of the box!... The box is completely exposed
but the grey tank is on the outside and... Despite putting... I don't know about a
quart of RV antifreeze down the sink and down the shower, that line has froze up
again!... Which renders our sink pretty much useless!... Which then in turns to... Doing your
dishes in a bowl and tossing it outside!... I
think we mentioned that we put new struts in... But I don't think we've
actually shown you... Yes!... And I am so happy this works so well! Because then you just
close it and sit down to eat! This isn't like wasted space then... The
Wallas is now a Rockstar!! So that's our stove for cooking... Put the lid down and
you have a heater!... So we obviously know that composite walls are where it's at...
But everybody has a budget and we still feel very fortunate to have this camper!
You know, despite the walls... It's kind of amazing! We have all the right components
otherwise but the walls! But composite walls, they do come at a price guys! We
were very warm back here last night! It was so great!... But this camper is
definitely not capable of sustaining long periods of time in this climate!
Yeah!... We can traverse it, drive through it... But sustain for a long period of time...
No!... And once we get to a drier climate, we are gonna have to open everything up and
let it air out... Probably several times! Well, we're making it easy today! Turkey
sandwiches from Turkey that I roasted and or cooked in the instant pot... And
then salmon chowder... It's smoked salmon chowder from our friend Margaret! We ate
dinner with them the last night we were in Alaska and they sent leftovers with
us... Well, now it's time to charge up the battery on this camera and get cleaned
up and get our soak on!
Back on the road, all cleaned up! We have a driver switch... Beck's taking the wheel...
Leaving Whitehorse right now... It felt good to enjoy Takhini Hot Springs... I hope
the footage turned out for you because devices and batteries do not like subsea
weather!... Yeah, we are just gonna keep pushing! I don't know exactly where we're
gonna stop for the night but... We do kind of still want to stay somewhere where
there might be a human being! Just in case something goes wrong with
all the redundant heating systems on the camper through the night so... We'll just
take it as it goes but either way, we're gonna have to drive when it's dark!
We have stopped for the night in Watson Lake... The next big place really doesn't
exist until fort st. John, so it's a calculated move... There's some truckers
here parked on the street... But we're right across the street from a very
famous landmark on the Alaska Highway... The Sign Post Forest and... Oh, there's a
Breaking Bad Motorhome right there and there's a couple semis... But yeah, it's
somewhere around 0 to minus 10 depending on which thermometer you look at but...
Yeah, well check this out... The struggle is real guys!! It is that bitterly cold on
this journey!... I wanted to touch on one thing real quick guys! It's our
electrical system... Solar and batteries... The sun this time of year... Solstice is
literally less than a week away... It's low on the horizon and it doesn't stay up
for long! Panels are not getting much of anything so... Fortunately, we have these
Battleborn lithium batteries and they have been amazing!! We have not gotten
below... Waking up... Below 65% left on the battery! Let's see if that shows up but
this little Victron app is amazing!! So right now, I have 47.3 coming in...
Because there's that little switch where I can link the alternator to charge the
house batteries... And I have it flipped right now but when we arrived... We're at
96%! I'm just topping it off because we're
gonna be running the heat all night!... That's wrapped for tonight, we will see
you in the morning!