Stranded On Alaska Highway Winter Van Camping Part 6
I've seen a moose oh no this isn't good got all sorts of error messages coming up now lost power steering I've lost my screen everything's shutting off this is going to break down but here's the thing I've probably got no brakes I've got no ABS I've got hardly any steering whoa whoa whoa it's going okay it's going this is a major problem okay welcome back everybody to part six I think the final part of this video this series of Alaska um so sitrep we're by the side of the road in a pass Mountain Pass we're a th000 meters high it's been snowing all night a snowplow just went past and slammed the side of the van with snow I dread to think what it looks like out there I just looked out the window it looks pretty deep I haven't had a coffee or anything yet but I have got a lot of work to do to probably dig our way out of here so I think first of all I'm going to get a coffee on and then we're going to get to it so we're going to have to start the engine up heat the engine clear the wind screen everything else and see if I have to dig my way out or see if I can under my own steam drive back out onto the road wish me luck coffee first though okay sitre the hits just keep on coming so that noise when I started up that was the alternator belt and now I've got a battery light has come on and the house batteries are not charging so I would say the alternator is gone that's probably why the house batteries haven't been charging properly this is a big problem this is going to be a mega big problem this means I've got to get to Anchorage and get this alternator fixed and not mess around I've got to dig my way out of here and hope for the best cuz I'm now driving on battery power only which means I've got to turn off everything I can heating uh D everything no seat heater nothing cuz that's all going to run off that b tree nightmare so I've got to go out there start scraping everything we just got to get this done so let's get out there let's start scraping clearing the window stuff and let's drive out of here uh I'm going to have to push my way out through the snow probably but I've just got to go I can't mess around cuz I can't afford for this thing to break down and I can't turn the engine off cuz it might not start again so I've got to get out there and deal with this now right now there's a snow plout right outside so he might come and help me get out of here if I need it right let's see what we're dealing with here how deep is this oh it's not too bad look there's snow power right there [Music] got two snow plows two snow plows to help me I have problem problem great see even my day running lights are not on right let me set the camera up so you can see what I'm doing oh they probably thought there was nobody in here a a you know I can smell burning I think it's the alternator is fried for all right let's try and get out of here yeah I can smell burning which means definitely a fried alternator but I'll tell you what the battery light the battery light is on so that makes sense that it would be a fried alternator and that's why I can smell that burning smell out there either that or the well I don't know what I just don't know what there's no signal anywhere here I can't run the starlink now I'm going to have to shut everything off this is a major problem everybody this is a major problem we could be in trouble if I break down on this pass well there's no mobile signal up here I'd have to start up this sty link off of the house batteries I can't run the heating let me move you over um so what I'll do is oh I've got to run one fan on the wind screen all right let's see if we can get out of here I'm quite concerned now I was fine before but now I know but it's good job that snow plows there okay let's back up a bit first and see uhoh oh we might be out we might be out come on come on come on come on come on okay we're out we're out no problem cool oh oh man now I can't run with my lights on this is nuts I can't put anything on oh I've got all sorts of Errors now clean front Shield oh okay that's nothing look at this it's a almost a white out yeah I can't run with my lights on in fact I'm not sure my Daylights are running either which is nuts because I didn't see any lights on outside when I was cleaning it what am I going to do I've got 100 miles of this and it's not going to be charging the battery because it's burnt out oh this is ridiculous I'm running the heating onto the windscreen with just one fan that's it so okay let's see what happened I started the engine and it started squeaking that's the alternator belt I don't have any spare parts this is a rental van and the burning smell wouldn't matter probably needs a new alternator which means I am now running completely off of battery not charging the battery which means at some point this thing's going to die so I need to save as much power as possible I need to turn the screen off I mean I'm sure the screen doesn't use much power but gosh it won't keep going without battery it's going to die and people are going to think I'm nuts for driving without lights on but I haven't got any choice see I've got someone coming up behind me now this is going to be the worst flipping 100 miles Drive I think I've ever had to do hoping this thing doesn't just die on me all right everybody I'll i h I guess I'll bring you back I don't even think I'm getting any heat out of the engine coolant temperature high oh no what is going on my engine temperature is suddenly recording Max what is going on I've got a feeling this thing's going to break down my engine temperature is now saying it's at Max how is that possible I've cleared all the vents that's got to be an error I've got no heat coming out of the engine let me just see if there's any hot air coming out of this thing no it's cold air it's completely cold air so the heater has failed as well or I I don't know what it is all right everybody I'm going to push on just what do I do at least the plows have gone through and the road is smooth I need to get back to mobile signal reception call the camper van people and say look there's a chance this is not going to make it to Anchorage I didn't want to have to drive to Anchorage today either that's a 5H hour drive this isn't going to make it 5 hours not is just running on battery and there's no alternator which means this thing is going to break down all right everybody I'll bring you back and let you know what's going on the time right now is 7:30 let's see how far I make it all right it's a few minutes later so I've keyed in so the the garage the petrol station at Glenn Allen is 80 [Music] mil so I guess we got to get 80 mil um now this is a service station I don't know it's it's a long shop but they might be able to fix the alternator they might have an alternator I'm assuming it's not the belt um because I