Wednesday August 23, Day 36

Starting trip meter: Same as yesterday.
Starting time: N/A
Starting Location: Didn’t start at all.

Tik Tok, tik Tok, tik Tok. Hurry up Willard, we are going crazy!

Yep, we are still here and no end is in sight as of yet. The latest that we can get out of Willard our mechanic, is that our transmission is in Delta Junction, they are flying in a part from Fairbanks, and when and if they get it overhauled, he will go back up there, retrieve the transmission and reinstall it in the van.

The highlight of our day today, was that they took a wrecker and pushed the van out of the middle of the lake that they had parked it in so we are now able to get into it for the few odds and ends that are not already in the room with us.

We spent a few hours in the library today, however, since we are not residents we are not able to check anything out, so we had to do all of our reading in the aisles. We did qualify though for buying their cookies for some fund raiser.

At least today, it was not raining so we were able to walk as far as we wanted. The problem is that there is just not much here to see once you get there. The population we were told is only 500 people in this area. It goes up to a little more than a thousand in the summer, however, since this summer has been so cold and rainy they did not think it ever reached that high.

We are pretty bored at this point. The good news is that we are still friends and speaking to each other. Things could be much worse!

Today’s weather: Bright, partly cloudy, light breezes. Low 38° and high 52°.
Miles driven today: 0 Zero Nada

Today’s Pictures

Thursday August 24, Day 37

Starting trip meter: Same as yesterday.
Starting time: N/A
Starting Location: Failed to start.

We couldn’t wait to get started this morning since the weather was the best day since we have been here. Our walks here have been so neat because of the wonderful and interesting people that we meet and today was no exception. The first thing on our walk this morning we headed to the Alaska Cyber Hub for a great cup of coffee and a homemade cinnamon bun. This is a charming log building that offers great coffees, pastries, balloons, unique gifts, and Internet access and services. It is run by Maggie who opened the shop a year ago. She is from Germany, has lived in Tok for 8 years. She promised any of our lower 48 friends, who stopped in and mentioned our name, a free cup of coffee.

After leaving the Cyber Hub, we followed a sign to the Alaska Court System thinking that we may sit and watch a trial. Inside we met Evelyn, who has served as the Tok Court Clerk since 1991. She filled us in on the court schedule since we thought we could pass some time there by sitting in on a trial or hearing, however, things were pretty slow and there was nothing much coming up except a divorce hearing. She nicely offered several suggestions to us about things to do in Tok, but most of them we had already found and done. She has been a resident of Tok since 1971 and raised 3 sons here.

Another stop along the way was to check out the Gold Nugget Jewelry at the Alaska Gold shop. The owner was Janice who told us that she and her husband had mined for gold for 16 years, and then had been selling the nuggets for the past 5 years in the shop. She showed us pictures of their dredge and explained how they acquired the gold that they had mined. What a back breaking job! She attempted to explain the amount of paperwork required to file a claim and the differences from state and federal lands. Surprisingly to us, she told us that “they” say that only 5% of the gold in Alaska has been found and mined. Maybe if we are here much longer we will try our hand at it as well. We may have to find gold in order to buy our way out of here!

We got as far as the grocery store and ran into Bill, who we see at Willard’s. He told us that maybe our transmission would be done today, and they could go up and get it and we could get on our way tomorrow. He invited us to stop and get a complimentary hamburger at the cookout in front of the grocery. Once a year the Denali State Bank has an appreciation day for their customers by giving away hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and soft drinks. We were lucky enough to be here on that day. Kind of neat, no? We followed the burgers by going to Young’s Cafe for a piece of Bumble Berry (4 different local berries) pie a-la-mode.

To complete our pictorial on friendly people today, we had to get a picture of Sunny. She has been cleaning our room, and has been so sympathetic to our predicament. Her son Troy runs the other auto shop in town, so she has a real understanding of what we are going through. Sunny was nice enough to wash and dry our filthy blanket that we have been using as an entry mat to keep dirt out of our van. Boy does it look and smell better now! Sunny has lived in Tok 20 years, and she lived in SE Alaska 11 years before moving here.

Guess what! Barney checked with Willard to see if all was well, and was told that the parts that were sent to Delta Junction were the wrong ones……………..HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Willard said that the Delta Junction connection would call back later and give him the revised plan. Hopefully, we do not have to wait two more days for the correct parts but we are planning on the worst and hoping for the best. This could mean that we will miss our ferry from Haines.

