On Monday morning we prepared to leave our campground by Copper River and make a brief detour to Anchorage to have our car the Coquí revived. Our nice campground neighbors helped push the Coquí out of the campsite and into position to hook up to Island Girl.
We were sad to leave Wrangell St. Elias National Park without doing any hiking or exploring there, at least we got to see the mine. But that will serve as one reason to return to Alaska someday.
Alaska Day driving day 3 recap:
Road Name (s): Edgerton Highway
Road Type: 2-lane
Road Conditions: Lots of frost heaves, some rough patches down to mile marker 20 then excellent
Road Name: Richardson Highway
Road Type: 2-lane
Road Conditions: Some rough patches and frost heaves
Road Name: Glenn Highway
Road Type: 2-lane
Road Conditions: Very good, with a curvy two-lane section, and one area after the town of Palmer under construction
Miles Today: 259
Driving Time: 5:00
Total Miles in Alaska: 735
Total Miles since entering Canada: 2729
The Edgerton leaving Chitina was not as scenic as other drives but the Richardson had nice views of the Wrangell Mountains and the Glenn was very scenic with some different types of rock formations and mountains.
We saw one animal – a porcupine by the side of the road but there was no place to stop to take a closer look.
To add insult to injury though, as we waited for a pilot car prior to the construction area after the town of Palmer, a truck pulling a trailer in the opposite lane kicked up a rock that cracked Island Girl’s windshield. Grrr. Not big enough to need a replacement windshield right away but too big for resin. We plan to leave it and hope it remains stable until we get back to the lower 48.
We dropped off the car the car at A&A, The Shop – Independent Subaru Service on Monday afternoon and continued to Cabelas, where RVs are allowed to stay for free in a particular area of their parking lot for 48 hours.
The next day we of course did some shopping at Cabelas not only as a courtesy since they allowed us to stay there, but because we like the store. There is a Target right next door, so we took advantage of that as well. And, since we were in the city, we rode our bicycles to a nearby movie theatre and saw a double feature – something we had not done in a while. All in all it was not a bad day.
Topped off by the good news that the shop had all the parts needed and our car was ready at the end of the day. Our throwout bearing had failed, and so they replaced it as well as the clutch. A budget buster for sure. But we were fortunate that they were able to fix it in one day.
On Wednesday morning we got a surprise visit from our friend Dan, whom we had met down in San Diego this past winter. Dan and Amanda are working in Anchorage this summer, and we let him know about our car issue and plan to be in Anchorage.
Dan has learned a lot about the area and shared a lot of great information with us and we plan to get together later this month.
We picked up the Coquí, and must say we were very impressed with the service at A&A The Shop – we highly recommend them to anyone who has a Subaru. They even give a 3-year warranty on their work, and you do not have to bring it back to Alaska.
Well, to celebrate having the Coquí back, we had him professionally washed although we know that he will get very dirty again almost immediately.
We plan to return to Anchorage after the 4th of July, so it was time to head somewhere scenic out of the big city for a few days.
~ Brenda
Yikes! Too much vehicle drama all at once. In addition to following you guys in Alaska, we have been following Van-Tramp and Gone with the Wynns also in Alaska. You are all members of the broken windshield club.
As are about a zillion locals. Cracked windshields seem to be VERY common around here 🙂
Grrr is exactly the right word and emotion. Glad that Coqui is now up and running and will take you to more adventures ahead, crack windshield or not! I also hope that your windshield holds till your return.
Palmer is the town where those huge vegetables and flowers grow.
Both car and RV have cracks now, but we don’t plan to fix them until we leave – don’t want to have to do it more than once. Didn’t know Palmer was the town with the huge produce, we will try to check it out! So much to see!
So glad you were able to get your car fixed. Happy 4th of July!
Thanks, Pam, hope you had a nice one too!
You have had your share of vehicle woes and then some. Hope that chipped windshield holds up until you return to the lower 48.
I know! Oh well, both the motorhome and the car have chipped windshields, we just hope they hold up too! But those are small problems in the scheme of things.
yikes, car drama indeed. At least it’s taken care of.
If you need a place to stay just south of Anchorage, I highly recommend Williwaw, near Girdwood. Be mindful of bears though … altho that is true of anywhere on the Kenai.
The Seward waterfront campground is another great place ; inexpensive and right on the waterfront, BUT it’s basically a gravel lot jammed packed with RV’s. I didn’t plan to stay there but couldn’t pass up that view.
Enjoying your adventure … that’s for bringing us along!
Thank you – we actually boon docked near there, but Williwaw did look nice. We have full hookup reserved in Seward because a friend will be joining us, looking forward to spending time there though. Thank you for coming along!
Sorry about the car troubles but I am always impressed with your friends along the way. Glad the Coqui is ready to leap further along with you.Have fun!
We have had such great experiences with people all over. We are glad to have a car again!
Wow, Alaska is such a diverse and large state! We are heading there next year and hope to follow some of your path!! Thanks for all the great info!! Be safe and hope nothing else happens car wise!