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Alaskan Adventure
On Friday June 1st, two generations of Sullivans embarked on a journey from their Southern Indiana homes to Alaska in their 1929 Model A Fords. This site tracked their journey by providing updated images and a map identifying their location. On June 13th the team arrived to the great state of Alaska. Exactly 1 month later, on July 13th, the four arrived back to their Indiana homes.
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Day 1
June 1st 2007 The crew left Seymour at 10:00 AM, drove 314 miles, and stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn in Morris Illinois. There were no mechanical issues. 3,519 miles left to go.Day 2
June 2nd 2007 The team went to a swap meet steam show today. Jack and Kathryn headed out earlier than Jack and Linda, who at 10:00 AM were having breakfast in Elburn, IL. While dining they met another couple who had arrived in a Model A and they enjoyed breafast together. The left wind wing needed to be tighted on Jack Sr.'s car today. They completed 250 miles and are spending the night at a campground along the Mississippi River in the town of Bagley.Day 3
June 3rd 2007 Storms came through durring the night and into the morning. Had breakfast at 9:30 in the town of Prairie Du Chien. Followed the Mississippi River until the town of Red Wing at which point they crossed over into Minnesota. Spent the night with some friends that used to live in Seymour and now reside just outside Minneapolis.Day 4
June 4th 2007 A new trip record of 340 miles today. Winds are blowing 20-30 mph. No mechanical troubles. Spending the night in a campground in Lisbon, ND.Day 5
June 5th 2007 Images from Days 1 to 3 have been posted. Jack Jr. had the first car trouble today. He had to replace the exhaust manifold gasket. It didn't slow them down much and they still put in 316 miles. The 49th parallel is only about 40 miles away.Day 6
June 6th 2007 The travelers were interviewed today from someone with the local newspaper in Estevan, the Estevan Mercury. 360 miles today with heavy winds and cold rain. No mechanical trouble. Sunrise in Saskatoon is 4:48 am. Sunset is 9:23 pm. The predicted low tonight is 39°F. The high for tomorrow is 64°F.Day 7
June 7th 2007 324 miles with no mechanical troubles. Oil changed today for maintenance. Entered Mountain Time Zone today. Sunrise 5:07 am and sunset 9:59 pm.Day 8
June 8th 2007 New images added for days 4 - 7. Jack Sr. had 2 flat tires today, however the A Models still put in 320 more miles and the crew spent the night in Grand Prarie only 40 miles from the start of the Alaskan Highway.In Edmonton they visited the worlds larget mall, the West Edmonton Mall.
Day 9
June 9th 2007 Received an email from Jack and Linda with some attached pictures. Here is an excerpt from the email "Day 9- we went 374 miles today. Its mostly wilderness in B.C. We drove thru a hard rainstorm. The views are wonderful. We crossed the last remaining wooden bridge on the old Alaska hwy. over 100' tall. It had a 9 degree curve built in it. The bridge was built in 1942. The cars ran good today. We never know when to quit driving because of the long daylight hours. We are spending the night at Fort Nelson B.C."Fort Nelson, BC sunrise: 5:01 am
Fort Nelson, BC sunset: 11:19 pm
Day 10
June 10th 2007 180 miles through rain and mountains. $46 to fill up the Model A. Spent the night in a lodge on Muncho Lake in the scenic Canadian Rockies.Day 11
June 11th 2007 320 miles and into the Yukon Territory. Crossed the 60° line of latitude. Spending the night at a Lake Lodge on Teslin Lake. Today the group visited the world famous sign post forest at Watson Lake. They found the sign for Salem and signed it.Whitehorse, YT is 100 miles away. Sunrise at Whitehorse is 4:30 am and sunset is 11:19 pm.
Day 12
June 12th 2007 300 miles through ice fields and Mountains. Spent the night at Burwash Landing, YT. Dall Sheep were spotted today.Day 13
June 13th 2007 They made it!!! They arrived to Alaska and entered the Alaskan Time Zone. 320 miles and staying at Delta Junction, the end of the Alaskan Highway. The road today was in very poor condition and one hole in particular was so bad that it jarred the lens out of Jack Sr.'s headlight.Delta Junction Sunrise: 3:18 am
Delta Junction Sunset: 12:07 am
8 days until the summer solstice. Current latitude is 64.070999 only a few degrees from the artic circle which will see 24 hours of daylight durring the summer solstice.
Day 14
June 14th 2007 180 miles and into Fairbanks. Met members of a car club while dining and went to club meeting. See guestbook for comments left by members of this club. New pictures have been uploaded for days 10 - 13.Day 15
June 15th 2007 110 miles to a hotel near the entrance of Denali National Park. Linda added 3 new birds to her lifetime list.Day 16
June 16th 2007 Took a bus tour of Denali NP. Spent the night at the same hotel just outside the park entrance.Day 17
June 17th 2007 Visited an acquaintance south of Denali. Continued jouney toward Anchorage. New images added for days 14-17.Day 18
June 18th 2007 240 miles and into the Kenai Peninsula.Day 19
June 19th 2007 The article written for the Estevan Mercury Newspaper is available online. Hemmings also included a blog about the trip.Spending a few days in Seward. Today took a cruise out to see the Aialik Glacier
. Linda added 11 new birds to her life list today. She has added 25 new birds so far on this trip.
