Donation protected
Like most unfortunate events you never see it coming. I had originally set off on an adventure filled with a multitude of purposes. We primarily wanted to visit my family members and friends in various states from Washington to Texas. I had bought a new 2016 Dodge Dart that was great on gas mileage. Since flying to Texas from Alaska was more expensive than driving we set off on our adventure.
We had been having a good time, visiting various sights along the way, taking our time, being safe, blessing those who road-raged around us, visiting relatives and sharing our adventure on Facebook with friends and family.
On our way back home to Alaska we were traveling through Oregon during a blustery storm. We had pulled over so I could rest a bit and let the night-time storm pass us by. I woke about 3 am trying to adjust myself for comfort in the cramped little car. The rain had been pouring but when I woke it seemed to have passed. Feeling rested and ready to beat the traffic we set out of Florence, OR towards Portland where we were going to visit my Aunt before making our last stop in Seattle to get ready for the 3 to 4-day journey through Canada.
The wind and rain and a surprise for us. It had knocked a huge chunk of the mountainside onto the road. Although I had slowed to 35 mph as the caution signs suggested, just as I took my eyes off the "rocks" sign there they were... all over the road!! I could not avoid the wide swath of rocks and smashed the new Dart right into a huge boulder. We hit so hard it launched the car into the air. The transmission had been catastrophically damaged and I couldn't even drive... we were coasting downhill in a windswept, twisting, narrow area of Hwy 101. I knew something had to be done and quickly. I looked around for a pull off but there were none. As we coasted to a stop there was a small pullout across the road. I put the car in neutral and we thankfully were able to pull off the roadway to prevent further hazards from traffic.
After assessing the situation and determining that the car was dead in the driveway I had found I started to reach out for rescue. No cell service, no internet and I was stranded miles from civilization in the middle of a windy, rainy storm. Thankfully the driveway was actually an access road to a lighthouse. The kind folks care-taking there were surprised to see me begging for assistance at their door at 4 am. They were very helpful and allowed me to use the phone to make some contacts, get towed out of there and the car into the shop.
There were many blessings that night, in the midst of a storm of unfortunate events. At the start of this campaign, I had waited almost 3 weeks for the repairs to complete on the Dart. Apparently, a radiator mount is on national backorder with no ETA.
Thankfully my Grandfather was been gracious enough to host us for a few weeks after we ran out of travel budget and started having to use the credit card. Now, unfortunately, I am looking at $800 / mo in bills that won't get paid because I am not working or in Alaska to continue receiving my unemployment payments. This means I may miss a car payment or two, might have my insurance lapse, and the cell phones we use to communicate while traveling will be shut down if something isn't done soon. Furthermore we are basically living on a credit card to pay for food, housing, and fuel to get back to Alaska. Sadly we had almost paid it off... now we are spending on it again and that means we will be even further behind.
We are reaching out to a crowd funding source because our friends and family have already been overly gracious. Anything helps to offset our bills, travel expenses, lodging, and food costs while we wait on the repairs and then look forward to a 5 day trip back to Alaska from California. I would be incredibly grateful for anything folks can extend to assist us in getting home safe and healthy.
How will we spend YOUR donation?
$750 - Feb / March car payment (complete)
$300 - Feb / March phone bill (complete)
$300 - Feb / March internet billing (complete)
$300 - Feb / March car insurance (complete)
$2,000 - estimated cost of lodging, camping fees, for trip back to Alaska
$2,000 - estimated costs of food and fuel for trip
$3,000 - pay off outstanding credit card debt incurred due to an emergency.
$1200 - airfare used to return to Alaska while car is repaired and then airfare to get back to the car after repairs.
Thank you all for taking the time to read our story and consider making a gracious gift. I appreciate anything the public can extend to assist us during our unfortunate turn of events. While we understand that there are many others less fortunate than us we would like an opportunity to pay our appreciation forward once we are stable and safely back to normal.
Praying for all those who are similarly situated, that they are provided what they need to make it to the next round of serving others. May you all be well blessed with a long and happy life filled with joy and peace!
