Day 1 Wednesday 6/27/07
At 2:15 PM PDT, the mighty (sort of) Admiral began its epic journey north. Departure was two days late--we scrambled to the bitter end to make the last purchases and final modifications to the RV.
Hard to imagine that we've spent most of the last month working on this project, but in anticipation of 2 months in the wilderness (except Fairbanks, Anchorage, et al), we've laid in tons of supplies, reorganized space in the Admiral to accommodate our stuff, and prepared the good ship for its maiden exploratory "voyage".
Tons of supplies is not a figure of speech, but a cold reality. We know prices in the north are as steep as the crags of Denali, so we've done our best to provision the Admiral with all the staples.
While we've loaded aboard about a ton and a half of stuff for two people for two months, it's interesting to know that Canada required that each of the gold-rushers of 1898 carry along at least a ton of supplies and equipment. Sometime in the coming days I'll publish the 1898 list and compare it to ours. Should be interesting.
Tonight we're dry camping in O'Brien, CA. Pulled off in a rest area right next to Lake Shasta. As rest areas go, it's beautiful. Did almost 300 miles today in about 6 hours. We are clearly the slowest vehicle on the road. I don't think we passed anyone at all today. We are the tortoise and they who pass us the hares. They will drop off the map at Eugene or Portland or Seattle. We will trudge steadfastly north and will not stop until we reach the Artic Ocean. 3,102 total miles to Fairbanks (another 400 or 500 to the Artic Ocean).
