<-- Day 10: July 30th, Cruising the Alaska Highway | Day 12: Aug 1, Feliz Aniversario Hugo Vidal -->

Today we drove from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake, a distrance of 326 miles. Partly overcast as we left the city, we could see some dark clouds ahead that lingered over the pass we were approaching.

We were only a few minutes outside of Fort Nelson when we spotted photographer Monicque Jacobs, who took pictures at Dalex Auto Service's event on Sunday evening. That's when Ann shouted, "Oh crap!"

"What's the matter," I asked.

"I was supposed to let Monicque know when were leaving the city."

Monicque, this is our apology to you! Fortunately, she's a professional and was ready for our exit.

A slight drizzle started, then turned to full rain as we climbed up the pass. The speed dropped and road tightened into a snaking mountian road, climbing until we were surrounded by mist.

When we summited, we took a break. Those that had Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association hoodie-sweatshirts lined up for a photo in the rain.

For the next hour or so the rain fell as we motored along lakes, down ravines, and through countless forests. Unlike Sunday, traffic was much lighter, so we took advantage of that by taking photos and video from the rear, the front, and while passing the convoy.

Our planned lunch stop for the day was world-famous Laird Hotsprings. Fortunately, the rain subsided by the time we arrived. While most of the crew explored the hot springs, Hugo, Fernando and I stayed with the vehicles to keep an eye on them. Some men from Alberta, possibly Amish, were looking at the jeeps with interest, so we chatted for a while.

Next, a young couple with Utah plates on their vehicle returned from the hot springs. As they backed their van and cargo trailer out of it's spot, I opened a conversation with them. The couple, Kevin and Jen, explained that they were from Salt Lake City and were touring North and South America with their van and a trailer with a sauna in the back for the simple reason that they could. Hearing that, I asked the Vidals to join me and give them some advice for exploring the South America. When we finished, I had them sign Patterson and gave them a couple tshirts.

After a quick lunch, Ann and I got ahead of the crew to take pics of the convoy as it. Someone had mentioned there were Bison with calves on the road 12 miles north of the hot springs. By the time we got there, the only thing on the road were motorcyclers who'd stopped ON THE ROAD in the driving lane, next to the Bison. Meanwhile, Ann and I parked down from the herd, then walked on the opposite side of the road to take photos and give the herd space. Then, I climbed the hill along the road to get a pic of the bison as the jeeps rounded a corner. Just as I heard Bill's voice on the radio, the cylers mounted and left. So we have the bison and road to ourselves. We even had great light.

As Murphy's Law would have it, as soon as I spotted Bill in the distance, some tourist in a 40ft tall double decker (might be and exaggeration, but it was tall) #@%$@#$# trailer pulled up on the side of the road and came to a stop right in my line of sight. I had the staging, the light, and the shot. I was cussing and stamping my feet. How I didn't cause the Bison to stampede I don't know. Oh I was mad!! But, what could I do. I'm sure they never saw me up there.

There were several more herds of bison that we passed, all lazily hanging out in the grass on the sides of the road. From the hoof prints on the side of the road, it's clear the bison used the road as much as humans.

The remainder of the drive to Watson Lake was uneventful, except for crossing into the Yukon AND seeing one bear, then another. I thought I had a photo of the bear somewhere, but my brain is mush and couldn't find it. You'll have to wait for the next post.

It was a great day of cruising with the group and enjoying each other's company. All around, it's a great bunch of folks.

Tomorrow, we and the Vidals will take off early to special luncheon at a resort south of Whitehorse. Then, everyone will congregate for Hugo's 84th birthday party, which is being thrown by Stephen Reynolds, a local Whitehorse citizen. It should be quite the bash!

<-- Day 10: July 30th, Cruising the Alaska Highway | Day 12: Aug 1, Feliz Aniversario Hugo Vidal -->

It was a long, but productive day yesterday at the swapmeet. We had the opportunity to speak with a wide variety of people about eWillys and the Alaska Or Rust venture. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people (old, young, men and women) agreed that it was a cool idea. Many folks wish they had their old Willys together so they too could make the run with us. Still others had driven the highway and had lots of suggestions on places to see.  It was a great way to spread the news about the trip.

