A Speedy Winter Road Trip

Hey Tribe,

We bought a Scamp camper trailer back in May and it was, at long last, finally, finally, finally ready for us to pick up from the Scamp factory in snowy Minnesota.  Scamps are coveted and hard to come by, so we ordered new (instead of scouring the internet for a used one with a questionable past) and had to wait for our precious egg to be built.  Living in Alaska, we are pretty used to not having access to everything up here, so we were not surprised to discover that we would have to make a trip down to the factory to get our long awaited purchase.

It is roughly 3,000 miles from Alaska to Minnesota, one way.  Not a simple drive, especially not in the winter and along the Alaska Highway through Canada.  However, we were undeterred.  I had scheduled time off from work, so TheFather, Fly, and I loaded snow gear and supplies into the truck, kissed TheMother farewell, and set out at midnight for a state I’ve never been to.

Crossing the Alaskan/Canadian border was uneventful: we arrived early in the morning, thankful that the temperature had warmed to -8F from the biting -24F we had driven through in Glennallen, and chatted with the border agent about the weather and made predictions about the upcoming winter.  After checking Fly’s rabies vaccination paperwork, he wished us safe travels and, with a yawn and a shiver, retreated back into the building and closed his window.

I drove through the snowy white landscape until I grew sleepy and then TheFather took over driving while I slept in the passenger seat with Fly perched on my lap.  She, ever watchful and alert, served as co-pilot through the night.  Her hyper sensitive nose kept us from avoiding collisions with several herds of animals.  How?  As we drove, Fly watched out the windows, but apparently she was also sniffing: she would suddenly begin sniffing with much energy, as if there was some marvelous aroma coming from the top of the windshield and then, roughly a ¼ mile further down the road, we would see animals – sometimes in a herd, sometimes solitary.  Fly was like having an early warning detection system.  Her sniffing alerted TheFather to slow down enough to avoid running into a herd of Bison that was unhurriedly crossing the road in the darkness.  We pulled over to look at them and so Fly could get a better sniff of these marvelous hulking creatures; she gave them a low growl and then gazed at them as they slowly settled in the snow at the base of a glowing white mountain while fuzzy green Northern Lights silently weaved through the sky overhead.

The rest of our journey through Canada was uneventful.  High gas prices motivated us to drop down into Montana, rather than continue through Canada to Minnesota.  The border agent was surprised that we would drive all that way to buy a camper, to which we replied, “We’re from Alaska.” as if that explained everything.  We stopped in Shelby, MT where a wonderful, matronly gas station attendant gave me free coffee after I staggered in, groggy with 45 hours of driving, to pay for our gas.  Bless you, nice lady.

After that, we made for Minnesota and rolled into frigid and very windy Bemidji so I could see the Paul Bunyan statue that the always-trustworthy Rand McNally road map had listed as something worth seeing.

Fly is not a fan of giant human statues, apparently.

Eveland’s Inc. was easily found along a winding rural road.  “Wait, where?” you might be asking, with as much confusion as I initially had - it is the home base for where Scamp trailers are born – don’t ask me why they have to be dually named.  “Hey, there’s a Scamp up on a pole,” I said as I drove along the icy road; then slammed on the brake, causing ThaFather to fumble his phone and then report to a muffled TheMother that I had just blown past our destination.  Tattletale.  Naturally, I was unprepared to be seen in public and ashamedly crept into the factory, looking like a street urchin, to claim my not-inexpensive new toy.  The tie wearing Scamp representative gave me a once over glance and then professionally turned a blind eye to my messy hair and disheveled 3-day-old clothes.  Perhaps all new Scamp owners arrive this way? 

Our new fiberglass toy, sleek and shiny against the gray sky and dirty snow, pulled behind the truck wonderfully as we made our way south to Minneapolis, where we got lost along the twists and branches of concrete arteries of the interstate highways, freeways, off ramps, and merging lanes.  After three ill fated attempts to find the direction we needed, I whipped into a hotel near the Mall of America, where a very helpful clerk was able to sketch me a map in the right direction and we then found our correct way with no difficulty.  Thank you, nice and patient man, for helping a bedraggled, sleep-deprived girl find her way toward home.

Originally, I had wanted to stop at as many National Parks as we could, but most were closed, or only semi-operational and I didn’t want to pay the full entrance fee for limited access, so we chose to sight-see free things across the county.  Fly posed with many a statue, which I will share later, because the photos are hilarious and deserve their own blog post.

Hello from the Corn Palace!

A tipi

Sacagawea (must only be male statues that Fly doesn't like)

"Enough photos!"

We visited places such as Wall Drug, skirted the Badlands, saw Mt. Rushmore, and ate at fun little places.

 

Best donuts and coffee breakfast!

Feeling the cowboy vibes.

Inside Wall Drug

The fanciest fast food restaurant I've ever visited - full fireplace, leather couches, even a rug!

National Grasslands

Bison spotted near the Badlands

Fudge!

Giving Washington a kiss.

After a stop to see TheAunt in the PNW, our drive home was uneventful.  

Well, except for when I accidentally passed the last gas station and we very nearly ran out of gas before reaching the next town in Yukon Territory.  There were 40 or so very tense miles where I am sure I developed several stomach ulcers.  We coasted in to a gas station on fumes, with 0 showing for how many miles of gas were left in the fuel tank.

Not fun.

The trailer was pretty snow and road grime encrusted when it made its grand arrival in our driveway around midnight, two weeks after our departure.  A hot water and soap bath was in order the next day; now, our prized marshmallow sits, protected from the elements in the barn, waiting for it’s next adventure.