could smell burning I I don't know it could be the belt we'll see uh I'm getting all sorts of error messages now from my temperature so first it gets too hot now there's nothing there's no temperature it's just zero it's not showing me a single thing I'm assuming soon my dials will stop working as the battery gets below a certain level but anyway I've got 79 mil 1 hour 21 minutes I'll get there at 9:00 a.m. according to this it would be foolish to push on from there without at least speaking to the company and finding out what can be done I'd rather not have to have a tow vehicle come and get me but then it's a long way to Anchorage a long way it's another three something hours drive and who knows what's going to happen it could break down I don't want to break down the side of the road so it' be foolish to push on past the service center if that's an option it's got mobile signal I could park up there the night if necessary and maybe the the River Wild camper fans can bring me out a replacement vehicle I think they've got jeeps and things like that cuz I've still got a few days left but I don't know if this thing's not going to make it without a new alternator all right 1 hour 20 78 mil let's get there you know what just occurred to me if I had carried on last night driving and I left a bit later and was driving in the dark with my lights on and the alternator went my lights would cut out they would drain the battery so quickly so I was lucky it was all very fortuitous that I actually stopped where I did I just saw another promas camper vam parked up just a minute ago in a layby covered in snow doing exactly what I did as well just thought well I'm not driving in this [Music] yeah quite nervous how how how long this thing's going to last for all right 70 [Music] M oh no this isn't good I've got all sorts of eror messages coming up now service ABS service transmission service engine service ESC system that's the traction control I've lost power steering I've lost my screen everything's shutting off blind spot alert temper i' I've lost power steering I can feel it oh no service engine this is going to break down service transmission it's going and I am not in mobile signal I'm going to have to set the starlink up and hope I can get a signal I'm losing power this thing's dying right I need to find a layby to pull into but here's the thing I've probably got no brakes I've got no ABS I've got got hardly any steering this is pretty serious now I don't want to stop on the road here I need a layby whoa It's revving out of control service transmission start vehicle in park to continue whoa whoa whoa it's going okay okay I'm going to have to stop here drowsy driver everything is dying everything is dying I got so many errors look at this I can hear the engine boiling it's dead let me shut it off oh no it's completely died on me have I got hazards I've got hazards oh what a smell it's boiling listen that's water pump failure everything has failed at least I'm on a straight bit of Road everyone can see me let me just check my hazard lights are working yeah they're working okay well I better unlock the doors just to make sure they all work all right I'll bring you back everybody what a nightmare I've got to get the starlink set up I've got a call for help this is not what I needed thank God I've got the star link I'd be in real trouble otherwise I'll bring you back okay now I've got limited house battery power as well so I don't want I can't put heating on in here because that hasn't been charging at all so the problem is H okay you see I'm got to put this up here this is not going to be the best filming I'm sorry everybody I've just got to get on with this oh it stinks the engine stinks transmission stinks the engine stinks okay I've got my starlink set up I should get a signal soon unbelievable unbelievable I need to scrape these indicators to make sure everyone can see me what an end what an end to my trip at least it happened at the the end and not the beginning unreal po it's really stinking out here I don't know if that's the transmission I don't know what it is hey Dodge r R Ram your trucks suck they suck okay I've got to wait till I've got signal and then I'll call for help all right sitre yeah so I've spoken to the company I've spoken to Caroline she's absolutely mortified um it's never happened to them before I am in a bit of a nightmare cuz I'm 50 now I'm 50 m from Valdes that's 5 I'm 70 M from Glen Glenn Allen and I'm like 200 and something miles 250 Mi or something from Anchorage so they're going to have to bring a flat bait truck cuz she has never dealt with this so she didn't even know they have to lift they have to put this whole thing on the back of a flatbed truck and then drive it back to Anchorage there's no point trying to get it repaired um at Glenn Allen which is further up 70 Mi or back at Valdes which is 50 Mi back because to be honest judging by the smell and judging by the boiling water and everything else I'd say this thing's got a lot of problems so she can have a van ready for me of course instantly which she'll do but she's she's kind of shocked because she's never had to deal with this before this is going to take hours hours and hours it's going to take even by the time she if she manages to find someone they've got to drive all the way out here and they're not ready yet obviously luckily it's first thing in the morning so hopefully I could be their first emergency call I would say to get for a a flatbed truck from Anchorage to here is going to take four or five hours yeah four or five hours and then it's four or 5 hours back to Anchorage and I would obviously go with the uh with the pickup truck with the uh rescue van be in the passenger seat while we drive all the way back and then move everything over to the other van or whatever vehicle they get that's the least of my concern right now my concern right now is just getting rescued which she's organizing now thank God I've got starlink now the other problem I have is I don't have much power left in the house batteries cuz I was running the heating all night and my starlink and the fridge so I Daren run the heater cuz the most important thing to me right now is my styling up there and I've got that running on minimum so I haven't got the snow melting feature on although it's only it's barely snowing oh the smell of burning from this engine is horrible should we have a look and just see what's I wonder if it's spilled over anyway people are going to be stopping a lot to say do we need help and blah blah blah blah blah um I'm sure oh yeah complete coolant meltdown look all the coolants gone all the coolant is gone so boiled it boiled over because probably the water pump wasn't working and the alternator was blown so yeah complete disaster this guy's going to stop and probably ask me if I need help all right I'll bring