Even better, four of the participants (me, Rob, Marty and Wade) had a chance to all meet at the same time. Somehow, we never got a photo of all of us though. Here's are a few photos we did get:

UPDATE: Was on eBay. **SOLD**

This appears unrestored, though the front frame horns have been extensively patched.

"This is an original unrestored, 1943 MB Willys Jeep. "The Wolfhounds" MB 204065 is as complete and almost rust free as you will ever find. This jeep has always been garaged and has a clear Title.
The Willys Jeep were manufactured from 1941 to 1945. These small four-wheel drive utility vehicles are considered the iconic World War II Jeeps

Let me share with you her "History" throughout the message I received when I bought it from the previous owner's daughter:

"Wolfhounds are painted on the jeep. The jeep may have been in the wolfhound division of the war. The serial number of the jeep might give more insight as to where it was in the war theatre.

The jeep was originally purchased by my dad in California 1962. I learned to drive in the desert in this jeep in Carson City NV and will always cherish that memory. To change to 4 wheel drive you have to get out, change the lugs and I did it by myself. There are many memories of travels in the jeep - we went to Ft. Wingate New Mexico, Kit Carson cave, and the Painted Desert one summer. It was hot since no air conditioning but we did not care. What a great time especially for a young person.

The jeep has been in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and towed to Alaska on the Alaskan Highway (ALCAN) where my dad worked on the XXXXXX in the 1970's. The jeep then came back to Nevada and then moved to Texas in 1996 where it has been ever since. The jeep has been in our family all these years and it has been well cared for.

It is hard to part with such a great piece of history but we will always have the memories"

As of today this jeep has been called and known under the name <>

This jeep comes complete with all five combat rims, tools and original canvas (not in the picture). This jeep has been transformed in 12V electrical system but I have all the original parts to put her back in 6V (see pictures)
The engine is very strong post war engine but in order for you to have a great match I am selling with the jeep a complete MB Engine to rebuilt MB 229569"

UPDATE: This is an extensive update to the 2017 post about Pedro and Carlos Rocasalvo's 1946-1949 trip from Argentina to Alaska and back.

On June 5, 1946, two brothers, 24-year-old Pedro and 19-year-old Carlos Rocasalvo, mounted bicycles at their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began an adventure north. They carried 80lbs of baggage and $100. Their ultimate goal was to reach Fairbanks, Alaska. They expected the trip to last five years. Their father, a clothing goods salesman, was against the trip, but the boys were confident that they'd be okay.

A budding journalist and photographer, Pedro and his brother supported their trip through serialized and syndicated reports to twenty-six newspapers back in Argentina. The pair planned to film their journey and use their notes and articles to write a book about their adventure.

During their trek to the United States, the pair survived four crossings of the Andes, a "ringside seat at Bolivia's revolution", and hacking their way through 300 miles of Colombian Jungle that proved the worst part of their trip. During their 26 days in the jungle, they shot and cooked their own food. In the evenings, the brothers slept in trees, but had to select the trees carefully due to snakes and other animals.

At Colon, Panama, the exhausted boys were diagnosed with Malaria; they were treated for the disease and slept for four days.

Once in the United States, the pair's lack of English didn't slow them down. Eventually, after twenty-seven months of riding, they reached Los Angeles, arriving in March of 1948. While in Hollywood, Pedro studied photography at Paramount's photography school for a month.

Soon, they were back on their bikes again, arriving at the YMCA in Portland, Oregon, in June of 1948. There, an interpreter named Celita Dextre, fluent in Spanish and English, was brought in to help the boys tell their story. There may have been some sparks between Pedro and twenty-three-year-old Celita, because she surfaced again later in the trip.

After additional stops in Seattle and Vancouver, the pair made a hard ride for Fairbanks.

The brothers reached Fairbanks on July 22nd. There, they received a Willys MB from the Mayor, a gift from the Fairbanks Rotary Club and a local Willys dealer.

In early August, Pedro and Carlos pedaled to Circle City, the end of the Alaska Highway. It also marked the end of their journey northward.

On August 20th, 1948, the brothers began their trek back to Argentina, but this time driving their jeep. Joining them for the return journey was Celita Dextre. It turned out her father was an engineer working in Alaska. At some point following the brother's exit from Portland, Celita had made her way north to Alaska (either with her father or to visit him) and, probably, to meet the boys again.

