In the last post, I left you in Tuktoyaktuk, so I’ll resume on July 2 , after the BBQ at the Jacobsons’ home. I have since learned that Jackie Jacobson is an elected MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for the Northwest Territories. He and his wife Jenny are both veterans and enjoyed signing Maxi. 

After dinner the challenges resumed…  Remember a few days ago in Inuvik, the guys were repairing Maxi’s water pump?  Well Inuvik has some creative mechanics, but there’s a dearth of Model A parts.  The repair got them to Tuktoyaktuk, but that’s as far as Maxi could safely go. 

So, after dinner, the fan started making horrible noises and the guys knew they were in trouble.  They called Chris Garvin down in Inuvik for help. (He’s the weather station person.) 

Before help arrived, Maxi had another interview for Canadian TV.  (Have I mentioned the number insects up here? Where’s his bug net?) 

If any of you car nuts saw the recording of the interview, I’m sure you died laughing when you heard how Maxi sounded.  And then, Jay pointed out to the reporter how they had jerry-rigged the water pump and fan to get it working.  It did its job, but it would have been nice if it had made it back to Inuvik!

On the morning of July 3rd, Jay met a Ranger.  Was he getting a speeding ticket?  No, it looks like it was just a warning.  And then, of course the ranger had to sign the car!

Next, Chris and Bev Garven, and Daniel who owns the Manitoulin Trucking Co. in Inuvik brought the Caddy and trailer up to rescue Maxi.  

July 4th found Maxi back at Randy’s garage to re-repair the water pump and fan.

During the repairs, Tim took Chris up on his offer to participate in a weather balloon launching. Looks like fun:

On Wednesday July 5th, they loaded Maxi in the trailer (due to the heat and their concern about the water pump) and headed to Dawson City. They left without Tim who was going to fly home from Inuvik.  This is what he missed:

Half way between Inuvik and Eagle Plains, the guys noticed the siding on one side of the trailer was coming off.  Short on appropriate tools, they strapped it down with bungee cords (!! What, no duct tape?) and continued on to their lunch stop  in Eagle Plains.

Now the Caddy decided to start acting up – she wasn’t getting the attention that Maxi does.  They had a Cadillac low tire warning on the Dempster just beyond Eagle Plains.  They drove back for a repair and discovered the other side of the trailer’s siding was coming loose so they fixed it with tools borrowed from the tire guy.

It’s not a beautiful repair, but it worked. Look like they lost the lower panel on one side, though..

But there was beauty along the road too.  I believe these cool mountains were in a region called “Elsa” which is between  Eagle Plains and Tombstone.

A lot farther down the road, the same Caddy tire acquired a slash shortly before Tombstone Campground.  They changed to the spare tire, but the slash can’t be repaired.  It was probably cut by rocks on the Highway 34. This trip has been hard on ALL the vehicles…

The adventurers arrived in Dawson City at 10 pm and had difficulty finding dinner.  One chef took pity on them, though, and stayed late to provide food.   By the way, they’re still in 24-hour sunlight…

On Thursday July 6th they drove to Carmacks and this is what they saw:

Their lunch stop at Moose Creek offered some more interesting and unusual sights:

More views along the road.  

They stayed the night in Carmacks at a hotel which was having a power outage.  No water, no air conditioning. And it’s unseasonably warm!  Power came back in the evening and at least they had water and a fan.  They never need air conditioning in the Yukon, so it’s pretty rare to find.

Sorry about the sad story of mechanical woes, but I think you can tell Jay and Charlie are still enjoying the adventure and finding beauty and fun things along the way. More to come!