To Kenai Peninsula

Straight from the Salmon Bake Bar I went back to the campground and packed up the tent. I decided that I would not get much sleep and I had to be out by 11 so, I continued south on Parks Hwy towards Anchorage. I stopped at Trappers Creek to have a breakfast and load up on the coffee I needed badly. After I loaded up on the coffee, I decide that it would be fun to ride another 4x4 high clearance trail. Northwest of Trapper's Creek is road to Petersville, miners town back in the days. Road is about 28 miles long and crosses many creeks, canyons and valleys. However, I did not make it to Petersville. At about mile 22 I hit a mud patch which I did not wish to cross. I have crossed couple of mud patches already, and I had to stop for each one and walk it first to make sure I could traverse it. Since I did not install the winch there would be no way for me to pull the FJ Cruiser out if I did get stuck. And since there was nobody else on this trail, I had to turn around and head back. Oh, I so wished I spent another 2G on the winch :)

Shortly after I passed through Willow, Houston and Wasilla. I got to Anchorage in the early afternoon. I stopped by Toyota dealership but they were overbooked and could not take in next 3 days. Yeah right, like I have time to wait. So I washed the truck at the self wash. I found local Jiffy Lube and 10 minute oil change took 2 hours. Price was a bargain, twice what it costs in NYC. Welcome to Alaska! I did some quick shopping and continued towards Kenai Peninsula. As soon as I got on the highway I noticed that car was rattling at speeds over 50 mph. For some reason my wheels were out of balance. I decided to head back and got consultation from experts at Sears. After another 2 hour wait, I was ashamed by the local repairman. After the test drive he inspected the wheels and found the problem. He pulled me over and under the truck to show me. MUD and ROCKS. Apparently when I washed the FJ Cruiser I did lousy job and wash the outside of the tires only. So, I went back and did another car wash, this time, I did it proper. With wheels clean and no rattle, Kenai here I come. I decided that I could make it to Seward just before midnight. I did, day over, sleep time. Read on...