While not addressed in any articles, the gift of the jeep coinciding with Celita's addition to the journey must not have been a coincidence. In fact, while most articles claimed the jeep was a gift, at least one article suggested the brother's had purchased it from the money they'd made off their newspaper articles. I could find no articles from Alaska to verify either story.

Apparently, Celita hated the cold and was all-too-happy to leave Alaska. She was also interested in seeing more of the North American continent. So, the opportunity to join Pedro and Carlos on their drive south was too good to refuse. Her plan was to accompany them as far as New York.

In late August, the trio reached Edmonton, Canada.

In mid-September, they reached Bismarck, North Dakota.

From Bismarck, the three stopped in Minneapolis, then went on to Chicago. There, Carlos' malaria re-surfaced, making him too ill to continue. So, promising to reunite with Pedro and Celita in New York, Carlos stayed behind in Chicago to recover.

From Chicago, Carlos and Celita passed through Detroit, eventually reaching Rochester, New York. There, a pair of articles accompanied their visit.

This is where the trip's newspaper articles appear to end. Pedro likely did drop off Celita in New York, because she does not appear in later photos.

Below is a rough map of the boy's trip between June of 1946 and December of 1948.

However he did it, Pedro did return with the jeep back to South America and we know this because a February 1955 Willys News article about Pedro included photos of his return trip. Below is an excerpt from that issue:

Meanwhile, as Pedro made his way back to Argentina, Carlos remained behind in the Midwest. Whether it had to do with his illness or whether he was sick of traveling, by September of 1949, twenty-two-year-old Carlos was ready to park his bike and enroll in a three-year missionary school.

Pedro passed away in July of 2019, but according to his daughter, Carlos was still alive at age 93.

<-- Day 9: July 29, At Dawson Creek | Day 11: July 31st, Bison, Bears, and (no) Breakdowns -->

After months of planning, yesterday we finally got our chance to drive the Alaska Highway! Our stop for the evening would be in Fort Nelson, BC.

Yesterday morning was filled by a sense of excitement for the trip to begin. It was the first day of our five day trek to Alaska. We'd planned to leave at 8am, so hustle and bustle was prevalent early.

I drove to the gas station right after waking. Having never filled up Patterson's custom stainless steel tank, I had no idea how much it would take. But, after having to run into the store to pay for gas several times because I'd misjudged how much would fit into the tank, I returned to the hotel and staged the DJ, ready to lead the group north. Spoiler alert ... up to this point, Patterson had started dependably for the past month.

Naturally, when the big moment came and we were ready to take a quick tour of the local roundabout where Ann was positioned to do a Facebook Live event, I turned the key and .... Patterson wouldn't start. Joe, quickly recognizing that I was having a problem, gave me a quick push. Heck, compression starting was old hat to me and I guess it wouldn't be an old jeep if you didn't have to compression start it every so often.

Now that I was rolling and, once Merlin also was pushed started (Mortimer and Patterson were in a groove), we drove a short distance, rounded the roundabout and waved at Ann as she streamed us live for everyone to see! Except, there was another slight hiccup. Facebook wasn't full cooperating, so our FB live was a bust. No matter, we had fun with our little parade.

Our first stop for the day was at the Kiskatinaw wooden bridge, a part of the original (or early) Alaska Highway.

We stopped just short of the bridge so Ann could ready her camera and Luis, Andreas' son, could prep his drone. We agreed to wait a few minutes (no cell service) before dramatically entering the bridge.

As we waited, I sat in the front of the line in Patterson when a car appeared, then pulled up beside me. The window rolled down and the nice woman told me very calmly, "you are supposed to hurry, the wind is wearing down the drone's batteries".

Off we went!

Energized, we hopped back in our jeeps and headed for our next event, a meeting in Fort St. John with Rainer Grimm so we could drop off Rob's truck and Ron's trailer.

As we neared Fort St. John, focused on keeping my wheels in my lane as side winds toyed with me, I barely noticed a built jeep coming from the opposite direction. It turned around, then hopped in front of the Caravan. I didn't put it together until the jeep led us to the town's Tim Horton's that it was Rainer Grimm in a jeep he calls the Monster.