you back okay that was the Department of Transport Ranger with a plow on luckily so he's like oh man so he's got radio and everything so he's going to get them to bring flares and a triangle and set it up at the back there um and Hope hopefully because he says they've got a whole bunch of trucks coming with gravel and they don't want them slamming into the back of me and this is a white vehicle so it's kind of Blends in a bit it's not obvious and those hazard lights are tiny so they want to put uh flares down and probably a triangle or something at the at the bend all the way back there just to warn people um that I'm here and then maybe something up ahead up there just to warn people that I'm here and yeah yeah I told him my predicament he said oh Anchorage oh jeez so yeah it's going to take a long long time I am here for all day probably and you know what's the worst thing now I've got to listen to this the hazard sound that's oh it's going to drive me absolutely insane oh ah well look I can't do anything about it so it is what it is this is going to be a weird video I could get a ride in with someone else but I don't want to leave all my gear here yeah I've got so much gear spread out in here uh it probably would make sense for me to start packing and putting everything in the suitcase and stuff like that so I guess that's what I'm going to be doing today is basically packing everything away getting it in my suitcase getting it in my bag um putting all my electronics away stuff like that yeah so that's it that's all I got to do today nothing else at least having coffee doesn't require any power because it's gas and I've got loads of gas so I can cook I've got a warm coat it's minus three outside so it's not warm it is chilly uh and it's pretty cold in here now so I'll just put warm coat on gloves I'll be okay oh you know what I don't think I've ever had a major breakdown before where I've had to have the vehicle lifted and taken away this is definitely a first all right everyone look there's nothing else to report so uh as things happen I'll bring you back all right sitrep it's 10:30 in the morning so I guess I've been here what almost a couple of hours I've been up on the Up on the Roof I'll I'll put this up so you can see and I've cleaned off the solar panels so that at least the starlink has enough power and uh yeah so I don't run out of juice uh Caroline at uh River Wild has just messaged me saying they've got a tow company is on the way they're coming from Wasilla which is closer than Anchorage but it's still going to be 3 and 1/2 to 4 and 1/2 hours look at this backdrop though isn't that beautiful wind's picked up but it's lovely so I've got a little bit of heating going on in the van um I've got it set to 17° it's just enough takes the edge off and it's quite toasty I'm going to use this opportunity these three and a half to 4 hours to edit the last the previous video video number five this is all video number six and will be the last video it's a good job I ended on that one so my theory after Googling it I was right about the water pump uh a lot of people there's a lot of comments about people saying that what happens is the water pump blows and uh it wrecks the alternator but I think it was just a catastrophic failure of both of them at the same time um and yeah there's no coolant in there it's completely gone it's it's it's all drained out somewhere on the road so it is it just is what it is and yeah I'm going to be sitting here for quite a while so the plan is that the toe company toer us something like that they're going to take me to Anchorage and Caroline is going to arrange hopefully to have a replacement camper van waiting for me at the tow company uh so as soon as I turn up I can just I I what I'll do is I'll pack everything pack my cases and everything and then as soon as I turn up I can then just dump all my stuff into the new van and drive off again and continue on my Merry way for the next couple of days that's the plan anyway so um nothing else to report really I will bring you back in 3 and a half to 4 and a/ half hours I'm going to sit in here have coffees do editing I might have something to eat but you don't need to see all that and then bring you back for the tow van the tow truck hopefully you can fit in here no problem and um we'll take it from there cuz then I've got another four and a bit hours back to their tow Depot uh or wherever it is in Anchorage so or 5 hours so this is a long this is going to be a long day so if he's getting here in 4 hours that's going to be um 230 and then four or 5 hours back cuz we got to load the vehicle as well I'm not going to be back in Anchorage until the evening long day all right everyone bring you back later when uh the tow vehicle has turned up you got to laugh could have been worse might not have been able to stop that would have been way worse here comes a uh snowplow but these guys know I'm here doing his thing oh that's good so he's laying gravel around me that's just in case uh people have to break that's what they've sent him off to do see and he stopped the gravel so he put gravel all the way around me just in case people have to break and he's cleared all the way up to me cool right I've only got a few more hours to go right sitre it's now 12:00 and any chance I thought of getting some solar is not going to happen because it started snowing out of nowhere where did this come from it isn't meant to be [Music] snowing this day just goes from bad to worse so look you can see on the road here where they've laid this line of gravel all the way around me all the way up to that corner just um so people don't slam into me and that they can break but they're coming past at 60 70 M an hour the whole van just rocks I moved right up onto the edge so the uh when the Department of Transport guy was here so I've moved right over I'm I'm I am actually off the side of the road it's just where they've plowed a bit so it's not so bad oh this is stingy snow but I need the solar and I'm not getting any in this the batteries are dangerously low now so I'm now not running any heating at all because I need starlink there is one other thing I can do if the house batteries pack up and I can't run the starlink anymore the battery for the truck is still okay so let's go in so I've turned the fridge off as well I've turned everything off everything is off in here heating nothing is on except my styling so if worse comes to worse I've got the special cable for my starlink and there's 12vt so if worse comes to worse I'll plug the 12vt in there and just turn the ignition on and just let it run like that that's if I run out of power anything here oh actually I am getting some solar 32 watts 31 Watts okay all right well that's more than the starlink is using so that's good I've just eaten I've had some kungpow chicken and a protein bar I'm going