Couple Takes Off On Trip From Nebraska To Alaska In A 1977 IH Tractor To Raise Money For Kids

Driving from Nebraska to Alaska isn't a quick trip, but for Dick and Carolee Ourada, the trip will take nearly 60 days. That's because the Ouradas are making the 3,910 mile trip in a tractor as a way to raise money for kids.

Dick is a retired farmer, and Carolee is a recently retired nurse. The couple is venturing back to Alaska after falling in love with the state decades ago. What's normally a more than 50-hour drive from Holyoke, Colo., to Fairbanks, Alaska, will take them two months this time. The couple started in western Nebraska this week.

Why would anyone want to make the trip in a tractor? The drive across the western U.S., Canada and the Alaska Highway isn't easy, and some would even call it grueling in a motor vehicle. The answer to that has a story that dates back to the 1970s when Dick started farming. 

“To tell you the truth, I traded some shock absorbers from my small mechanic shop for a bred gilt and took her home, because I thought the kids would learn something from the experience of the piglets,” explains Dick. “And we built it into about a 3,000-head hog producing farm.”

Their family farm also grew sugarbeets, corn and wheat. As Dick battled through the farm financial crisis of the 1980s and the hog herd contraction many producers faced in the 1990s, the farm changed. He and his late wife then ventured into vegetable production.

“In order to stay afloat, we put in a small vegetable farm, which nobody did out here in farm country, but we did it anyway,” he says. “And it was very successful. We had 25 acres every year, and did sweet corn, tomatoes, seedless watermelons, which were new at that time, and peppers.”

Dick lost his first wife in 1996. After that, Dick’s world took a dark turn, as he said he didn’t want to farm anymore.

“I just didn't want to be here anymore,” says Dick. “So, I sold the farm.”

Finding Purpose Again 

In 2001, Dick found purpose again when he met Carolee. The two traveled to Alaska for the summer, as she was a traveling nurse, and they both fell in love with the state.

Fast forward a couple decades, and the couple purchased land and are refurbishing an Alaskan home. But as they searched for a tractor to use on their Alaskan land, they found that tractors aren’t only expensive, but hard to find in the state. So, they decided to buy one near their northeast Colorado house and shop, and drive it to Alaska from there.

The two found a tractor in Iowa that seemed to fit the bill for the job: a 1977 International Harvester 574 that they purchased for around $3,500 sight unseen.

 “When this came along, we knew couldn't go out on the highway; it wasn't in that good of shape. It had been outside for a while, and it was pretty rusty. We had to do a lot of work,” says Dick.

After purchasing the tractor in February, the couple, along with some help from family and friends, spent five months fixing up the tractor that they named “Aggie.”

“We adapted cab from an Allis Chalmers xt170,” says Dick.

Instead of hauling the tractor to Alaska, which Dick and Carolee say would have been quicker, easier and cheaper, they’re driving the tractor there. The tractor has no air conditioning and can go a maximum speed of only 20 mph on the highway.

One challenge for their tractor trip is the immediate heat. As they head out this week, forecasts show 106-degree temperatures. However, Dick and Carolee don’t seem to mind it one bit, because this is more than just a trip.

“We're not really looking at the challenges because we know we can deal with whatever comes,"
 says Carolee.

Raising Money for a Reason 

The couple has a plan to stop at pre-determined Case IH dealerships along the way, all in an effort to raise money.

 "Carolee said, ‘What would we do with the money?’ And I said, ‘Well, this might be a good place to put it,’” says Dick.

The Ouradas are raising money for the Colorado Children’s Hospital Foundation, a hospital that saved Dick’s daughter’s life 58 years ago this week.

“She just refused to eat, and the doctors here spent three days trying to figure something out,” remembers Dick. “They told us put her in the car and go to Denver. Don't stop or anything. Just go to Denver.”

At the time, there wasn’t a quicker way to get her there, so Dick and his late wife did just that.

“We dropped her off dying,” says Dick.

They couldn’t stay with their daughter in the nursery, so they left her in the hospital expecting the worst. By the next morning, their daughter had made a miraculous comeback.

“And it turned out that they had run into the same problem with premature babies that would refuse to eat,” says Dick. "And so they had done a lot of research to figure out why, and they came up with a special nipple, and she had taken to it immediately.”

The life-saving move may seem simple, but Dick says that to him, the Denver Children’s Hospital did something he will never forget.

“We owe the hospital a lot,” says Dick. “This is kind of a way to help pay that back.”

The idea also sparked meaning for Carolee, whose family had also experienced the life-saving services the Denver Children’s Hospital provide.

“My nephew was born with multiple congenital heart defects,” she says. “And through the years, they've researched and come up with new ways to help him. He’s in his upper 30s today and living a normal, productive life. But when they first took him up there, they weren't even sure he was going to survive the first procedure.”

Both Dick and Carolee feel indebted to the hospital, so they set a goal of raising $100,000 as they make the 3,910 mile trip.

“There are so many kids out there that need the resources and the research that children's hospital does,” points out Carolee.

The Ouradas admit they’re a long way from their goal as they start off on their two-month long trip. But with compassion, drive and awareness, they hope generosity will continue to sprout along their route and across the country.

To donate, the Ouradas have set up a website, along with a Facebook page. Carolee says they will continue to update the page throughout the trip.