As we pulled into the parking lot, Merlin noticed oil leaking from the underside. We quickly grabbed a spill kit (thanks to the PNW4WDA) and caught most of the oil. After some discussion about the issue, it was decided that to refill the tranny and see if it continued to leak. Not only did it not leak, but the engine, which had been warming up a little high, ran cooler afterwards. It was concluded that someone had put too much oil in the tranny.

As Merlin worked on his jeep, some of us tested out Patterson's electrical system to see why it wasn't starting.

Others got massages:

Once Merlin was running again, we followed Rainer to his place to drop off the truck and trailer. We waited for a short time at Rainer's place for his friend to show up, but we had to get going. So we left, understanding that we'd stop if they chased us down.

Back on the open road, we were cruising between 45-50MPH, no doubt causing some polite Canadians to become little frustrated with us. We didn't care; the sky was blue and our outlook optimistic. About then, we entered the Bermuda Triangle of Canada.

First to go down was Merlin. He was pushing old Mortimer pretty hard. Though the temperature issues were more under control, he began to have oil pressure issues. Not wanting to sacrifice his engine for the glory of driving his Slat Grill MB the entirety of the highway, he pulled over.

Seeing him pull over, I slowed, but did not stop. I was hoping to find a hill so that if i had to shut off the engine I could compression start it again. That plan was flawed by one issue. I was running on a nearly dead battery. As soon as I slowed, the engine coughed into silence. When I rolled backwards to compression start, it was dead. Even the hazards were dead. So, both Merlin and I hooked up our jeeps to our newer jeeps so we could tow them.

Minutes later, Russ' Jeepster "Charlene" began to have a clutch problem. It also had an oil pressure issue, later thought to be fixed with a change it oil types.

As we waited, we got a good look at the Kubota engine he has installed in his truck using the Overland Diesel conversion kit. It was running really well.

As we waited, we got a good look at the Kubota engine he has installed in his truck using the Overland Diesel conversion kit. It was running really well.

With Ann and I in the back, we began to catch up to the caravan. At one point we spied Marty and Don parked on a side road, so we stopped to see what was up. I really wasn't worried they were stuck or having a problem, since Marty has pretty much an entire jeep packed in his trailer, a welder under his hood, and Don "MacGuyver" Brown as his copilot who, could probably fabricate a running jeep out of tooth picks and a pocket knife.

With Ann and I in the back, we began to catch up to the caravan. At one point we spied Marty and Don parked on a side road, so we stopped to see what was up. I really wasn't worried they were stuck or having a problem, since Marty has pretty much an entire jeep packed in his trailer, a welder under his hood, and Don "MacGuyver" Brown as his copilot who, could probably fabricate a running jeep out of tooth picks and a pocket knife.

Todd very kindly opened his shop for Don to help Russ fix his clutch problem.

Again, a big thanks to Todd and Diana and the locals of Fort Nelson for making us feel so welcomed!

Just when we thought the night was over, I began receiving texts from Bill, who was camping in Fort Nelson, showing a few jeeps from the local Heritage Museum that is next to the campground.

All in all, despite the breakdown of three jeeps, it was an excellent day! We are told that today's scenery will be amazing!

<-- Day 9: July 29, At Dawson Creek | Day 11: July 31st, Bison, Bears, and (no) Breakdowns -->

<-- Day 6: July 26, Almost to Dawson Creek | Day 8: July 28, Travelers Arrive -->

Today was a roller coaster of emotions for Scott and Bob. They started the day finishing up the reinstall of Scott's engine. With that done, they fired the engine in excitement, only to be plagued by fuel pump issues. Faced with yet another challenge after a week of challenges, they plunged ahead and solved their fuel pump issue, successfully getting themselves on the road.

Triumphant, they roared down the highway, unstoppable ... for almost 20 miles or so, before the engine faltered again, this time disabling the wagon. Unable to go any further, they concluded the trip was over for them.

We are all saddened by the news, because Scott was a major force for the creation of Alaska Or Rust in the first place. He and Bill both talked me into it. Meanwhile Bob was our treasurer and handled other logistical issues. The trip will not be the same without them and both will be deeply missed. They are now back in the states, ready to return home.

