Alaska Village Missions

Earlier, though while still in Boyceville, they had traded their VW Beatle in anticipation of the journey to Alaska for a small (underpowered) 36 h.p. VW micro-bus. After saying goodbye to the church in Boyceville, WI, they began their journey from their home in MN to Ray’s parent’s home in Kalispell, MT with the little VW Microbus loaded to the gills; all their possessions were inside and atop the small VW bus (Photo #3).Earlier, though while still in Boyceville, they had traded their VW Beatle in anticipation of the journey to Alaska for a small (underpowered) 36 h.p. VW micro-bus. After saying goodbye to the church in Boyceville, WI, they began their journey from their home in MN to Ray’s parent’s home in Kalispell, MT with the little VW Microbus loaded to the gills; all their possessions were inside and atop the small VW bus (Photo #3). In Kalispell, MT Aubrey Eayrs, a family friend and VW mechanic, told them they would not be able to travel the entire distance in the little VW micro-bus loaded as they were. He gave them an open trailer on which to put the belongings which they had carried on the roof of the VW bus. They loaded their belongings on the trailer with homemade side boards, then covered the load with a tarp, and secured the tarp to the trailer. Loaded heavily they began their trip. Leaving Ray’s parents home in Kalispell, Montana, in December of 1960 they soon approached the Canadian border loaded with all their belongings. This included Ray’s 30-30 lever action rifle, which had been purchased from his father; with his rifle, ammo, no passports, and other items which today (2016) would be cause for Canadian authorities to stop them and search their vehicle. However, they went through without hindrance as the relations between the US and Canada at the border crossings was much more relaxed during that period. Their journey up the Canadian highways led them through Alberta, through Edmonton. They skirted Calgary to save a few miles, finally to reach the Alcan Highway which began at Dawson Creek, BC. The trip up the Alcan Hwy was quite an eventful trip for the young missionary family. The 36 h.p. VW microbus was totally underpowered to carry four persons and all their belongings, as Rae Marie and Michael had made their way into the world by this time. They had loaded the bus from front to back and bottom to top, and only left room for themselves in the front bucket seats of the bus. A small ledge immediately behind the front seats allowed space for the children to sit, and to lie down and sleep as needed (Photo #4). The December weather on the trip was extremely cold going through Canada and the central parts of Alaska, reaching fifty below zero. Cloth diapers (which needed to be washed regularly), placed toward the rear of the bus, froze solid. Jars of home canned pickles, placed immediately behind the front seats so they would make the trip in a somewhat tempered space (above 32 degrees F.), froze and burst – leaving a mess on the floorboard of the VW bus. Throughout the entire trip the top speed of the little VW bus was about 45 mph – and that was when they were going downhill! While driving up Steamboat Mountain, British Columbia at night, Ray perceived the terrain was headed down hill, but he could barely keep the VW bus and trailer moving. He decided to stop the bus and see which way it would roll – which way gravity would pull it. He stopped the bus and let it roll, but when he did he was surprised to see it begin to roll backward, or to his perception - UPHILL!  While stopped on the road they decided to rest a while. For safety the parking lights were left on and everyone was soon asleep. When Ray awoke the lights were out and the battery was dead. In an effort to restart the engine, the bus must be allowed to coast backwards to allow him to pop the clutch and start it. However, with the trailer attached that was impossible, so he had to disconnect the trailer and maneuver it aside, though that maneuver was difficult as the highway was barely plowed out its two lane width. He finally got the trailer out of the way, and headed the bus downhill so he could get it started. Fortunately, there was little traffic on the road that night at that time of the year. He started the little VW bus, turned back around, got the trailer reconnected, and was slowly able to get the trailer moving, and crawled up the highway for the next several miles. The trip from Kalispell, MT to Homer, AK was long, arduous, and cold. It took the Arno’s seven (7) days of hard driving, driving day and night. They would trade off the driving responsibilities every few hours, to give the driver a break and time to slump back in the passenger seat to rest their weary body. They stayed in a motel one night throughout the entire seven day trip, and tried to eat one good, solid restaurant meal a day; otherwise meals consisted of sandwiches and snacks. The location of the one night’s stop was at a little, now unremembered, roadside motel about half way along their route. The motel had a place where they could pull their VW bus loaded with its contents inside out of the weather. That, and the ability to take a warm bath, were a real blessing to the road weary travelers. The meal they purchased each day was usually breakfast, typically the least expensive meal which could be bought at a restaurant. Prices then, as now, were typically costly traveling up the Alcan Highway; often as much as thirty to fifty percent higher than prices ‘outside’ (Alaska), or in the lower forty-eight contiguous United States. The rest of the time they ate baloney sandwiches for lunch and supper with various snacks in between for the sake of economy. Petrea learned such distaste for baloney during that seven (7) day trip, that to this day, Petrea reports it is one of her least favorite luncheon meats – “to put it mildly.”