Chuck:
We have several errands to chase down before we depart Tok. I met Willard at his repair shop to sign some AAA paperwork and pay him for the tire that he mounted on the RV yesterday. The more I deal with this crusty old guy, the better I like him. He’s probably in his seventies, very stout, overweight but not obese, very quiet and moves slooowly but deliberately. His work truck and shop are an organized mess. There are 15 or 20 vehicles in and around his large garage. A sign hanging crookedly on the cluttered wall behind the cluttered counter (which is also one of many work benches) says: “I try to get along with one person each day. Today ain’t your day, tomorrow doesn’t look good either”. His work truck is an old Ford 350, I tell him I had a 350 several years ago. He muttered, “Yeah, I got three other 350’s, one needs an engine, another has a snowplow permanently welded on the front for winter use and one doesn’t have a clear title yet so I don’t drive it much”. We talk for about 20 minutes, more than we did in four hours yesterday. As I was leaving, he said “Stop by on your way back and I’ll treat you’n yer wife to lunch”. Jokingly, I asked how he knew we would pass back through Tok, he said that it was about the only way out of state with an RV. Next, I went to Three Bears Outpost #1. I had phoned Beau, the owner, weeks ago to arrange to send a box and some mail to myself ‘in care of’ his Outpost. He looked a bit and said nothing was there and they would probably have sent it back since he did not know me. I reminded him of our phone conversation; he looked again and found the box, but no mail. Charged me $25 for his service. I was going to buy ammo, bear spray and some other items, but didn’t need another service charge. The Post Office was just down the road, I checked there for the large envelope of forwarded mail. The Postmaster, said it most likely had not come in yet or he would recall seeing it, but we should try again after the morning mail is delivered. We checked again as we were driving out of town. It was there, bills and all!
It is a pleasant, scenic drive from Tok to Fairbanks, good highway, most of the frost heaves have been “smoothly” repaired. Afternoons, we have had short showers. During one today, the driver’s side windshield wiper, disappeared below the glass. We stopped, putzed with it, something stripped on the base, drove on without it. River’s Edge Campground seems quiet and is just outside of Fairbanks. Tomorrow, we will check the Fam-Camp at Fort Wainwright and compare the two to determine the best site to base out of as we prepare for the trip to Prudhoe, 500 miles north. The current plan is to leave the RV in Fairbanks, and camp out of the CRV as I bike north, it will take about two weeks. There are two locations to get fuel enroute and also one at Prudhoe Bay in Deadhorse.