================================================

The day was full of other heroes, too. Russ and Cowboy drove to Dawson Creek with Charlene, becoming the first Alaska-Or-Rust team members to reach the beginning of the trek. Instead of staying, they parked Charlene at our motel, then roared southward, their truck towing an empty trailer meant for Scott. Russ felt that Scott and Bob deserved to be in Dawson and they'd drive all the way back to pick them and their wagon up if necessary.

As you can imagine, Russ was ecstatic when he learned that they'd gotten the wagon running again. But, he was soon heartbroken when they Scott told them to turn around, that he and Bob were finished. So, kudos to Russ and Cowboy!

================================================

When Scott and Bob broke down a few days ago, the four heroes above changed their course to pick up Rick so he could make it to Alaska. Together, the five of them had a good time in Glacier National Park on Thursday. When they left to cross the border, Rick ran into a technicality that didn't allow him to cross. Left with few options, Merlin and Britt drove Rick down to Great Falls, Montana, so Rick can fly up to meet the group in Fairbanks when they arrive. Meanwhile, Merlin and Britt turned around and went back to Canada. It was a LONG day for them. At least they got some good pics.

================================================

Marty, Don, Rob and Ron all left together Thursday morning bound for Canada. They'd been driving for a couple hours or so when the tire on their trailer blew. They rallied, got 2 new spares from Les Schwab, and are now in Canada near Kamloops.

Uh oh .. that's a problem.

Les Schwab is a bestie friend at times like these!

Making it to the border:

I don't know how they found gravel roads so quickly after crossing!

================================================

Jim and Bill continued their seemingly never ending trek across Canada. They are a little west of Edmonton as of this evening.

================================================

As for Operation Pineapple and Team Patterson, we had a short drive from Grande Cache to Dawson Creek:

The initial part of the drive was beautiful, so we installed our GoPro on the jeep and took some video (don't have anything web ready just yet). Watching father and sun debate the merits of different GoPro installations was amusing. In the end, Hugo's idea won. Both men have been hugely helpful and entertaining on our journey.

After our quick stop, we didn't drive too long before we hit rain and mud (it was wet, but not raining quite yet when I took this photo):

It rained for more than an hour. The rain had begun to subside by the time we reached Grand Prairie. There, we were stunned to find one of the best equipped gas station/mini market's we'd ever seen.

Just look at this bathroom!

Hugo loves his daily yogurt!

The rain quickly disappeared after leaving Grand Prairie. A short time later we found ourselves facing the largest beaver in the world at Beaverlodge:

We managed to leave our tripod at home, so I had to get creative to take this photo. Little did I know those other co-travelers of mine were up to no good!

Let's get a closer look at what Fernando was doing:

Around 1PM we finally saw the famous sign I'd been waiting to see for nine months! Just reaching the START of the Alaska Highway seemed an achievement.

Patterson was left with a film of dirty after all that rain.

Tomorrow I'll unhook Patterson and see how it drives around town. We'll also apply some stickers. Starting in the afternoon we expect our fellow travelers to start rolling into town. It will be good to see them.

<-- Day 6: July 26, Almost to Dawson Creek | Day 8: July 28, Travelers Arrive -->

<-- Day 19: Aug 8, Naps & Teslin Refugees | Day 21: Aug 10, Lake Deese to Prince George (Reunited and it feels so good) -->

On Wednesday we jumped back on the road and left Whitehorse. We had a long drive in front of us. Because of the overnight delay Hugo and Fernando experienced in Teslin (only two hours south of Whitehorse), we figured we could catch up to them if we put in a long day, so we didn't stop much.

We drove south an hour, then pulled over at Dougie and Bev's place off of Lake Deese. We'd met them on our way north and they invited us to stop by on the way back. They invited us into their wonderfully eccentric shop, then home. Gold Nuggie Dougie is Doug's  trademark and both are well known around Whitehorse, having owned three hotels at one point (including the one we stayed in). The wonderful couple shared all kinds of interesting stories about their place and Whitehorse and we had a great time with them. Unfortunately, we manage to lose most of our photos from their place!! Here are a few I managed to find. This unique structure is a working outhouse, just behind their shop.

The couple spend part of their time each year in the US and part in Canada. They've embraced both countries, flying a joint Canadian-American flag.

