Our expedition to bring all 34 dogs from Fairbanks to Ontario has begun. Ilana and Greg are joined by four fantastic helpers, who are hoping for a smooth and wonderful adventure. We anticipate a 6-day journey, of almost 4000 miles.
The caravan consists of three vehicles, each hauling a trailer. We have a 26′ u-haul truck with a trailer, carrying all our household goods plus exterior fencing panels. Our Subaru is towing our four-wheeler (ATV), and the Tundra is pulling our 20-hole dog box. The Tundra also has our 8-hole dog box mounted in the truck bed.
Most dogs have their own hole in a dog box. A few are riding in cars. Rocket and Goblin and Stubby are infirm, so are benefiting from air conditioning in the Subaru. For the first day, Bruno got to ride in the Tundra, with Nutok (who is ancient though spry).
We got off to a later-than-hoped start, leaving around 4:00 pm. The first and only problem of the day is that Greg forgot to ratchet the trailer ball, and the trailer bounced off the u-haul trailer jack within the first 1/2 mile. That was soon fixed, and Greg got a little smarter.
After that, it was a matter of driving. We made it to Beaver Creek, which is just over the border. The border crossing into Canada was smooth, and took a little over 90 minutes. Greg needed to fill out paperwork to return to his country of birth, along with importing household goods and dogs. (In Canada, dogs are property, so must be imported.)
There was great scenery along the way, including the Alaska mountain range, Tanana and other rivers, and a few small towns including Tok and Delta Junction. Spirits are strong and energies are high. We have some very long days of driving ahead, and we have not yet established our daily routine of dog care and feeding. As well as personal care and feeding!
