<– Day 8: July 28, Travelers Arrive | Day 10: July 30th, Cruising the Alaska Highway –>
Most everyone arrive on Friday afternoon, but a few hearty souls rolled in after midnight. On Saturday it was awesome to wake up and see all the jeeps around the motel. There wasn’t one of us who wasn’t giddy at the sight of the jeeps. We spent much of Saturday swapping stories. Much of the action was out front of the motel. That in turn caused locals to drop by, say hello and share their own jeeps stories.
Four of those that stopped by were a nice group of local police. They were very enthusiastic about the trip, so much so, that we had them sign jeeps and pose for photos.
We had Hugo pose with the officers.
They also shared some patches, cut off of their outfits.
After the police left, we gathered for a meeting to discuss how we expected the trip to unfold and address any questions. I led the meeting.
After we adjourned, most of us spent the afternoon fixing jeeps and running errands. At 3:30pm, we all gathered again and drove to Alaska Highway sign for group pics. Once we lined up the jeeps, a small crowd started to form. We asked them to come over and sign Patterson’s or Rob’s hood.
Once they were done, we took some pics:
Emily and Joe
Brittany & Merlin feeling victorious that they completed the journey to Dawson Creek. After all, Merlin had to cross the border 9 times to get there. It’s a long, complicated story!
Patterson looks so small compared the two next to it.
From the sign, we ate some dinner, then went back to the motel. I finally got a to test drive Patterson, but the alignment was too squirrelly. Busy with group things, several guys stepped in and fixed the alignment for me. It took nearly the whole group.
Mortimer also need some TLC, as the engine kept overheating:
Both jeeps got the attention they needed. Hopefully, both Merlin and I will get to drive some good miles with our jeeps. I guess we’ll see this morning. We leave at 8am.
Here are some more pics:
Charlene, Russ Lawton’s Jeepster
Lining up to go to the Alaska sign and take pics.
More Patterson signees:
Saturday’s night’s dinner:
One of the last things to be down was to apply the stickers from our sponsors:
<– Day 8: July 28, Travelers Arrive | Day 10: July 30th, Cruising the Alaska Highway –>
What a great start and reception to ALASKA OR RUST!!!
Keep up the trip and photos so we can pat you and the group on the backs from afar!!
Best wishes!!
That is just AWESOME! What a great picture, and documentations, and some good ole neighborly “welcome”, and some “good Police work” too. It gives me chills and envy from across two countries away in South Florida, but following closely. Thanks for the adventure… Best of Luck the rest of the journey… and please keep us posted… and yes, Patterson does look small in comparison, but he has a ‘place’ in history too…
Great update, it’s exciting to watch from back here. I’ll be wearing my Alaska-or-Rust tee shirt today, with you all in spirit.
Amazing a trip I wish I could have joined you all on.
Absolutely great stuff Dave! We wish all of you the best of luck on the rest of the adventure! We will be following every day!!
I am so proud of all of you and wish you the best of luck in this wonderful journey. Wish I was there to cheer you on. Have a great time, enjoy one another and write down your experiences. I guess David is doing that for you.
Dave I agree with your mom and the other E-Willys folks! I wish I was there physically but at least through you postings and pictures I can ‘be with the Alaska or Rust campaign!’
Best of luck to all , give it hell . Wish I was along for the Adventure
Good luck
Dave Wrye
There’s a nice variety of Willys that were able to make the trip. Impressed to see a Jeepster in the lineup!
**Steve E.**
Let adventure begin! Onward now!
Like SteveK, following you from the sunshine state. Wishing my 46 was assembled and joining the adventure. Like most everyone else, ewillys.com is my morning “coffee”. It is my hope to join the next caravan of jeep gypsies on the next journey.
Depending on how things go, there may be the possibility of a future caravan to some place new by a major sponsor. We are quietly working on this to see how things unfold. No promises at this point.