Their backyard is an oasis. They used to have boats and cruise for days without running out of water ways. As I understand it, from Lake Deese a person can boat all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

After bid Doug and Bev goodbye and thanked them for their good will, we hadn't traveled far before we passed a walker pushing a child stroller. This was the same guy we'd passed a week before. He is walking around the world (and making good progress it seems!).

We drove a couple more hours. The road between Whitehorse and Watson Lake had been cleaned of the tanker mess (accident was close to our turnoff south near Watson Lake), to the point that we didn't realize we'd driven past the accident site until it we'd passed it.

Just before Watson Lake, we turned south on Hwy 37 to explore the Cassiar highway. Just following the turn, we re-entered British Columbia.

Joe had driven it a couple days before and, just as he said, it started out a little rough. The road became a little more friendly (less rough and roller coast like) after about twenty minutes or so of driving, but it had brush that encroached onto the side of the road, making it more difficult to spot animals until we were near them. Cell service was almost non existant as well; we had poor cell service for most of the remainder of the journey until we re-entered the US.

There isn't much along the Cassiar highway, so if you like remote drives, you'll love this one. We did stumble upon Jade City, a place that markets jade to tourists and exports it world-wide. According to their literature, 90% of the world's jade comes from British Columbia, a claim that's been the same number since 2010 (according to some tourist blogs I read). I thought that seemed a little high, so I did some research. According to a recent world atlas, the largest producers are actually in southeast asia (http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/jade-facts-geology-of-the-world.html). How each are arriving at those figures, I can't say.

I thought the place would be selling jade at some kind of wholesale price, and maybe they were, but when I walked inside I felt like I was more in a tourist trap. The prices were higher than I'd expected, even for tiny pieces. When Ann attempted to buy a small broken piece outside, she got varying prices. The price varying more inside. She eventually bought it for $1. There was definitely some seat-of-the-pants pricing happening. Since I don't know anything about jade, I went back to the jeep and ate some lunch.

We hopped back in the jeep and continued to Deese Lake. There was some beautiful mountain and water scenery, some bear sightings, and generally a delightful drive. We finally reached Deese Lake about 5pm. At the one hotel in town we found Fernando and Hugo. Deese Lake isn't much of a town. There wasn't even any cell service. The one restaurant closed at 3pm, though the store that housed the restaurant closed later at 7pm. Despite these "deprivations", it's a great place to get away from it all. So, if that's your goal, I'd suggest visiting!

Tomorrow we head for Prince George.

<-- Day 19: Aug 8, Naps & Teslin Refugees | Day 21: Aug 10, Lake Deese to Prince George (Reunited and it feels so good) -->

Jeep Fest 2026 Recap Dave Eilers Memorial

Great Shot by Bob Christy!

Display set up and ready to welcome folks to Jeep Fest 2026!

Dave's Wife Ann and his Sister Kim.

This was a giant effort by a lot of people near and dear to Dave and Ann.

I guess for any new folks eWillys was founded and run by Dave Eilers for over 20 years, in late 2024 Dave stepped aside but was always available to help get the site back up and running and was key on the transition once we got the site onto the new Host.

Dave was a super talented person in so many aspects both inside and outside of the Willys world, we were lucky enough that he shared his knowledge, passion and provided so much research to the Willys Community over the years it really is an amazing body of work. It is an honor to be able to maintain the archives of eWillys and push forward the site for new folks to find and explore. We lost Dave to Cancer in late June 2026.

One of Dave's Jeeps was "Patterson" a red 1956 DJ, which he took on the amazing 2017 Alaska or Rust road trip that retraced the Alaska Highway and in part the previous trip taken many decades ago The Pineapple Express which is a whole different story, that was back in the 1950's. Along the trip many stickers and signatures were added to Patterson at various road stops and media events that were planned along the way, it was a big hit, as a result there are various signatures all over the rig that have stood the test of time.

Awesome Scoutpilot Decal by the Great Roberto Flores!

So many great Decals, Walck's 4WD!!!

Alaska or Rust Decal

The PNFWDA is a Throwback Decal of one of Dave's Fathers Jeep Clubs growing up.

Classic Roberto Flores eWillys Bear!

