Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Trip tales and travel stories from around the globe. Share your adventure!
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vincent9993
Posts: 793
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:00 am

Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

We're getting ready to leave on a 19 day journey to AK and to Whitehorse, YT - An over 7,500 mile round trip.

We'll be joined by the duo Paul Mabin and Joe Wheeler as well as Jon Boyton.

For those interested in following us live, we'll have the Spot tracker active: Tracking link

We'll try to keep the daily blog going pending being arrested in a Chinese takeout place or thrown out of the local bars...

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neohic
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Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:20 pm
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by neohic »

Godspeed to all of you! I've talked with Joe a little bit about this trip already. He has my number if anyone needs anything while in MN. Bemidji is only a couple hours north of me. Safe travels!
ManxManiac
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Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:00 am
Location: Ventura, CA

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by ManxManiac »

This is going to be an epic adventure! Congratulations to those that are participating! I'm going to keep track of y'all & "ride along" as the saying goes! LOL Watchout for moose & other animals & the wild n' crazy folks that cruise up through there this time of year! LOL Safe travels, good health & have FUN FUN FUN!!! LOL
Michael Cates
ManxManiac
#958
Ventura, CA
Original Meyers Manx "Xena"
M1609C8S22
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vincent9993
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Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:00 am

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

Oh yes, we are back on road for another adventure with the dune buggy. This time, if everything goes well, my dune buggy will have visited the 49th state….Alaska. We left the apartment around 10:45am with a beautiful sun. We could not ask for a better weather. Our first destination was North Bay in Ontario. To get here, we drove on route 17. It is not really an excitant route but at least we had nice weather. On the road, there are a lot of trees and conifers. We shared the road with a lot of trucks. Just past Petawawa, I wondered what was on the other side of the fence, in less than a second, I realized that it was a black bear…not quick enough because I didn’t have time to take a picture. I will have to sharpen my reflexes if I want to share with you the good moments. At Mattawa, the sun was increasingly veiled but always present. We arrived at the hotel around 5:45pm. Because it was still early, Vincent decided to do an oil change, he found that it may have heated a little and didn’t want to take any chances. For dinner, we went to Shoeless Joe’s Sports Grill just beside the hotel. Vincent, always true to himself, took a beer with his thumbs up. Tomorrow we will join our friends, Joe, Jon and Paul…we look forward to see them again.

Mileage: 349 miles (562km)
Provinces: Quebec, Ontario
Temperature: 84F (29C)
Beer: 1 x Guinness

Good night!


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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

CANA-LASKA DAY 2: June 16th

Today we left North Bay around 6:40am. It was nice outside but a little bit more chilly (66F / 19C). Again today we drove on route 17 and yes it is still a boring route. The only good thing is that I was able to see many RBC branches where I coordinated renovations…poor analysts who need to travel so far with nothing to do around. I need to admit that we saw another attraction on route 17 (apart of the RBC branches or ATM), we saw an Amish with their horses (and the dungs). We arrived at the Sault Ste-Marie boarder around 11:30am. Nobody was waiting (yahoo). When the custom agent asked us where we were going and we replied: Alaska, he stayed really professional but I was able to see a small smile in his face. He asked the usual question to know if we carry alcohol and tobacco and Vincent replied no and I said…no room for that. The other side of the boarder, we were supposed to meet our friends Joseph, Jon and Paul. They were not at the rally point. They arrived 10 minutes after us… rain and construction delayed them. We were really happy to see them again. We confirmed to them that the remaining of the day would be without rain….we keep our promise. The road 28 to go from Sault Ste-Marie and Munising is as boring as the 17.