to have another protein bar cuz I was feeling cold and usually it means you just got to eat eat and eat and have hot drinks and just keep eating fuel your body and it it starts getting warm you'll warm up really quickly I say this in all my videos if you get cold you're in a tent or you're going to bed sleeping bag fuel up just eat honestly eat loads as much as you can and you'll soon be warm all right I reckon we got another two or 3 hours look at the speed this guy is coming you can see I'm stranded here look y they don't slow down all right I reckon I've got another two or 3 hours to wait this weather is obviously not going to speed things up if it's a white out all right anyway hopefully he won't be too long and uh I'll show you when he comes to rescue me okay I think the rescue vehicle is about less than an hour away now so I just wanted to show you where I I am just to put it in context so I am here how am I going to do this hold on right so I'm here this spot right here and the rescue vehicle is coming from here Wasilla which is near Anchorage so I've got to go he's got to come all that way and then take me all the way back round which is going to be 4 hours it's a long way is what it is though so here's the situation I've had to switch the heating off completely nothing is using any power because I've got a fraction of voltage left just enough to run the starlink and then once this and and luckily I've got enough solar coming that it's also giving me a bit more than what the starling's using but if I turn the heating on the batteries will be depleted so quickly so yeah I'm just sitting here waiting I've eaten I feel pretty warm now and uh now it's just a waiting game I think it'll be about an hour and he'll be here so I'll bring you back to show uh the rescue yep oh and I'm all packed everything is packed except my food which is in the bottom drawer down here and I'll just move that over to the other van when I get there in the evening which will be about 700 p.m. I'm guessing yeah hey okay it's now what time is it 3:30 that that took a long time and he's finally here he had to come a long way though I feel kind of bad for him that's a long drive check it out big rig all right I've got to get on with this I got to dismantle the starlink and then I've got a tow hook in here that I've just put in I'm assuming he's going to want to connect to that or I'll just drive it up to him uh but we'll see let's check out what he does oh he might just actually pick it up all by himself wow I think he's going to lift it up we'll see all right I'll bring you guys back I've got to go talk to [Applause] him this is a serious [Applause] [Music] rig woo I could have gone camping in this [Music] [Applause] it's nice to be rescued but we've got like 5 hours back oh man what a nightmare [Applause] that just fit awesome all right I guess we're almost ready to go he probably got to tie it down clamp it down so apparently there'll be a new van waiting for me uh in Wasilla which is where we're going um oh well yeah so I guess we'll be all done by 4:00 400 p.m. I guess we're not getting back there till 8:00 p.m. maybe it's a long day what time did
I leave 7:30 7:30 a.m. yeah long one oh well pick you back up on the road here our savior [Music] this thing's incredible all right looks like we're almost good to go bring you back in the truck oh oh my God heat what was your name again sorry KJ KJ that was it all right KJ say hi to everyone Hi cool all right see you guys in I don't know four or five hours all right we're [Music] here oh man that was long it is 8:56 p.m. it's a long day so I've got to get all of the stuff out of here and they've given me a brand new van here Caroline they've been awesome by the way River Wild have been superb great [Music] job all right so I'm going be chucking everything into the back here and then I've got to go and find somewhere to [Music] Camp woo so I got to take everything out of that [Music] [Applause] dropping at someone else is broken down here look the're dropping off all right so we can go in let's have a look at what we got in here it should be the same here we go ooh in fact this is a bit nicer I need to bring the cutlery and the basket over that was oh it's got a chopping board mine didn't have a chopping board oh excellent oh it smells very new a little few extra little features here that the other one didn't have oh no there's the basket okay uh they give you all the amenities but I've got to bring the cutlery over cuz she told me she forgot that lots of toilet roll okay we're good and the fridge is here under here big bed everything else the same heating it works all right good all right everyone well I'll bring you back after I've unpacked and we've worked out where we're going to go for the night ah welcome back everybody okay I'm in the van got to say a big thank you to Carolyn at River Wild hamper van she came through really well got a brand new van waiting for me here at the drop off everything perfect couldn't have asked for better service look these things happen and um it just is what it is you get breakdowns and that van had just been serviced it's not their fault right she's given me a location that will be handy just to basically go to tonight so I'm going to get there um automatic there we go I'm just going to get there and I'll bring you back when I'm at Camp I'm not going to film on Route there uh because I'm just going to get there so I'll bring you back once I'm at the campsite it's going to take me about 40 minutes I'll be there at about 10 p.m. it's 9:26 now all right everyone see you at Camp oh I'm here it's 10 past 10 I can't remember what time I got up six something 6:30 headed off 7:30 oh yeah well right what we need to do is I need to unpack get the lights on get the heating on I think I've parked at the sea I'm in seawood sew seawood and I think there's a view of mountains all around the highway is about 50 ft that way it's going to be a bit noisy but it doesn't matter for me I just need to go to sleep I need to have a drink first I need to have some rum right let's turn everything on all right we're going to get the heating on in here because it's pretty chilly out there let's crank this bad boy okay right need to cover up the windows this is different oh this is better you can open it oh I see it's better than the last one I'm struggling all right there we go oh man what am I doing wrong here it must go this way it's just falling down there we go right okay what I'll do is I'll pack bring you all back for some rum oh well oh well it's uh it's late I'm tired 10:43 I've got to have a drink there's just no way after the day I've had that I can't basically knock back a few Kracken I've had a look outside cuz I've set the starink cup I'm in an absolutely beautiful beautiful spot the only downside is it's noisy so there's a there's a road