Longtime Fairbanks residents Dick and Carolee Ourada are taking the long, slow, scenic route back to Alaska from Nebraska and helping a good cause along the way.
The couple bought a 1977 IHC 574 tractor online to use at their new property in Pleasant Valley on Chena Hot Springs Road. After an illness and Covid-19 delayed delivery of the tractor for quite some time, they decided to bring it north themselves. Along the way, they are raising money for the Colorado Children’s Hospital, which saved the life of Dick’s daughter in 1964.
“Dick thought, ‘Why don’t we just do something good for the world?’” Carolee said in a phone interview. “He thought if we drove the tractor, we could do a charity drive for the children’s hospital. It’s a way of paying back.”
Donations can be made to a crowdfunding site for the Children’s Colorado Foundation at bit.ly/3RJoDjK.
On July 13, the couple left on a two-month, 3,300-mile journey north.
Dick, 82, used to work as a farmer in Nebraska. After his first wife died, he gave up farming and built a small place in Holyoke, Colorado. Soon after, he and Carolee connected.
She was offered a temporary job in the emergency room at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in 2001. They both came north, fell in love with the area, and stayed.
He always missed his old tractor, and after buying six acres of property in Pleasant Valley, he wanted another one. They aren’t available in Fairbanks, apparently, but he found one online that was just what he was looking for. With a little TLC, it was good to go. He just had to get it to Alaska.
Dick is driving the tractor, and Carolee is following in their Winnebago camper. Currently, temperatures are extremely hot, and there is no air conditioning in the tractor cab. The two take turns driving, and the Winnebago makes the trip more comfortable.
The tractor moves at about 20 mph.
The connection to the Colorado Children’s Hospital was made back in 1964 when Dick’s daughter, Donica, refused to eat. By the third day, doctors urged him to bring her to hospital in Denver, 200 miles away from where they were living in Holyoke. In a very short time, Donica was eating in small doses, and her digestive system began working properly. Carolee’s nephew was saved from multiple congenital heart defects in his youth at the same hospital, so they are both vested in giving back to the medical facility that helped both their families.
“We hope to raise $100,000, all for research,” Dick said.
They’re stopping at tractor dealerships along the way and also visiting with any people they meet. This week, they shared their story with visitors at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering, Nebraska.
“Somewhere, a parent is losing a child because there is no cure,” Dick wrote on Facebook. “Maybe it’s not a flashy disease like cancer with millions at work for research.”
The couple is determined to spread the word of their journey, he added. Basically, the Ouradas are taking their time. After all, they’re retired.
There’s a bright side to this mode of travel, Carolee said. “We get to see a lot of country and actually see it. When you’re in a hurry to get there, you miss so much.”
You can follow their progress on Facebook at tractortripforkids.
