“I’m in Prince George, BC and I’m gonna keep going. This is where I wanted to get to today,” Mingo told me on the phone this evening (through Verizon - yea!). “I’ve been driving since 4:30 this morning and I’m not tired yet, so I’m gonna keep at it a few more hours.”

“I should be back in the States tomorrow - the land of cheap gas. I did find gas today for $1.07 a liter,” Mingo tells me. We chat a little more then he tells me about what a great picture day he had yesterday. “I probably shot 600-700 frames of animals yesterday. Saw all kinds of critters!”

We talk a little more about his shoulder. He still has no feeling in his hand but he says that at least the shooting pain has subsided some. Now it’s just numbness. “I definitely did something in there. I haven’t been using it at all and there’s still no feeling coming back.” It sounds like he’ll wait to see a doctor until he gets back to AZ.

For now, he’s enjoying the drive back and stopping to take lots of pictures. He is in awe of how beautiful Canada is and even more amazed at how vast. “This is a big territory!”

“I’m just coming up on Clinton in British Columbia. Boy is this a big providence,” Mingo told me on a quick satellite call this evening. “I still have quite a bit of driving for today. I want to make it to Prince George for the night.” All in all it sounds like today’s drive was relatively uneventful. He sounds exciting about crossing over into Alaska on Wednesday and even more anxious to get on the water in Eagle.

The satellite phone seems to be holding up well and the call quality was clear and crisp - a good sign for when he’s out in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. The only downfall to the sat phone is that satellites come in and out of range, so service could be down for a few minutes as a new satellite comes up on the horizon. Our call tonight was quick. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow evening,” he told me. “I have to stop when I use this thing because the signal fluctuates so much when I’m driving. It kills the battery.” Hopefully, reached Prince George early this evening and found a nice, comfy hotel bed to crash on tonight.