there and the Sea there um I'm in a full proper Turnin area parking area where Camp fans can park but I don't care about the noise to be honest I just want to be in a nice safe comfortable spot which I'm in I'm warm I'm in a new van it's very very similar to the other one it's got a few extra features I think this is newer so it's got different sockets it's got more lighting at the back here yeah I think it's actually nicer I think the bed is smaller so what did it oh I see what it is the bed is smaller so this is I think this is a 1 foot shorter or two foot shorter yeah so the bed is instead of that hu I thought that was weird that huge bed in the other one this is a bit bit smaller this is now this is more like a queen-sized bed uh which means the garage isn't as big either but you can barely notice it to be honest if there were two of you in here then maybe you notice but yeah I'm barely noticing it the rest of the space is exactly the same the heater is better in here because it's blowing the air up it's swirling around it's nice okay everyone cheers it's been a long day I'm cutting this off now I'm not going to do bedtime I want to say thank you to Caroline at um River Wild camper van they really came through look Vehicles breakdown just it is what it is the alternator went they go in the worst possible places and uh the water pump them blew it's it's not their fault it just been serviced fully serviced but they were on it very quickly they got someone out as fast as they could from their roadside assist program and then I want to thank KJ who came and rescued me from toer us toer us in Wasilla yeah KJ good lad um we had a great chat all the way it was 5 hours it was a long trip he must must be exhausted but uh we're both exhausted I can tell you that anyway we'll bring you back tomorrow still a few more days here refreshed invigorated tomorrow so night everybody see you in the morning morning everybody gosh that was a good sleep oh right let's see what's going on what time is it 1135 it looks Frosty what's happening out here gosh that's the view wow look at that oh that's pretty right we'll go out and have a look I finally worked out how to use these things they were pretty good right key so we're just in a lab by you'll see there's probably other people out here I haven't actually looked okay oh oh yeah beautiful this is quite a noisy road though but for this it's worth it so this is I don't know what sound this is that comes into [Applause] Anchorage wow that is absolutely gorgeous I'm assuming this is low tide beautiful right I need to get a coffee on going to do that urgently and then we'll head off we'll find where we're going next in seawood it's cold it's very cold I think it's about- 6 - 7 right we're off it's I've just been chilling it's about 20 to 10 in the morning this B was beautiful but it's windy so we're not far from Anchorage we're only 30 minutes from Anchorage what we're going to do today is oh and the temperature by the way was -6 but in the sun it's now 6 so what we're going to do today is go to Seward s e w r d I had to look up how to say it Seward and we're going to spend the night there and then tomorrow we've got a boat tour booked for 11:00 I'm hoping to see whales or something I don't know uh but that should be quite an adventure so we're going to meander it's about 93 miles to seed um it's and it's going to the sounds so Seward is in the sound so is it Prince Williams Sound I'm not 100% sure but that's where we're going today and it should be fun head Northeast toward Alaska 1 South oh I've got a door open somewhere uh door open where would that be that's it oh where am I going oh I'm all discombobulated yesterday was such such a long day I tell you I don't I don't want to go through that again so I think that van so that that it was a good van it was I guess it was bigger than this one slightly um but this one is newer this is a 2024 and we're in March 2025 this has got some extra features on it that I quite like just electronics and stuff like that I think it's got a different engine not as powerful but more economical but it feels the same to drive um um had a great sleep last night now I got a I got some comments cuz I posted pictures of of me being stranded I got quite a few comments saying why didn't River Wild camper van bring this van to me on the back of that flat bear truck and drop it off and pick up the other one all right so let me explain what happened um River Wild so when you when you book a rental like this a van like this you you're using uh them and you pay for insurance roadside assistance recovery which is what I did and so what they did is they used their they called their roadside uh uh recovery and they contacted a whole bunch of tow companies very difficult to get someone to come out that far uh Al last so Anchorage to where I was was2 80 miles very very difficult to get someone to do it also the van company is in the middle of Anchorage so they would have had to have a van ready which would have all added time it would have all added a lot of time and it would probably have added 2 hours to the rescue for them to even get out to me the priority was to come and get me um that's always the priority for the rescue guys it's just they've got to get a vehicle to you as quickly as possible possible cuz it's cold and whatever so it's not their fault at all also the tow company that they finally managed to get wasn't in Anchorage it was closer to where I was so they would have had to go back to Anchorage get to get a van that wasn't going to be ready um they didn't just have a van ready to go uh so they would have had to wait get a van and then bring that van all the way back to where they were and to come out to me so no none of it would have added up it would have it would have added a considerable amount of time on to how long it would have taken them to get to me uh chances are it would have then been dark which would have been a problem especially on the road that I was on so no I was very very thankful that they did and I don't forget I was coming this way anyway so I was already on my way here um so I would have had to do that Journey no matter what so it all worked out well I got this fan picked it up at the and River Wild took this van and put it at the Dodge Ram service center and it was there waiting for me uh they HIIT the keys and so it was there waiting for me and it was all good to go so no they did a great job stuff breaks down alternators blow there's no way you can really tell on a service if an alternator is about to go or not you could check the voltage and I'm sure they would have done that they've just been serviced so it's definitely not River Wild's fault uh they have regular service schedules for their vehicles and they maintain them very well it's just one of those things that they weren't in control of at all