Did you pull that trailer with that truck?
We got asked that question at the gas pump, not once, but many times.
The truck was a 6-cylinder Toyota Tacoma back when they were smaller trucks, and we pulled a 19-foot travel trailer.
My first reaction was, “Duh, isn’t it obvious?”
The truck was small but mighty. It took us 275,000 miles around North America before we traded up to a larger truck after 13 years of service. A large portion of those miles was spent pulling the trailer.
So yes, we pulled that trailer with that truck, and all we replaced were tires and batteries.
Another question I remember being asked was in Alaska, after we had made the journey from Colorado to Anchorage.
“Where are all the wildlife they say are on the Al-Can Highway?”
This was asked for by another couple who had just made the same journey we had.
I answered by bragging about the pictures I took of 11 grizzlies and multiple moose we saw along the way. They claimed they saw zero.
Then we started talking about how long it took us to get there.
They boasted that they covered over 500 miles per day and completed the journey in less than a week.
We took 3 weeks, traveling 200 – 250 miles per day. The mornings were slow, and the evenings were long. This allowed us to enjoy the many quirky stops along the Al-Can.
Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia was so inviting that we stayed overnight, mixed martinis by the campfire, and soaked our travel pains away. Another stop lasted a week, exploring Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta.
The other travelers saw that as a detour. We saw it as part of the adventure.
For us, the journey is always the most essential part of the trip. How else will you see the biggest, smallest, oldest, tallest, deepest, or unusual things?
