That's it for the U.S.

I've travelled through all the states I'm going to traverse in the U.S..  Currently, I'm holding short less than one hundred miles from the Canadian border.  There have been some odd happenings with my truck and it's best to handle it in the last large U.S. city where things are facilitated for me.  Depending on how serious and expensive the repairs are this may be the end of the trip at least for now.  Should the repairs be too expensive to continue, there are plenty of work opportunities here which could allow me to save some money and then resume my travels later.  If the diagnosis isn't too catastrophic then my journey to Alaska will continue although a little behind schedule.

I'm currently sitting in a GMC dealer for service, and thankfully they provide a wi-fi hot spot.  Although there are a few more pictures there are many I have not had the opportunity to post.  They are a little out of the scope of this blog and are better suited for facebook, which is blocked here as "network communications".

In Grand Forks, ND the GMC dealer is Rydell and it's amazingly comfortable.  If they had showers here I wouldn't even need to leave.  Their facilities include four desks with power outlets and yellow pages at each one for wireless guests.  Although access is open they have web filtering with Sonicwall, which as of this writing has blocked Facebook and YouTube.  Since I plan on being here for a bit I asked what was around to go visit.  I was offered a complimentary shuttle ride to the mall and back if I wanted.  Of course once I noticed wi-fi was available that was it for me.  There is also a children's play room, some neat Chevy displays, courteous staff, and clean restrooms.

Being that this site is about living out of a pack, here is a short gear review.  The bed I've been sleeping on consists of Thermarest ProLight mattress and a BassPro Shop branded sleeping bag .  First is the ProLight matress.  Although the matress does self inflate ever so slowly, I'm a big guy and the air was not enough to soften the wooden platform that is being used for a bed.  After inflating it manually a little extra it is now very comfortable and does indeed provide good insulation.   Throughout the night I tend to toss and turn a lot and since my mattress is mummy shaped my feet tend to end up off of it.  Although it does provide insulation, it is made out of plastic so if one's body heat is not keeping it warm it will get cold.  Despite these few complaints I'm glad I have it.   It's much more comfortable and compact than the blue foam mats.  Expect to pay a lot more than one of the cheap $10 Walmart foam mats though.

On the other hand I'm very impressed with the BassPro 30 degree rated sleeping bag.  I fit relatively comfortable in it and I've pushed it's rating to it's limit.  My core remained warm through 37 degree temperatures last night with no heat on.  Unfortunately I should have considered my head.  My ears were freezing at a few points throughout the night.  Fortunately I was able to contort myself and stretch the sleeping bag to where enough of my face fit to keep warm.  Tonight may be a good time to take out the balaclava.

Below is one more picture from Tennessee to hold everyone over until I can post more here and on Facebook.  My camera skills seem to be getting better though it's hard to take a bad picture with this new one I purchased.  This was at the Welcome center next to the Tennessee river.  Until next post ...