Patterson was gifted from Dave and Ann to Bob and Mindy Christy, they are the ideal caretakers for such a great ride, and it will have a great new journey with them. If you are reading this today Sept 12th, 2026, and attended the Willys Fall Reunion or doing so Today, you have already seen the Memorial in person as it was slated to visit there for that event. You can catch it at the Spring Reunion as well and check it out in person.

Patterson Arrives on Joe DeYoungs Trailer.

Bob's First Ride in Patterson, off the trailer and into the bay to dry off.

Drying off Patterson and getting cleaned up from the ride over from WI.

Getting prepped to head into the show.

Jerry and Bob heading in with Patterson

Bob checking out Patterson on arrival!

Patterson has arrived!

I was able to head out to Jeep Fest for Thursday and Friday, the setup days and meet Bob, Mindy, Monica, Scott Gilbert, Jerry, and his crew who run Jeep Fest while we were awaiting the arrival of the Guest of Honor Patterson.

Patterson had a very special chauffer in that to get all the way from Washington state to Ohio it made its way via Wisconsin, Joe DeYoung happened to be out on the West Coast and had room on his trailer for Patterson and brought it back to his shop in Madison, WI. While there he did some clean up work and got it a bit more operational for Bob and Mindy. It was very nice to be able to meet Joe as well at Jeep Fest during the arrival and initial set up of the display.

I headed out Friday AM to spend some time with my Parents and oldest Sister not too far in MI while Jerry and his crew assisted, Bob, Mindy, Monica, Scott, Joe and all sorts of other helpers get the display set up perfect.

Especially special was that Dave’s Wife Ann and Dave's Sister Kim were able to visit Jeep Fest and see Patterson, meet the team, and crew who set up the display. They were able to spend a lot of time together and over the course of Jeep Fest share many special stories and history of Patterson and eWillys and of course share how special Dave was to so many.

I am very thankful for the work that Scott, Bob, Mindy, Monica, Joe, Jerry, Roberto Flores did the artwork and shared all his talents, what a team effort. Ann and Kim for travelling out to Ohio to meet everyone. I am sure there are others who put time into the Memorial, it was very well done, a lot of behind-the-scenes work was performed to pull this off. To those who purchased shirts, hats, and decals, signed the banner, stopped into the show, helped in any way, or will be doing those things in the future, Thank You. OffRoad Outfitter hosted the Shirt, Decal, Hat sale, and they were very gracious to provided their support to everyone hosting the sale items then managing the production and shipping of them, Thank You.

We were able to start some new signatures on Patterson in support of Bob and Mindy and wish them the best of luck with Patterson. One day will probably come where these signatures and decals will be removed and Patterson will hopefully made into its best new version of what it needs to be, these Willys and Jeeps are meant to be enjoyed and the history passed on but they are best used and put to the test out on the roads and in the wild. But for right now we are just thankful to be able to spend some time together and reflect on how precious our time is here and remember that we can all make an enormous impact by just being ourselves and supporting each other and sharing our talents.

Dave touched so many of our lives and continues to do so and we are blessed to be able to share in all of our friendships and stories and pass them on to the next generation, so that they can be influenced to start their new adventures and hopefully with a little bit of luck includes some old iron!

2017 Alaska or Rust Crew! Dave in the Drivers Seat.

<– Day 4 Aug 5th: Lobster Tales and Other Stories | The NF Trip 2019

UPDATE: It seems I landed flat on my face. It turns out that there is a Saint John, New Brunswick, and a St. John's, Newfoundland, (thank you Ian). It's all very hard to see that accurately from where I am on the West Coast. So my apologies!

On Tuesday the crew drove from Saint John, NB, to Linwood, Nova Scotia, a distance of just under 300 miles.

Yesterday the Newfoundland 2019 (or Rust) crew woke to a beautiful morning near the bustling city of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Here is a beautiful pic of St. John, NB:

I learned Tuesday that the crew had been in Canada almost 24 hours, yet still hadn't been to a Tim Horton's, the second greatest thing Canada has ever produced; the greatest thing the country has produced, of course, are stand-in movie locations: Vancouver as Portland (I'm looking at you Grimm) or the Drumheller Valley in place of the US West (Unforgiven).

Third on my list of top Canadian treasures would be the great Todd Penney (after all, we did get some free pizza at his Dalex Auto shop and he invited the whole town to see the crazy Americans driving the Alaska Highway in their old jeeps ).

