20,727 and counting

[HummerJim]

We made it back to Missouri after our WONDERFUL travels through Canada. We had to drive straight through due to a realtive's death, but it was a trip that we both shall remember forever. We almost thought about leaving the H3 in Calgary and flying down and back, but decided to drive straight through. My biggest regret is not meeting all the Hummer people in Calgary. The most wonderful part of the trip was the outgoing and nice people we met in the Yukon and Alberta. The scenery in the Yukon was spectacular, but the people were even more so. To say we had fun would be an understatement. We went through rain, dust storms, mud up to the axles and up to 7 inches of snow with no problems (didn't have to be towed once) and with the high confidence you get from the H3. For those of you with outdated notions of the Alkan Highway - it's all paved except for a few small construction areas, and you could even do it in a Vette if you didn't want to explore offroad. Keep an eye on the gas guage though, because once you are north of Haines Junction, you should fill up at every opportunity. 20,727 miles as it sits in the garage now, the only scar a broken headlight cover from a rock and a slightly creased front skid plate from some fun offroading. Averaged 17.48 mpg for the 7,374 miles we covered - average highway speed around 72 mph. Highest gas price was in the US Monday, almost home in Missouri at 3.59 a gallon, lowest in Dawson City, Yukon 2.31. The H3 has yet to burn any oil, the engine runs like a top, no gas pedal vibration, and the rear end sounds fine. Except for my Wrangler AT/S tires which performed wonderfully, and the extra Dynamat I added in July (it makes it so quiet you only hear windnoise from the windscreen)but otherwise stock non adv package H3. No tickets, no incidences, but three close calls with deer, one with a sheep, and one really close call at dawn with a moose. Not even any rattles or buzzes - GREAT JOB H3 Builder and all! If you're going on road trips, the Monsoon and XM are a must - I had my country and western CDs, the wife had Brahms, and XM keeps you in touch with the world much better than AM or FM. I consider the Monsoon a must for any H3. Will post some pics as soon as we both unwind a bit.