Day 38: Hanging Around Fairbanks

In Which M Gets a Real Bath, The Hokies Win The Season Opener, and Bob & Lisa Visit a Car Museum

Bob Finds a Hokie Orange & Maroon Car at the Museum (a good omen for the big game?)
But not in that order.  It actually went shopping to find SD cards on which to back-up all this great video coverage of our trip, bath, car museum (part 1), and then Hokie Game.  (Details, Details)

 Anyway, after our stock-up trip to Walmart (which has the same scary parking lot in Alaska as it does in Denver, or anyplace else), we found a real car wash for M.  She was so pleased to finally get a decent bath after 3 unwashed weeks on the road.

 Here she is, enjoying the royal was treatment:



In fact, the car wash was so comprehensive it even included a special tire shine treatment which left her wheels looking better than they have in years.
Tire Shine: Nothing but the best for M

Here she is, back at our hotel--shiny, clean, and mostly happy (though she still longs to be back in the garage).
M after a really good bath
And here is a close-up of a sparkling wheel:
M's Wheel after Tire Shine treatment.

And speaking of M, when we headed out today we actually ended up behind an Alaska native M3.  Bob gave a wave (conditioned behavior from his Vette days) and the guy took off quickly from the light to show his power, and M kept up admirably for a short time, then backed off as the other M raced up the highway on-ramp and we continued our way into town. (Yes, we are pretty much grown-ups now-- even though we still drive a fun car.)

 After M's bath, we had about an hour to kill before the big season opening Virginal Tech football game against West Virginia University (WVU), so we headed over to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum that is part of the "resort" where we are staying.

The museum specializes in very old cars, and most of them are still running. Here are some highlights from today's visit:

1898 Hay Motor Vehicle (the oldest in the museum)


1905 Franklin with the hood up (I just liked the color)


Antique Fordson Snow Machine (fully restored)
You may recognize this snow machine design from the picture we took way at the start of the trip in Montana.  But, this one is fully restored and running, while the other was just an immobile rusty memory of its former self.  The museum even had a short video of this snow machine tearing through a snow covered parking lot.

 We didn't quite finish going through the museum in our hour, so we got a return pass for tomorrow morning.  We'll head there first to do it justice, and then head over to our Sternwheeler riverboat ride in the afternoon.  So, more car pictures tomorrow.

 Oh-- and the game.  Well the Hokies won, in nail biting fashion once again.  But hey, a win is a win. 

First Win of the Season: GO HOKIES!!
And, Bob is happy.  So all is well.

 --Lisa



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Bob & Lisa's Great Alaska Adventure

Image
Welcome! Welcome to all of our friends, family, co-workers, and casual observers who happened upon this blog. It's purpose is to chronicle our great Alaska driving adventure.  We'll be traveling in my (Lisa's) bright red, really fast, BMW 2015 M235i with xDrive. (In case you're interested, that really is 4 wheel drive, and is purported to do 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds-- perhaps we'll find out 😄) Bob Standing with M as she waits to get new shoes. The plan is for the trip is to begin on July 28 by heading up through Wyoming and stopping for a couple of days in Butte, MT. The real trip begins with Glacier National Park in Montana, and then proceeding up through the Canadian Rockies with stops in Banff and Jasper. We then work our way up through Canada stopping in Fort St. John,  Fort Nelson,  Watson Lake, Whitehorse,  and Beaver Creek then crossing into Alaska with our first stop back in the USA being Tok.  The Alaska adventure begins in Palmer (home ...
Read more

Great Alaska Adventure Wrap-Up

Image
What a Great Ride! M Back Home in Our Garage, with Her Friend the Old Brown Audi With M back home in the garage, Bob and Lisa rested up a bit from the final days of hard driving, the mail opened, the mountains of laundry started, and a significant dent made in the unpacking, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the totality of our Great Alaska Adventure. Let's begin with some stats: Trip Duration: 78 Days Start Date: 7/28/17 End Date: 10/13/17      Total Miles Driven: 9,179  Starting Mileage: 17,372 Ending Mileage: 26,551 Ferry Miles: About 800-- where M got to ride.    46 Stops for Gas Cheapest Premium Gas: Laramie, WY at the start of the trip--$2.599 Most Expensive Gas: Whitehorse, YT Canada-- $1.98 Canadian/Litre--  That's $7.50/gallon Canadian, or about $6 US / gallon. Cheapest Gas in Alaska: Palmer at $2.769    Average MPG-- 27-- not bad, considering all those horrid roads in Canada.    We ...
Read more

Day 76: Astoria, OR to Ontario, OR

Image
Cars, Airplanes, and Snow! Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by. Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow. Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR. Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR Here's how the rest of the trip went: You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums. As we were dr...
Read more