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Where is "Off Grid"
Fort Nelson, Canada |
Anyways, we are not at Disney, and if we were, our lights, heat, air conditioning, tv, satellite, microwave, washer machine, car, cell phone, and modem would all be ON at the same time ! Yep, of course we have all this stuff, but power management is a part of our everyday. We are as far away from the grid as we have ever been. Our Sirius radio has spotty reception and our Direct TV only gets a few channels due to the curvature of the earth. The farther north we get, soon neither will operate. No radio or tv? We’ll be OK.
Currently ATT (BellCan) has LTE close by most of towns so cell phone and limited internet is still working. But after saying all that, we are at a campground, using their slice of the grid… thank you. We departed Dawson Creek after 3 peaceful nights. We enjoyed our stay there and pre-prepared for the Alaskan Hwy. So on today’s journey, I learned a couple of things so far: 1) Not all “Rib Rattler” signs are created equal, but I have decided to treat each warning sign with respect, (read slooow- dooown).. Even though my speeds are between 50 and 60 mph.
2) Not all “descents” are created equal. So today, my first decent was a 6% grade, piece of cake. Second and third descent was a 8% and 10%, ok, well the 10% got my attention, but the Cummins drive-train did its’ job.
Then came two additional descents, one warning sign said “Steep Grade” and said to downshift, ok, no problem, I got this. Then the next warning sign said “Very Steep Grade, Trucks Stop to Check Brakes Before Proceeding”. Yep, it was a “very steep grade” no doubt. A good way of breaking in the drive on the Alcan. During and after each one of these descents we were treated to either a snow capped mountain range or a beautiful valley. At one point we drove thru miles of burnt Forrest from a 2015 wild fire. Glad we were not there when it was burning, unbelievable.
The drive was uneventful until we reached Fort Nelson, BC. We pulled off the road to go to the Visitor Centre and it started sleeting. What? And of course the Visitor Centre was closed so no information today.
We originally planned to boondock but the area we were going to park at was too muddy so we pulled into Triple GGG campground for the night. I love having options. While checking in at the campground, George talked to a local here and he wasn’t real confident about us taking the rig to Fort Liard in the Northwest territory tomorrow. About 50 miles of the road is dirt/gravel, and with all the rain, it would not be wise towing. So I think we will just be tourists and drive up there without the house and explore. After parking and opening up the house, dinner was ready!
Our Trip Stats for Geeks
Today Miles – 284
Gallons of Fuel – 34.9
Cost of Fuel – $130.58
Price of Fuel per gallon $3.74 Beginning of Trip to Date Miles – (from Key West) 4552
Gallons of Fuel – 533.0
Cost of Fuel – $1,523.26
Avg Price of Fuel per gallon $2.86
Avg MPG – 8.5
# of Days Boondocking – 9
# of Days @ Campground – 16
Avg Cost per night – $16.84
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