Kind regards,
Jonathan Becker
Raising funds for: Myself
Residents of: Nikiski (Kenai) Alaska
Intended withdrawal options: ETF to AK USA bank account (personal - checking)
We had been having a good time, visiting various sights along the way, taking our time, being safe, blessing those who road-raged around us, visiting relatives and sharing our adventure on Facebook with friends and family.
On our way back home to Alaska we were traveling through Oregon during a blustery storm. We had pulled over so I could rest a bit and let the night-time storm pass us by. I woke about 3 am trying to adjust myself for comfort in the cramped little car. The rain had been pouring but when I woke it seemed to have passed. Feeling rested and ready to beat the traffic we set out of Florence, OR towards Portland where we were going to visit my Aunt before making our last stop in Seattle to get ready for the 3 to 4-day journey through Canada.
The wind and rain and a surprise for us. It had knocked a huge chunk of the mountainside onto the road. Although I had slowed to 35 mph as the caution signs suggested, just as I took my eyes off the "rocks" sign there they were... all over the road!! I could not avoid the wide swath of rocks and smashed the new Dart right into a huge boulder. We hit so hard it launched the car into the air. The transmission had been catastrophically damaged and I couldn't even drive... we were coasting downhill in a windswept, twisting, narrow area of Hwy 101. I knew something had to be done and quickly. I looked around for a pull off but there were none. As we coasted to a stop there was a small pullout across the road. I put the car in neutral and we thankfully were able to pull off the roadway to prevent further hazards from traffic.
After assessing the situation and determining that the car was dead in the driveway I had found I started to reach out for rescue. No cell service, no internet and I was stranded miles from civilization in the middle of a windy, rainy storm. Thankfully the driveway was actually an access road to a lighthouse. The kind folks care-taking there were surprised to see me begging for assistance at their door at 4 am. They were very helpful and allowed me to use the phone to make some contacts, get towed out of there and the car into the shop.
There were many blessings that night, in the midst of a storm of unfortunate events. At the start of this campaign, I had waited almost 3 weeks for the repairs to complete on the Dart. Apparently, a radiator mount is on national backorder with no ETA.
Thankfully my Grandfather was been gracious enough to host us for a few weeks after we ran out of travel budget and started having to use the credit card. Now, unfortunately, I am looking at $800 / mo in bills that won't get paid because I am not working or in Alaska to continue receiving my unemployment payments. This means I may miss a car payment or two, might have my insurance lapse, and the cell phones we use to communicate while traveling will be shut down if something isn't done soon. Furthermore we are basically living on a credit card to pay for food, housing, and fuel to get back to Alaska. Sadly we had almost paid it off... now we are spending on it again and that means we will be even further behind.
We are reaching out to a crowd funding source because our friends and family have already been overly gracious. Anything helps to offset our bills, travel expenses, lodging, and food costs while we wait on the repairs and then look forward to a 5 day trip back to Alaska from California. I would be incredibly grateful for anything folks can extend to assist us in getting home safe and healthy.
How will we spend YOUR donation?
$750 - Feb / March car payment (complete)
$300 - Feb / March phone bill (complete)
$300 - Feb / March internet billing (complete)
$300 - Feb / March car insurance (complete)
$2,000 - estimated cost of lodging, camping fees, for trip back to Alaska
$2,000 - estimated costs of food and fuel for trip
$3,000 - pay off outstanding credit card debt incurred due to an emergency.
$1200 - airfare used to return to Alaska while car is repaired and then airfare to get back to the car after repairs.
Thank you all for taking the time to read our story and consider making a gracious gift. I appreciate anything the public can extend to assist us during our unfortunate turn of events. While we understand that there are many others less fortunate than us we would like an opportunity to pay our appreciation forward once we are stable and safely back to normal.
Praying for all those who are similarly situated, that they are provided what they need to make it to the next round of serving others. May you all be well blessed with a long and happy life filled with joy and peace!
Kind regards,
Jonathan Becker
Raising funds for: Myself
Residents of: Nikiski (Kenai) Alaska
Intended withdrawal options: ETF to AK USA bank account (personal - checking)
Organizer
Jonathan Becker
Organizer
Newport, OR