so saying that look at this view isn't this beautiful so I'm heading out all the way out there to the right to the sound I think so yeah we've got 90 Mi I am going to stop off on the way uh for a coffee and probably something to e probably something to eat I'm going to get lunch this time and I just I just want to chill out I'm exhausted yesterday was a hard day so I'll bring you all back uh when something interesting happens or basically when I stop off uh I'm going to find a place to stop okay we've gone about 20 mil we're now in the uh Kenai Peninsula I think it's the Kenai National Park very beautiful um to think this is so close to Anchorage it's a lovely lovely drive I have to say the mountains they've had some fresh snow up here as well now there might be snow uh tomorrow I'm not sure it's snowing on the left here but up ahead it's blue sky it's very strange weather uh I passed to gas station and then it said no gas for 80 mil I mean this is full up anyway but just so you're aware if you're coming here to uh seed that you need to stop off at that gas station if you haven't got any fuel look at that mountain in front look at all that snow that is beautiful the trouble is the camera doesn't do this Justice I don't think oh just every flipping Highway and corner you turn out and you look up and it's just staggering because it's just so big so much snow everywhere it's just lovely all right pushing on through Kenai National Park wow and just like that we're driving into I mean it's minutes later we're driving into freezing fog or something I don't know what this is - 4 this is bizar yeah it's just some sort of freezing fog layer in this Valley -5 temperature's dropping fast that must be what this fog is just getting much colder here I'd love to explore love to have more time to explore this area as well I've only got one day left two days got two days left that's it tomorrow we're doing the boat tour and then the day after back to anid I'm in a hotel for a night and then I got a Night Flight back to LA look at this minus six okay so this is an area where everyone just goes uh snowmobiling okay so next time we come back to uh Alaska I've got to rent snowmobile got to get a vehicle that can tow a trailer with a snowmobile on and we got to do some exploring on a snowmobile uh just to find places go camping that sort of stuff right I've really focus look at this fog so the outside of the glass is now freezing up this is very odd uh luckily this wind screen has got filaments in it so it's a heated windscreen so I put that on but everything else is freezing next to me all the glass it's the temperature suddenly dropped to minus 10 and it's Eerie Eerie feeling down here and everything is just Frozen so we've gone from plus 6° sitting in the sun back there to 30 m away here - 10 and just yeah frigid freezing fog it just changes so quickly in Alaska really does the weather changes just like that like New Zealand very similar to New Zealand but this is just much colder on the side of the road I've seen a moose there he is on the right look at that there's a moose look look at the Moose yes I've seen a moose hey buddy he's come running in I've scared him oh no but I see them move I'm so happy he's down here oh he's lovely look at him him or girl I don't know I freaked him out yes oh finally I've seen a moose great success Oh I thought I wasn't going to see one this whole trip and it was really starting to get me down oh that brings tears of joy to me honestly cuz I just I love animals I love nature and oh that's so special for me really is all that disappointment in Canada I didn't see a single moose and here a week over almost two weeks and no moose and I was saying to the rescue driver last night KJ he's saying oh we'll see a moose tonight we'll see a moose and we didn't see anything and I was just gutted and I thought that's it it's over I'm not going to see one and to see one right there just pop up and then run back down again yes oh to alaskans and Canadians you must think I'm absolutely mad but means a lot to me oh look here's a sign moose next four miles I've seen so many of those signs and not seen single mov amazing amazing I'm so happy I'm so happy that has absolutely made my day after the horrible day yesterday and the breakdown wow and and I might have missed that if I hadn't broken down because I wouldn't have stopped here so soon brilliant all right now I want to see another one onwards right I've just pulled over for a stretch my legs a bit so I'm in no rush at I guess a Viewpoint check this out wow this is a beautiful Valley gosh it's very icy here you don't want to don't want to down this hill look at this River oh lovely that's just beautiful really beautiful this is called The Gulch Creek yeah that's well that is absolutely lovely I like that they have so many of these Viewpoint and rest stop areas oh it's even got toilets oh it's cold the toilets are closed sorry we are [Applause] closed yeah I guess they don't operate in Winter they're actually nailed shut oh a lovely spot now this path this path actually goes I guess all the way back to where I was parked you could walk for miles and miles someone's thrown litter look I just what is wrong with people just drives me absolutely crazy yeah this this path just walk goes the entire way I think to sewed it's a long long way stunning absolutely lovely there's an old overgrown path down here as well right back on the road uh I think we got 60 mil to go I can't believe I saw a moose that's so awesome now I want to see another one all right this is the town of Seward I'm going to chill out here a bit go find a coffee fill up with fuel everything else find a camp spot actually I'm going to go and get some lunch and then I'll give you a look around uh this is the gateway to the sounds uh so yeah looks looks pretty nice right welcome back everybody I've had lunch I've been chilling out I actually had a bit of a snooze I was exhausted I am in Seward look where I am so this is actually so all these cars will be gone tonight this that I'm on now is actually a campground and this is called the idit rod Campground now the reason it's called that and anyone who anyone who knows anything about Alaska or has been to Alaska well have heard of idod and they will know that it's a very famous dog sled race I think it's 1,000 miles so uh interestingly this is the start officially of the original idod trailer mile Z this is the mile Z monument in seed Alaska it's 938 Mi to gnome um so the actual dog race the dog SL race doesn't run from here now it actually runs from Anchorage although this year it's running from Fairbanks because there's no snow and Anchorage it's been one of the worst years for snow and Anchorage on record but what I want to tell you cuz I made some notes and it's quite fascinating so this sign marks the start part of the very famous 