Distance: 319 miles
We were up early after a restless sleep and did not pull out of the driveway until late morning. After a last check around the house for anything we may have forgotten, we got in the Passport and proceeded to leave Anchorage. Hans took his time leaving the neighborhood so he could get a feel for how the car handled with the trailer attached. So far Hans’ job of attaching the hitch was holding up well.
The remnants of the last snowfall were blowing across the Glenn highway when we left town, making the first hour of driving a little hairy. At least a dozen vehicles had slid into ditches and were waiting for help. For one exhilarating moment we felt the back end of the car start to slide sideways and Hans quickly corrected the skid before reducing our speed. Once we reached the outskirts of Palmer, the roads improved (though were not devoid of winter conditions). Unfortunately, we realized that we weren’t going to make very good time on this trip. With the trailer on our back and the road conditions, we would be lucky to average 60 mph.
As we wound our way through the mountains I snapped a few pictures of the Matanuska Glacier and surrounding valleys. Suddenly I was taken with the beauty of the mountains and began to question our decision to move all our belongings to Missouri. By the time we reached our first gas stop near Eureka Summit, it was getting dark. I took over driving. When we pulled into a gas station in Glennallen, the car began to behave oddly. As it idled in front of the pump, the engine began to lose power as if it weren’t getting enough fuel, and continued to stutter. It then took several tries to start up. Our check engine light had turned on outside of Palmer, but we’d had several false indicators during the last year and didn’t pay any attention.
The remnants of the last snowfall were blowing across the Glenn highway when we left town, making the first hour of driving a little hairy. At least a dozen vehicles had slid into ditches and were waiting for help. For one exhilarating moment we felt the back end of the car start to slide sideways and Hans quickly corrected the skid before reducing our speed. Once we reached the outskirts of Palmer, the roads improved (though were not devoid of winter conditions). Unfortunately, we realized that we weren’t going to make very good time on this trip. With the trailer on our back and the road conditions, we would be lucky to average 60 mph.
As we wound our way through the mountains I snapped a few pictures of the Matanuska Glacier and surrounding valleys. Suddenly I was taken with the beauty of the mountains and began to question our decision to move all our belongings to Missouri. By the time we reached our first gas stop near Eureka Summit, it was getting dark. I took over driving. When we pulled into a gas station in Glennallen, the car began to behave oddly. As it idled in front of the pump, the engine began to lose power as if it weren’t getting enough fuel, and continued to stutter. It then took several tries to start up. Our check engine light had turned on outside of Palmer, but we’d had several false indicators during the last year and didn’t pay any attention.
Once we arrived in Tok for the evening, our concerns grew as the car continued to have trouble while idling. We flipped through the phonebook to look for mechanic shops that might be open tomorrow, but weren’t sure of our chances given that tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.
We ate a few items from the cooler Hans’ mom had packed for us and went to bed, worried about the days ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment