(In my best TV announcer voice) “Previously, on Route Not Found…”
Once upon a time, we drove the Pacific Coast Highway from San Diego to Seattle in cheap-as-shit cars we found on the internet. This spring, we decided to finish what we started and drive from Seattle to the end of the road in Alaska… until we realized we’d have to put it off until late this summer. So we ordered ourselves an appetizer of overlanding through Arkansas over Easter so that Evan could play with his 4WD Civic from the eighties.
Once we got back from the Ozarks, we hashed out a preliminary AlCan route and figured out when we could pull it off.
Then it all went to hell: the ferry didn’t run when we thought it did and there were show-stopping issues with buying vehicles in Washington as non-residents. We drank pondered about it and decided that we couldn’t just abandon this trip. I mean, look:
So we doubled-down instead, deciding to buy cars at home and ship them to the start line. But to preserve the magic, we also decided to keep them a secret from each other, too.
Then I went on a rock climbing roadtrip for a week and a ton of planning happened.
We “re-finalized” the Re-Revised Alternate New Schedule Option™ and confirmed the route. Then I disappeared for the week, leaving my blessing for the boys to start booking accommodations… and oh right, they also bought their cars.
As it turns out, we each were looking for very different kinds of vehicles.
When I got home, I was already feeling like I was behind schedule. And I still had no idea what kind of car I wanted. But I managed to buy one in short order. … Only then did we found out that shipping cars has become appallingly more expensive than it was the last time we did it. Charming.
Figuring we were past the point of no return anyway, we continued:
We booked the rest of our overnights (one of which has its own airstrip) and pinned more detours. George and Evan were able to arrange shipping because at least they could ship together, which they managed to do while maintaining the secrecy. And I decided to drive from Austin to Seattle instead — because my shipping would have cost almost as much as the car. So I leave for Roswell in three days, hoping to make it to Seattle in five… during a full-time pre-vacation work-week of crazy.
Also, I made a bunch of technical updates to this blog and gave a lightning talk about it at work.
And that’s what’s happened. I should start packing.
UPDATE: I made it to Washington, lightly chronicled. And we’re already going on the trip, if you want to start from the beginning, or just hit the home page for what’s new.