When we stopped to put gas at Munising, the guys tried to find why Jon’s buggy was losing oil. We stopped at the Shell station and after few unsuccessful calls, the only girl in the group got the idea to ask a guy with a pick up where we could find a garage. Vincent and I went to see if we could find a swing axle boot. The guy at the garage didn’t seems to understand what we were looking for but referred us to the NAPA just beside his garage and told us to ask for Tom…he knows everything with the Volkswagen. Bingo! Tom already understood what we were looking for but didn’t have one in stock but told us that he had one at home. He drove 20 miles back and forth to go get the piece…he sold it at his wholesales price. The guys will change the piece tonight at the hotel. In the meantime, Joe tightened everything and Jon was able to be back on road without any problem. Back on route 28 (after a stop of one hour), the scenery was much better. Between Munising and Marquette, we were driving along the Superior Lake…so nice but really cold. Between Marquette and Baraga, we didn’t drive so close of the Superior Lake so the temperature was more pleasant. We arrived at the hotel around 7:00pm. We had our dinner at the restaurant of the hotel, the view of the lake was wonderful. While I am writing this recap, the guys are replacing the defective piece. I will not be able to tell you if everything went well before tomorrow because when Vincent will come back into the room, I will sleep for sure. By the way, it is 9:55pm and it is still light outside….strongly summer!

Mileage: 510 miles (821)
Province / State: Ontario, Michigan
Temperature: 79F (26C)
Beer: 2 x Grand Circus IPA

Good night!

Vincent et/and France.


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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

Cana-Laska 2016: Day 3 Baraga MI - Grand Forks ND

Oh yes, another nice day on the road. This morning I was able to see the sunrise. It was not really hot but it was nice. Again today we road along the Superior Lake (it is really a big lake…Great Lake is going well with it), so it was pretty cold. Thank god I had my heated jacket…I could not ride without it anymore. What do you think I did with my heated jacket and heated seat? Oh yes, I took few naps. Joe asked me how I was able to sleep with that cold weather and I told him: heated seat and jacket and you just close your eyes! We could see on the radar image we were to ride in a bad system, there was red where we had to pass. We stopped at Swan River to put the top on and at that time, without knowing, Jon helped us a lot. He was looking for his cell phone and was not able to find it. Paul and I helped him to remove everything from his buggy to find his phone without any luck. We even tried to call his phone and still no luck. Vincent came to join us and asked if his phone was an iPhone. Well yes! So Vincent configured the apps “Find my iPhone” and within two seconds the iPhone rang. With this apps, even if the sound is turned off, the iPhone makes a noise. Jon was really relieved. After the researches, the sky was more and more threatening. We decided to have lunch there…thanks Jon. We didn’t have to drive under the bad weather and had good time. Back on road, I would say that it rained for about 30 to 40 minutes, but not heavy rain. After that, the sun came out. I am really proud of the pictures that I took of the crop duster. The plane was flying and we were driving the buggy at about 60 miles (100 km), the result is pretty good. Oh yes, I almost forgot, you want to know how the repair went yesterday on Jon’s buggy? So I would say that it is a work in progress…more to do tonight. I added three pictures from yesterday repair. The guys are nice with me. Within a block or two, we have an Olive Garden and they accepted to go there tonight…for the remaining of the trip, they can go where they want, Pubs, breweries, name it, I have eaten at my Olive Garden and I will be happy. Long day tomorrow, we are going to Canada.


Mileage: 510 miles (821)
Province / State: Ontario, Michigan
Temperature: 79F (26C)
Beer: 1 x Rhombus Guys The Illusion

Good night!

Vincent et/and France.

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hillmotorsports
Posts: 129
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:07 pm

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by hillmotorsports »

Thanks for the reports and pictures France.
Though there may be some slight differences, you and Rosemarie could be related when it comes to Olive Garden!
FYI......... you missed one at Winnipeg, but there are locations in Calgary and Edmonton that you may be able to adjust your route to... so another great meal in each direction according to your planned route.
(Don't tell Vincent or Joe that I told you!)

