06/17/2026
Chickenstock Recap from Randy :)
Sunday-
Oh what a trip it was this year. We were being more proactive than ever and dropping the 30 foot trailer, the oven and RV off in Chicken on Sunday vs driving them down the day before. On the way down, a pulley on my F250 seized popping the accessory belt in half. We lost the cooling fan and alternator about 12 miles out of Chicken. So dang close lol. We nursed it 3 more miles by stopping and cooling the engine and then moving forward. I finally had to drop the 30 foot trailer on the side of the Highway. After that, the truck stopped overheating but since we had stopped and started so often, 2 miles out of town the gauges all died. The battery had had it. I was able to get it into town, park it (not shutting it off) to see where we were supposed to stage things. Kim had gotten in earlier and found out but I did not know that, no cell service in Chicken :). As she was explaining it to me, I tried to go back into gear. Apparently once the battery is dead, the transmission will not go back into Drive. Anthony and Josea were unloading their stuff so I walked over to check in. We then had to drive our RV back home, which we were not planning on doing. We made it in around 5 AM. I had to call out from work for the week. There was just to much to get done.
Tuesday-
I crammed all of our shopping in on Monday, for Chicken and the Kitchen. Our Prep Team was basically new but they still pulled together and killed it. I grabbed the parts to fix the truck, a Power Steering Pump and Accessory Belt. They were over $1000. I guess gone are the days of a $75 Power Steering Pump lol. A friend, Brent, let me borrow his truck to move things around and because Kim's car needs some maintenance done at the moment and could not make it to Chicken without breaking itself. We loaded up everything at the kitchen for Chicken. I left Tuesday Evening with our kids and one employee to have a slow, leisurely paced drive to Chicken in the RV pulling the 16 Foot Cargo Fridge. Every year has always been VERY stressful timing wise so we had to drive fast. I wanted to take my time this year and I noticed it. We stopped and took photos. Got gas. Spread some of my Dad's ashes at a spot he loved to visit on his drives up the Alcan. We collected some small rocks from the site as well. It was an amazing family drive (and Tucker the Employee). We got in to Chicken at 2 or 3 AM I think. I parked next to my truck. We all crashed.
Wednesday-
In the morning I saw Anthony coming towards me, I had parked in the wrong spot lol. We shuffled the RV and trailers. The Chickenstock Flock used a Bobcat to position the 30 footer and oven. We then deep cleaned the trailer and equipment and set up for the Thursday opening day. While I did this, Brent and another friend Donovan changed out the parts on the truck so it would be ready Sunday. We later went for a walk and the kids played some Frisbee. Card games were also involved throughout the day.
Thursday-
We started the oven warming, getting ingredients in place. Ate lunch and while we were finishing, our Fairbanks Crew showed up. They set up camp and grabbed a bite and then we started cooking. While we were cooking Kim and Aidan made it in and jumped in. We cooked until 11 or so at night. Finishing up the night and hitting the sack.
Friday-
A very long day Cooking. 12 plus hours at the oven with a few smaller breaks in there. This might seem like a short entry, but trust me, it was an eventful day.
Saturday-
We started a little later in the morning. Everyone was pretty tired. We cooked all day long. We thought we would sell out faster but we ran out around 5 or 6. We ended up having 4 or 5 hours of the Festival to just relax and listen. The kids then cleaned up the trailer. I did some final packing and shuffling and we called it a day around 1 AM. We did not have enough vehicles to get everything back but again, Brent came and saved the day. He was going to pull back the Cargo Trailer!
Sunday-
We hooked all the trailers up, loaded the final things, took our traditional Tie Dye/ Metal Chicken/Staff Pics and hit the road. We did not even make it up the first hill and the white truck was overheating. I forgot it had puked coolant on the trip down after the belt broke. Sebastian was a few cars behind us and went back to camp to grab our water jugs from the Cargo Trailer since Brent was leaving later. While he was doing that, a random driver gave us 5 gallons of water they ended up not using. The truck took 2.5 gallons of it! We stuck the water Sebastian brought into the bed of the truck as a backup. The rest of the drive was super chill and nice. I did have a funny moment in Tok with HooDoo Bobby, Cousin Curtiss and I coming across each other. They were talking about the August Concert in the HooDoo parking lot, which is amazing and you should go. We cooked at it once so it was funny to me to walk into that convo. Once we got to town, we had to drop 2 employees off, park trucks, drop a few trailers and unload an RV. I had to haul wood for the kitchen. While unloading, I found our pet cat, Pizza, in our basement passed away. If you remember, she had developed jaundice a month or two back. She got better, got worse, was getting better but I think it just got to her. I am grateful I found her before our kids did and she will be missed by all in the house.
Monday-
Had to get up early to buy a lot of the kitchen supplies we had run out of delivered before I went to work. Chickenstock is officially over for us once the last food and dishes are done and put away. We still had a trailer to empty and then we reset for the Highland Games in Palmer :)
In Town-
Even though I thought I had planned well, we ran out of cheese, jalapenos and a few other things. Isaac ran to Costco and grabbed cheese and Michelle got jalapenos. The store limped through till Monday. I am sorry I dropped so much of the supply kitchen crew. I will do better next time.
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Thank you Sharon for watching our kids for HOURS longer than planned on Sunday.
Thank you Anthony for grabbing the trailer the next day and moving it.
Thank you Anthony for moving my truck to a safe place.
Thank you Josea for sparing a key person on your team to do those things.
Thank you Wyatt and Alexis for doing so much prep so quickly.
Thank you Kim for making 4 bulk batches of dough and balling an additional 200 so we would be ready on day 1.
Thank you Brent for loaning us your truck and generator.
Thank you Avery and Quenton for helping load the ingredients for Chicken.
Thank you Brent and Donovan for fixing the White Truck while I set up the Bot Camp and Workshop.
Thank you for pulling back the Cargo Trailer Brent.
Thank you Sebastian/Kresslynne/Lyric for getting the Water and bringing it back!
Thank you Random Nice Person for the 5 gallons of water!
Thank you Michelle and Isaac for grabbing last minute ingredients while I was gone.
Thank you Robot Crew. So many of you went above and beyond and that is amazing.
Thank you Ryan for repacking the bearings on a trailer that was in desperate need of it.
If I missed anyone in this thank you section I am truly sorry. I am still sleep deprived and some of the last week is still a haze.