Turning back to our intrepid travelers, after a short drive, they pulled over for some lunch.

One of the local Canadians, Kevin Casey, has been following their trip online. When he saw where the crew stopped for lunch, he recognized the spot where they were parked, So, he made a mad dash to meet them. He got this photo with Joe Bee and reports he had a great time talking with the group.

Following lunch, the crew headed for the border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. There, they found a great place for a group photo:

A little while later, they found their campground in Linwood, NS. It's pretty much a good-as-it-gets campground, with views aplenty.

Bill and Joe took a break from the day to watch the sun set over the water.

I"m not sure what Cowboy's up to here. I'm guessing he just got done taking some sunset pics:

Tonights dinner included a gourmet menu of roasted hotdogs.

Tomorrow, the crew will do some touring, then lineup for Wednesday evening's ferry to Newfoundland. Bill was able to send a preview of the ferry route. Hmm ... I guess this is the way they do it in Canada?

<– Day 4 Aug 5th: Lobster Tales and Other Stories | The NF Trip 2019

UPDATE: The connectivity is poor, so just a few updates today.

On Monday we drove from Palm Springs, California,  to Pahrump, Nevada, via Riverside. Our goal was to save two sets of DJ front axles in the hopes that someone could use them.

We started the morning in Palm Springs. The night in our Extended Stay room was cheap, but nice. The view in the morning of the Santa Rosa mountains was just stunning. It's not hard to see why Palm Springs became a popular destination to escape the LA basin.

Our first objective was to meet Jim in Riverside to pickup a set of DJ-3A axles. My biggest worry was that they wouldn't fit in the back of the jeep, but then serendipity in the form of Paul Dubois, an eWillys reader and a regular at the FC Roundup, came when he offered to store them if I couldn't pick pile them into the jeep (he lives in Riverside -- Thanks Paul! ... Spoiler, I got them in).

We met Jim in the morning at his storage locker. As the door slid up, it was clear that DJ axles weren't the only thing he had. After we made a deal on the axles (anyone need one??), he began picking through the parts, then held up a set of never-used Buick V6 headers. Well, I did need a set for Biscuit. He cut me a great deal at $100 -- one heck of a great buy. Then I bought a couple more parts. Next thing I knew, he was tossing some free parts at me, hoping I could find them a home. So, I tossed a can Blaster Dry Lube courtesy of the Blaster Corp. (A sponsor of Alaska Or Rust). I told Jim I would do my best to find the free parts homes and I'll list them when I get home.

Jim's hoping to get the parts better organized so he better understands what is there, but he's got an assortment of items from f-marked GPW parts to flat-fender and probably some CJ-5 parts. I offered to list them on eWillys, so he said he'd let me know when he was ready to do that. Many thanks to Jim for his time!

After Jim, we began our trek north, following I-15 through Barstow and into Baker. Ann had never been there, so we took some photos of us with the huge thermometer (this is the new one ... an earlier one had fallen into disrepair).

Then, we took some photos of the Alien Jerky store across the street, which is getting a makeover to look, well, more alien. There also appears to be an Alien/spaceship themed hotel coming soon, too. You can preview of video of the store here: http://www.ufohotel.com

Will there be a hotel built (it was scheduled for 2017)? The LA Times reported on this back in 2015: http://www.latimes.com/travel/california/la-trb-california-baker-ufo-hotel-20150528-htmlstory.html

About that time, Ann and to go the bathroom, so we drove up to a place that had several restaurants. It turned out that the bathrooms were being remodeled, but management had the foresight to set up porta potties, even designating two as handicapped only. Unfortunately, when I opened the door for her, it was disgusting. The pile of shit and toilet paper and unidentifiable items was litterly piled above the seat. It seems once the port potty got full, people just kept going! We immediately sought bathrooms elsewhere.

From Baker, we took highway 127 north. It's a long, lonely, no cell-service road. There were lots of places set aside for offroading of all types. At Shoshone, we turned right onto highway 176 and followed that into Pahrump and landed at the Golden Nugget. The reviews for the place were mixed on the internet, but our room was as good as any we've had all trip.

Today we head north, but our direction is weather dependent. There were some reports of possible snow, so we'll see how things go ...