Day 20
June 20th 2007 180 miles into Palmer. Traveled to Whitier by way of the longest combined vehicle-railroad tunnel in North America, the Whitier Tunnel.
The road from Seward to Anchorage is considered one of the most scenic that any in the party had ever seen. Jack Jr. had a flat tire today.
Day 21
June 21th 2007Summer solstice tody. Travelled 280 miles to Tok which is the junction of the Alaskan Highway and the coldest inhabited community in North America. The crew is preparing to depart Alaska tomorrow. New pictures have been uploaded.Sunrise: 3:19 AM
Sunset: 11:50 PM
Day 22
June 22th 2007 Left Tok and began travel on the Alaskan Highway. Encountered a camper and truck completly burnt. Later they discovered that it belonged to a couple from Iowa that they met the night before in Tok. The unfortunate couple explained that they only had time to get out with the clothes on their backs before the whole thing went up in flames.The Sullivans travelled 300 miles and stayed at Haines Junction, YT.
Day 23
June 23th 2007 Left Haines Junction and travelled into Whitehorse. Jack Sr. bought a new tire for his trailer. They departed Whitehorse and travelled to Skagway. They spent the night at Skagway and purchased tickets to ride on the famous White Pass Summit Excursion.
Day 24
June 24th 2007 Started the morning with a train ride to White Pass Summit. The trip climbs from sea level to 2,865 on a 40 mile trip through tunnels and sky-high trestles.
Day 25
June 25th 2007 Entered into some very isolated areas today. Roads were in increadibly bad conditions. For a 50 to 60 mile stretch the roads required slowing down to 5 mph to get past some of the areas. Travelled 350 miles and spent the night in Iskut, BC.Day 26
June 26th 2007 Roads continued to get worse. Poor roads caused Jack Jr. to break a mounted rear view mirror. Jack Sr. had to replace his manifold gasket today. Last two days of travel has brought them through some very remote wilderness regions and many bear sightings.The group visited the remote towns of Stewart, BC population 700 and Hyder, AK population 97. These towns are nestled in the mountains and straddle the border between British Columbia and the Alaska. Spent the night in Kitwanga.
Day 27
June 27th 2007 Traveled highway 16 through Prince George and on into the Canadian Rockies. Had lunch at an internet cafe in McBride and got to review this site. Spent the night in the beautiful Rocky Mountains at a campground in Jasper National Park.Day 28
June 28th 2007 Headed south by way of the Icefields Parkway into Banff National Park, Canada's oldest National Park established in 1885.Day 29
June 29th Beautiful drive on Ice Fields Parkway through Jasper and Banff National Parks. Lots of waterfalls and lakes. Jack Jr. had car trouble at 8 PM. Sounded like a rod knocking. Jack and Kathryn drove on into Turner Valley, Alberta, got a motel room, and left their camper at the motel. They came back and pulled Jack and Linda's Model A to the motel.Day 30
June 30th The men started working on Jack Jr.'s car at 5:30 AM. Took off the oil pan and started checking for loose rods. Found no problems with the rods. Pulled of the engine head next and found a screw on top of the number 3 piston. On Day 28 two screws off the butterfly on the carb. were missing. Jack Jr. had hoped that they and fallen out of the carb. but one got sucked up into the engine. Car back together at 5:00 PM. Stayed at Turner Valley another night.Day 31
July 1st Left Turner Valley heading for USA. Went to Glacier National Park. Only 13 miles of the park road was open on the east side due to damage caused by flooding last fall. Spent the night at Choteau, Montana. Drove at total of 320 miles.
Day 32
July 2nd Drove the rest of the way (210 miles) to Dick and Sue Williams home at Ennis, MT. It was great to have a home cooked meal.
Day 33
July 3rd Jack and Kathryn stayed at Dick and Sue's home while Jack and Linda drove 230 miles to Amy and Montelle Pike's home in Lava Hot Springs, ID. They will stay at the Pike home for 7 days with Jack and Kathryn joining later in the week.Day 34
July 4th Happy 4th of July! Jack and Kathryn were in a parade at Ennis, Montana. Jack and Linda went to a pancake breakfast and enjoyed the amazing fireworks of Lava Hot Springs off the deck of the Pike's home.This will be the last update until they continue their journey home.Days 35-38
July 5th - 8th Continued resting and visiting family.Day 39
July 9th Jack and Kathryn met up with Jack and Linda at Amy's house in Lava Hot Springs.Day 40
July 10th The team left bright and early, 5:30 AM mountain time and traveled 430 miles. Spent the night at Laramie, WY.Day 41
July 11th Left Laramie, WY at 6:45 AM and drove to Sidney,NE to shop at Cabela's. They spent the night at Minden, NE capping off 402 miles.Day 42
July 12th They left Minden, NE at 6:45 AM and traveled to Fort Madison, IA to spend the night. 440 miles traveled.Day 43
July 13th They left Fort Madison, IA at 7:15 AM and stopped and visited friends at Mason City, IL and Tuscola, IL. They stopped in Bloomington, IN to have some ice cream and ran into fellow club members the Sutton's and the Whiteman's. Arrived home at 11:15 pm. 400 miles traveled.
New images have been uploaded.
Concluding Comment from the Sullivans
Total mileage for the trip was 10,057. I think Henry Ford would have been proud of the 78 yr. old Model As. It shows that they are a very fine automobile! This was a trip we'll never forget. We met so many nice people and the scenery was outstanding!-The Sullivans
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