Enjoy the trip.... there are many of us savoring the miles with you through your daily digests and pictures.
Rosemarie and Paul Hill
Morrisburg, Ontario
Canada
613 330 4862
Member #4502
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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

CANA-LASKA DAY 4: June 18th

Today was a long day. Because we were crossing into Canada, we decided that we would leave closer to 6:00am. So around 5:50am, we did our drivers meeting. Vincent and I offered to our American friends a gift…a red cowboy hat with a maple leaf on it. They were really happy. I need to admit that to give a nice impression, Jon is a champion. He arrived this morning with a “bacon suit”…you will see the picture talk by itself. The sun was still with us and it was warmer (I didn’t activate the heat neither on my jacket or the seat). The radar image indicated that we would get wet. We decided to put the top. We didn’t get rain until the next gas stop. We decided to remove the top because we spent more time at that stop. We were at the central North America geographic point. When all the pictures were completed, the two bad systems were gone and we were safe to drive with the sun. For lunch, we stopped at the M & K Pizza Hub at Kenmare ND. It was not the best pizza that we ate but it was okay. We were not far from the boarder. We first stopped at the American agents that were really friendly. After, we stopped at the Canadian agent. He was less friendly and was asking us question when just beside us a big truck was leaving the other lane, we were asking him to repeat all the time. We all passed safely the boarder and we stopped to take the first couple official pictures in Canada with our friends. We were looking for gas. We stopped at Fillmore but we were not able to find a gas station. We asked a RCMP agent and he told us that on Saturday it was closed but the next town should be fined. At Fillmore, they have a Royale Bank…not the nicest looking one but at least we are present in that community.
On our way, Jon’s buggy battery loss power. After few adjustments, he was back on the road. Vincent and I went to chase a battery. Not obvious on a Saturday passed 5pm. We stopped at the first Esso, no luck. Just before we left the Esso, the guys called us to let us know that Jon’s buggy stopped again. We resume our battery hunt. At Davidson (about 40 km further) the Esso was bigger. Still no battery but Vincent talked with the guy behind the counter and he was kind enough to contact the owner of the RV shop beside the Esso and the owner brought us a battery. The guys were on their way to meet us but then they asked us to found an alternator…they were pushing too much their luck (ha! ha! ha!). They finally joined us and changed the battery. Still no luck for the alternator. In the parking lot, two girls asked the guys if the dune buggy were like Manx. The guys replied that they were all three Manx. They mentioned that they knew people who raced Manx. They made a phone call, pass it to Vincent and we were on our way to Saskatoon to join that person who will give us an alternator. Yes, you red correctly that we are on the road, I am in the buggy, driving on the highway 11 and I am writing the recap so I hope not to go to bed pass midnight. I might have to say that the remaining of the story will be finished tomorrow so I will conclude by saying: To be continued!


Happy father’s day to all the fathers but specially to my father-in-law André, my brother Guy, my brother-in-law Alain and my brother-in-law Simon, hope you will have a wonderful day.

Okay still in the buggy, it is 10:12pm and we are leaving the shop where Todd and Brad helped us. The problem was…only a wire not plug correctly. We should be at the hotel in about 15 minutes…if the guys can stop talking…they are worse than women.


Mileage: 625 miles (1006 km)
State / Province: North Dakota, Saskatchewan
Temperature: Min 68F (20C) Max 81F (27C)
Beer: 1 x Original 16

Good night!

Vincent et/and France.



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AirCooledClassics
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2016 5:25 pm

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by AirCooledClassics »

It was great to meet you guys last night, Brad and I (Todd) really enjoyed it. You guys are a testimony to the VW aftermarket - that people can really drive these things. And now I'm going to plug my business: "Air Cooled Classics Saskatoon - open 24/7 for all your air cooled needs...if you have a cool car, if you have a cool story". Enjoy the rest of your journey, I'll be living vicariously through your tales of the road.
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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

CANA-LASKA DAY 5: June 19th

Another beautiful day on the road. We left Saskatoon under a cloudy sky so we kept the top. It was a WINDY day. In Kansas, it was a constant wind, today it was windy as much as in Kansas but it was a gusty wind…our hair to Vincent and I straightened. We were able to stop at the border between Saskatchewan and Alberta to take few pictures. Oh yes I forgot to tell you that we stopped on the shoulder of the road between Saskatoon and Alberta because Jon ran out of gas. Thank God Vincent and I had some. We were able to go back on road without too much trouble. Men are worse than women when they are in a Canadian Tire…they would say that it is us who took our time. We arrived at Hinton around 6pm. 500 miles (805km) for 12 hours on the road…we will need to be more discipline (or I should say) the guys will need to be more disciplined tomorrow because we have 625 miles ( 1006km) to do and if we are doing the same as today, we will be on the road for at least 15 hours. Our arrival at Hinton was great because the sun was there (okay with clouds) and we were able to see the Rockies away…tomorrow should be a nice day but somewhat cool. We just came back from dinner and the guys will work on Jon’s buggy….always the same issue with the swing axle boot…work in progress…to be continued.