Ate dinner at the Salmon Bake next door. We both ordered the all you can eat Salmon Chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl. Positively delicious and we were stuffed when we left.

Today’s weather: Mostly sunny and warmer. Low 35° and high about 55°.
Miles driven today: 0

Today’s Pictures

Friday August 25, Day 38

Starting trip meter: No change.
Starting time: AWOL
Starting Location: Same ole Tok

Our phone number here is 907-883-4411 Feel free to call anytime, (but keep in mind that we are in Alaska Daylight Time which is 4 hours later than EDT).

OK………..ENOUGH ALREADY! This is becoming a very trying event! We are tired of facing day after day with slim hope of getting out of here anytime soon. The latest is “they” were going to Anchorage to try and find the correct “parts” required. It is looking very iffy for our ferry ride next Monday from Haines, to Juneau, to Prince Rupert. We are two days away from Haines or at best, a very hard one day drive.

The weather this morning was really grim. It was much colder than yesterday, very gusty and raining. In spite of it, we agreed to try and make it to the grocery store which is about a 3/4 mile hike. The wind chill must have been in the lower 30s, maybe even lower. It reminded us of our days in Ohio walking to and from school.

The most pleasant diversion during the day was hearing from son Fred who called to see how we were doing. It will be difficult for us now to get to his home in San Jose before he leaves for Japan the second week in September.

We dined on grilled pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, corn and wine in our room. The only thing missing was the candlelight as we had left the candles in the van. It was the best meal that we have had in Tok and we have had some good ones here.

Today’s weather: Cold, windy, and drizzle. Low 38°; high 46°.
Miles driven today: None

Saturday August 26, Day 39

Starting trip meter: Same
Starting time: N/A
Starting Location: Where else? TOK, AK

We awoke thinking for sure that we would get out of here today. Even asked for a late checkout time at the front desk, only to find out that nothing had changed regarding our transmission. Still no parts in Delta Junction.

Ate lunch at Young’s Cafe and Maggie waited on us. She offered again to have us ride along to Fairbanks for the weekend, but we declined hoping to hear some good news on the van.

On our walk back to the motel, we decided to try some dirt roads off of the main road and see what we could find exploring. (Barney is still hoping that the bull moose of his dreams will come strolling out of the woods.) What we did find was a little girl riding her bicycle who told us that her father was the pastor of the Assembly of God church that we found, and that worship service was at 11AM tomorrow morning.

We did come across some moose nuggets on the edge of the road, but never did see Bull Winkle. Instead, after winding our way back in the woods, we came out near the Alaska Gold shop and stopped to say hello to Janice again. She introduced us to Don Marshall the gentleman who was on the porch with her. Over a beer we learned he was a writer, and he was in the process of relocating from Oregon to Tok where his sons live. He showed us one of the books that he had published covering California Shipwrecks. Upon hearing our plight, he offered to meet us in the morning for breakfast and to drive us around the area.

Today’s weather: Cold but mostly sunny during the day. Low 38° and high 52°.
Miles driven today: Zip

Sunday August 27, Day 40

Starting trip meter: Can’t remember
Starting time: 8:15 ADT
Starting Location: Young’s Motel, Tok AK

Don came to pick us up early this morning and we all went to the Golden Bear restaurant for breakfast. From there he drove us out to where he is building a log home adjacent to one of his son’s property. We stopped in and met Shirley, his son’s wife, and see the different way that they had built their home with end pieces instead of horizontal logs. It was heated by a wood burning stove that her husband had designed and it was very comfortable.

From there we headed out of Tok and up the Taylor Highway. Don shared many facts and incidents that had taken place in the area over the years and it was all most interesting, as well as very scenic. He also told us a few very interesting ship wreck stories.

Returning to Tok, he dropped us off at the Assembly of God Church in time for the worship service. We were greeted by the Pastor and his wife, and several others in the congregation. Each of us remembered the day as the birthdays of Barney’s mother, and my father, and were grateful that we were safe and unharmed in spite of our desire to get back on the road.

We stopped at the grocery store before walking back to the motel. Later in the afternoon, we took another long walk and absorbed the sunshine. It is the only thing that we can do to overcome the immense boredom of being in a motel room. Thank goodness we have the laptop with us, and can still communicate via e-mail, and keeping up with our log.

Today’s weather: Very Pleasant, few showers in the PM. Low 40° and high 55°.
Miles driven today: None

Today’s Pictures

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