2,300 M system of trails that connected seed to gnome the trail was used by the famous sled dogs Togo and bolto to bring a serum to gnome before the inhabitants were wiped out by a diptheria epidemic today that heroic run is commemorated by the now famous 1,049 mile idit rod sled race the start of the event is in Anchorage not here anymore uh but it still uses the original Trail partly uh there's hiking all the way through there as well in summer months you can hike a lot of the trail so yeah pretty cool it used to be here and that was the marker right there holy moly it's cold and look at that Peak up there wower look at that is that coming out on camera cuz that is absolutely beautiful you imagine skiing down that thing and there there is heli skiing here the Peaks up here they're just beautiful and there's a peak in the background there that's massive but this place Seward is actually surrounded by Peaks and this is the is it the Prince William sound I honestly I can't remember the sounds I live in the maror sounds and I always forget what the different sounds are so they get whales in here um I don't know if they get seals but they definitely get whales and they get killer whales Walker and lots of other things so tomorrow I'm going out on a uh boat trip and we're going to I don't know where it's going it's going going from over there from the harbor and we're going right out I guess it's I I think it's 3 hours so that'll be really cool I'm going to bring you along for that um I think we're going to have a good time I think it'll be freezing cold but uh I will wrap up warm so I can stand outside there are some nice houses here this is obviously a bit of a holiday destination a holiday Town look at the size of these places on the corner here and they've got a fantastic view they are enormous houses and then you've got normal apartments and holiday apartments and there's meat parked there this is a lovely lovely spot really is so this evening I'm going to walk over there and go to the uh restaurant there's a couple of bars there that I'm going to try out I'm going to have some beers have some Ms it's the end of my trip um I've only got a couple more nights left here so looking forward to that um and I will bring you back for that we're going to walk over there this evening definitely have a beer in the first place uh the Yukon bar uh which is a bit of a dive bar apparently they call it and then then head over just up from there to uh something Ale House sew Ale House something like that it's nice to get out of the wind yeah and this is where I am so doesn't look like much but it is a campsite um and this is a dog friendly campsite as well this one whereas the other ones around the corner are not dog friendly you can't have dogs on those and they're all closed for winter all the way around the front there this is actually the nicest spot and you can see people sort come here and just chill out look at the view have their have their food I don't know make out whatever they're doing dogging or something I'm not whoa I'm not sure what they're doing anyway it's flipping freezing the sun is just just about to go down behind that Hill Mountain all right everybody right getting the van and I'm not moving again until this evening so I'll bring you back then I'm so tired oh it's so nice and warm in my lovely cozy new van and this one is called so the other one was called kunu which is an arctic fox this one is called pera pera pera I don't know what that is I'll Google it um but in the meantime I'm sure someone will write in the comment what that is all right bring you back later everybody for dinner so this is amazing this is a a cut from a Sitka spruce tree cut down in 1980 and look the tree started to grow 1627 and then 1741 Vitus bearings expedition to Alaska and it shows everything look the US Declaration of Independence signed here 1776 each ring you can see here Russian Fort build Russian Ship Captain James Cook explores Alaska's Coast 1778 cuz it was around then that also he went to New Zealand and look at this 1867 United States buys Alaska from Russia 1867 and then everything went nuts crazy so many things completed World War II look at that ring World War II someone's pain staken he counted every single ring so the tree was 353 years old when it was cut down very impressive I should mention that I'm in the uh Museum I just sort of came in here and started recording and telling you stuff but yeah I'm in the uh Seward Museum and it shows everything to do with a dit Rod a dit Rod how it all became how laska became what it is uh it's quite fascinating so I definitely recommend coming into the museum and Community Center in SE it's got some cool stuff there is a sea otter right in front of us eating some scallops or something it's cheeky little thing it's having a good feed at first you think it's a seal but no it's a sea otter it's having a bit of APR you are I guess cheers everybody do side IPA well that was a great dinner I had tacos I had beers it was a good restaurant it a good bar it was the Ale House SE uh the sew Ale House well worth visiting if you're in sew all right everyone it's been a chilled out relaxed day everybody is so friendly here such a good vibe it's nice I'm just walking back now to the van and then tomorrow we're on the boat I'm not sure exactly what we're going to be doing but it should be fun all right look here we are bit creepy there's a a guy in a tent over there I don't know what that's about he's camping unbelievable that you probably can't see that but there is a guy there next to his car in a tent crazy I mean who in their right mind would do something like that all right everybody well I'm in I'm done and I'll catch you tomorrow morning night everybody those people are in an re tent still nice spot to be morning everybody and welcome back to seed what a lovely morning what a lovely day for a boat ride it's 7:45 I need a coffee right so I'll bring you back for the uh for the Marina and the boat ride that was an epic dinner last night by the way lovely drinks great place lovely bar great people these people they sound so cold who in their right mind goes camping in a tent honestly next to a car sleep in the car I've got to hand it to them these girls camping they got their jet boil she's boiling some water they just got up and they got their backpacks and stuff that's usually me I'm usually the ones suffering and uh I'm sitting in the warm camper fan this is a total reversal of of rolls look they got blankets sleeping bags W I should be there doing that instead that's a an REI tent looks quite big looks like a I guess it's a three person tent yeah anyway I am not envious they can have it I've done enough of that on this trip without even a tent good luck to them they're living the living the life that they want to live good for them I don't know about