There is good, and then there is Canadian-good, which sometimes involves driving a complete stranger, his two children, grown dogs and a cat called “In the middle of the night” more than a thousand miles through a snowstorm to another country.
Running through the snow
It all started because Lynn Marchessault, her 13-year-old son Payton, 10-year-old daughter Rebecca and the family pets had to move from Georgia to Alaska. Marchessault’s husband, a staff sergeant in the US Army, is stationed at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.
Payton and Rebecca Marchessault. – Sincerely Lynn Marchessault
In a 4×4 and a U-Haul, eh?
So Marchessault packed up all their belongings, bought a 4×4 truck that could handle an Alaskan winter, rented a U-Haul, and planned a cross-country family trip during the balmy days of early fall.
But, 2020 happened.
Marchessault waited months to get travel documents that would allow him to drive from Georgia, through Canada and up to Alaska. Because of the coronavirus, Canada had put in place strict guidelines for Americans traveling by country, on the way to Alaska.
While he worked things out, his September road trip was pushed back to November. Despite the restrictions placed on him by the Canadian government, he knew he had to keep driving fast to avoid the worst of the winter weather.
O’er the ways we go
The first 3,000 kilometers of the trip went smoothly. The weather was beautiful, the children were glued to the electronic devices, the dogs behaved and the cat slept.
They entered Canada through the province of Saskatchewan. Border officials checked Marchessault’s papers and advised him to stay on the highways and stop only when necessary to get food or gas.
The family had to order any food to take away, even from the hotels they stayed at along the way. He was given five days to drive through Canada and up to the US border in Alaska.
It’s white-knuckling all the way
The farther north they went, the worse the weather got. Marchessault, who grew up in the south, experienced his first cold weather. Then he ran out of water to wipe the windshield. Slush covered his windows and he couldn’t see to drive. It was scary – his tires seemed to be losing traction.
“So I get to the gas station,” he said. “My kids had to go to the bathroom, they had their masks on, so I was outside in the car … completely devastated – I was crying at this point – and a woman came out of the gas station. He says ‘Is it okay?'”
“At this point, I just wanted to tell someone, and everything just started coming out. I explained that I was having trouble getting off the road, and I wasn’t getting anywhere, and he said: ‘Let’s check your tires.’ I was under the impression that I had all-weather tires, that’s what the dealer told me, but he checked and said: ‘Honey, these are summer tires.’ “
The winds froze and the tire was split
The good Samaritan drove Marchessault to a tire shop, where they were able to change them on the spot.
But the Marchessault was done by driving.
“I’m not one to throw in the towel, but I threw in the towel,” he said.
“I told my husband: The border patrol can just come and take us to us. That’s the only way we’re leaving Canada at this point.”
Friendly Canadians make the spirit shine
The Marchessaults found a motel and slept. That’s when the kind people in and around Wonowon, British Columbia, got to work, putting out a plea on Facebook for someone to drive the Marchessaults, their truck and their U-Haul the last 1,500 miles to the border. The trip takes a good driver, familiar with the dangerous Alaska Highway, about two days.
Marchessault’s husband was not happy with the idea of a stranger driving his family so far, but he could not legally enter Canada during the epidemic to go and get it.
And if the Marchessault family didn’t make it to the border soon, they would exceed the five days they were given to reach Alaska.
How fun it is to meet a caregiver (when things get tough)
Gary Bath, a conservationist whose job includes training members of the Canadian military to survive in the Arctic, was at home when he saw a friend’s documentary about a desperate American family.
“After looking at the place for a while, I saw that no one could (help), so I talked to my wife and we made a decision that I would drive her all the way to the border,” said Bath.
Both families met online, and when they decided they were both comfortable with the arrangement, Bath and his wife drove to meet the family at a motel.
While Marchessault admits making the trip at the end of the year was an error of judgment, allowing Bath to drive them was not.
“I’m a good judge of character, I knew I made the right decision, and these were good people,” Marchessault said.
With Bath behind the wheel, Marchessault was able to relax and reflect on what he had experienced when he tried to drive under similar conditions.
“I’m sure my son was happy that he no longer had to comfort me when I cried…it was a ‘crying’ cry,” she explained, laughing.
“You can’t really cry because you can’t see the road – and I was just holding the steering wheel with white knuckles.”
And home to Alaska tonight!
The boat had a long drive without incident (apart from a flat tire which was quickly fixed) and pleasant company.
“We all have military experience so we talked about military life, we talked about family stories, the kids played games, and Lynn and I realized we were both weird and like MREs – military meals,” Bath said.
He took them to a Canadian checkpoint where the Marchessaults handed in their papers and the new friends parted ways.
“We just clicked from the get-go,” Marchessault said of Bath. “Just like old friends. it was a really nice drive. He deserves all the credit. Good boy.”
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