Mileage: 500 miles (805 km)
Provinces: Saskatchewan, Alberta
Temperature: Min 57 (14C) Max 79F (26C)
Beer: 2 x Alexander Keith’s

Good night!

Vincent et/and France.


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rzeller
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by rzeller »

AirCooledClassics wrote:It was great to meet you guys last night, Brad and I (Todd) really enjoyed it. You guys are a testimony to the VW aftermarket - that people can really drive these things. And now I'm going to plug my business: "Air Cooled Classics Saskatoon - open 24/7 for all your air cooled needs...if you have a cool car, if you have a cool story". Enjoy the rest of your journey, I'll be living vicariously through your tales of the road.
Brad, Todd, I've been following my friend's journey from the comfort of my office chair and I have to say your generosity and friendship exemplifies the close-nit community of VW's and dune buggies. Cheers to you guys!!!
Bud Zeller
Wilmington, NC
Manx Club Member Since 2004 - #2475
Member of the Manx Club's Long Haul League - 2015
2018 NORRA Mexican 1000 - #1356 - Bad News Racing
2022 NORRA Mexican 1000 - #3347 - Bad News Racing & ACME Companies
2023 NORRA Mexican 1000 - #1356 - Bad News Racing
'68 Meyers Manx - M1996F826S
'66 VW Kombi Bus
'73 VW Thing
joem32380
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:39 pm

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by joem32380 »

Are the boots damaged everytime? either too much sag and they are rubbing on the forks or have them not stretch the boots too far and gives them a little more flex.
Clonebug
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Location: Washington State

Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by Clonebug »

Try to install them when the axle is straight instead of pointing down and extended.

I use the black permatex gasket sealer on the seam where the little bolts go and then add a little extra on the last bolts and under where the hose clamps go and let it sit overnight to dry.

Don't overtighten the bolts and use good wide clamps.
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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

CANA-LASKA DAY 6: June 20th

Good news, today no repair on Jon’s buggy…the man was really happy. Wow, the day started with a splendid sun, a blue sky but a little cold. The arrival in Jasper Park was just beautiful…breathtaking. On the road, we saw moose, deer, horse, cow so a lot of different animals. We had lunch in Prince George, the weather was warmer so we ate outside. Beginning of the afternoon, Dave and Howard joined us. For those who don’t know who Howard is, he is the lucky one who won the Kick Out SS on the 50th anniversary of the Meyers Manx. He lives in Anchorage and decided to drive a part of the road with us. It was a long day but it finished like it started, under a beautiful blue sky. The Rockies are splendid. Even our American friends mentioned that they seems to be bigger than the one in the States. You will see three pictures of different RBC branches (Hinton, Burns Lake and Houston). For those who didn’t know, RBC Royal Bank is my employer. Travelling across Canada, I realized that we have different kind of branches. We arrived at the hotel around 7:30pm. We decided to have dinner at the restaurant adjacent of the hotel. As the scenery was so beautiful today, you will have more pictures. We hope you can enjoy the beauty of Canada.

Mileage: 641 miles (1032 km)
Provinces: Alberta, British Columbia
Temperature: Min 57 (14C) Max 79F (26C)
Beer: 1 x Sherwood Mountain & 1 x Rickard’s Red

Good night!

Vincent et/and France.


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vincent9993
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Re: Manx 2 Alaska 2016

Post by vincent9993 »

Just a little rectification about yesterday recap. Yesterday morning when we left Hinton it was not 57F (14C) but 47F (8C)...but the sun was present so it compensated. This morning we are leaving for Prince Rupert to embark on the ferry to Juneau. We don't know if we will have internet or not....so do not panic if you do not receive any recap tonight. Unfortunately the weather does not seems to want to collaborate...supposed to rain all day :-( Have a nice day.



Vincent et/and France
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