standing outside in minus 6 with a jet boil though oh here come the really big blankets good on them all right well coming down to the boat now uh for our boat tour but the sea is frozen I don't know how are they going to get the uh the boat out like yeah the sea has got a lot of ice on it so and I think that's our boat there so this should be interesting smashing up the ice with the hole oh well all right let's get on there yeah couple of Bal Eagles as we head out just up on that wall there seeing us off all right we're almost off all right here we go there you go it's the same one as yesterday lying on his back over there so cute SEO just in the distance having a clean having a PR the same one as yesterday I think more Eagles up in the tree just hanging out beautiful now we got sea liines just hanging out here as well just chilling they're kind of like the sea OTAs and they're just lying on their backs and just relaxing under the watchful eye of the uh the Eagles what a beautiful spot now we've got corpuses jumping here there they are about 30 30 of them right in front of us here they're swimming away from us very fast so the splashes in the water so chasing each other and playing and see get close to them or not if they come to us man they're so fast very similar to New Zealand where I live in the sounds beautiful CES Alaska is very very similar to New Zealand it's just that Alaska is huge very beautiful all right well if we see any more dolphins or anything like that I'll bring you guys back otherwise see you when we're uh back on Shore got a lot of lot of sea lions hanging out on the Rocks here more over there as well these birds are Kitty wakes and they're nesting in the Rocks just there very noisy you can see all their nests got a young SEAL Pup climbing up that rock there on the left screaming at us this is on video here we go yeah we go there see them right under the bow here yeah you're going to get wet yeah hang on there on the right front there we go they're riding with us oh was pretty cool they are really playing with us oh yeah right under right in front of you oh that was great uh I went out with Captain Andrew had a great time saw porposes saw sea otters lots of stuff and now it's snowing yeah it's starting to come down it's is really weird so what I'm going to do now is move uh the van I'm going to go back over to where we camped the night last night I'm going to Camp there again tonight cuz it's such a nice spot and I'm going to go to the same restaurant for dinner God I'm freezing I've got to get in the warm and then I got to move the vanoo okay so I'll bring you back later once we're all settled right time for uh dinner 6:30 I'm a creature of habit I'm going back to the sewed Ale House was good food last night I'm going to have a burrito tonight and plenty more beers before I get home and back on the wagon again had quite a bit of snow up there you can see the snow on the trees it didn't snow down in town though fun day I liked it I like being out on the boat um it's exactly the same as marar sounds in New Zealand uh it's just marar sounds doesn't have snowy m mountains all the way around it this is a lovely little town by the way seed you got to come here sewed Alaska it's very old lot of history very quaint I'm sure there's a lot more activity in summer when most people would be coming here anyway back to the AL house Saturday night yea catch you all later ah welcome back everybody good morning it is 8:00 a.m. 10 8 we've got to go to Anchorage now just drop the van off and uh we need fuel and it's blowing what a gale outside and raining as well if this was snowing so it's 2° which is why it's raining if this was snowing this would be a blizzard my concern is is if this is happening up the pass where we came to get here because if it is that could be a problem because that really could then be a blizzard but we shall see I've got to go into town I've got to go and fill up with fuel she could have waited and let me go yeah I've got to go into town uh fill up with fuel and then three well it will take two and a bit hours uh to get back to the depot in Anchorage it's been a fun trip I enjoyed staying at this spot I loved that restaurant and bar that's where is it it's up ahead yeah it's just up here on the right um seed Ale House loved it really good really good food look at this town it is cute cute little town sewed recommend it if you're coming to Alaska head down here and hopefully there'll be more activities available uh cuz everything is closed right now all right everyone the garage is up here on the left I think so I'll bring you back after I've filled up and we're on route and we'll see what the conditions are like I'll probably bring you up closer to the pass when we gain some altitude but it is grim outside very very Grim all right we're just getting a little bit out of town and the heavy rain that was falling down by the sea is now turning into heavy snow oh like I predicted oh no and it's Sunday morning so I don't know what this is going to look like when we get over the pass but this could be quite treacherous I hope the snow plows are running oh I can't believe my luck that this all happens on the last day I get full Grim I mean it should be beautiful when we go over the pass whoa but it's getting deep and slushy can you hear that I've got to drive in the other tracks it is settling and it is getting quite deep so this is going to take me a bit longer to get back oh look at it it it's temperature is dropping fast as I climb now and it's just immediately going to full snow no more rain luckily this van is a a new van it's a 2024 and it's only ever had one trip so it's like a brand new van anyway this van has got electric windscreen so I've got that switched on and it's got electric steering wheel heated steering wheel all right well this should be for a beautiful drive for you guys maybe not not so great for me this is going to be quite a stressful long drive oh I hope the snow plows come out there's no sign of any any snow plow or anything yet uhoh all right everyone I'll bring you back as the journey uh as the journey goes on holy moly it's really coming down this is really heavy I've seen two cars off now that've gone off the side of the road now they probably happened overnight the trouble is they might close the road the pass up ahead I think they do things a bit different ly down here to up near vald where they just keep the road open and they just keep plowing it I've got a feeling they might close the pass which means I'm stranded until they reopen it and have cleared it I'm sure they won't I'm sure they cope with more snow than this I just I'm just surprised I haven't seen any signs of a plow at all and cars that I've seen coming the other way are caked in snow absolutely caked I'll tell you one thing it is very pretty a winter wond
2025-04-06 12:23
