Going to Alaska next summer and have some questions....

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Gary RV Roamer said:
As has already been noted, we spent the 2002 anniversary of 9/11 in Hyder.
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There is nowhere in the US that could be further removed from NYC.
 
Actually Hyder is walking distance from the B.C. border. Now if they had been in Barrow... ;D
 
We are seriously re-thinking the time table for the trip. I think we need to start a little earlier and stay a little longer.  We just will skip the GNR next year and return in 2013.  I want to give Alaska all the attention we need to make the trip worth while.  Thanks for the heads up!
 
SargeW said:
We are seriously re-thinking the time table for the trip. I think we need to start a little earlier and stay a little longer.  We just will skip the GNR next year and return in 2013.  I want to give Alaska all the attention we need to make the trip worth while.  Thanks for the heads up!
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Sarge While I am very happy  you may have revised your Alaska timeline,  I'd like to offer  my  humble opinion.    In 2003 we took a Cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines  through the  Inside Passage.  We loved it and  took a few  shore trips to Alaskan highlights .  I thought I had seen "Alaska" until we traveled there in our motorhome.  Our  land trip started in June and ended in September.  ( look up our journal in RVForum library) You will have a good time no matter how much time you spend.  You will enjoy  the  time you have to spend no matter what it is.  I hope you can  manage as much time as possible as it is a  magnificient state.  Enjoy Alaska.

Betty
 
SargeW said:
Thanks Betty, I believe you are right!
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That Betty Brewer is a sneaky one! We were headed to Oregon this year, stopping at the Tetons on the way up. "Oh!" Betty says, "you have to stop at Yellowstone - it's amazing!" - two months later, we hated to leave, spent another month in northern Montana, and got a taste of the Canadian Rockies. No Oregon this year! A wise one, that Betty....

So next year, several of us are going from Moab to Oregon and Washington (Betty will be muffled at that Frally) and then sniff the Vancouver area if possible. We are not able to make the journey to Alaska yet because I am still working from the coach, but it will be the first trip after retirement. We do want to see the options for how we make that jump from the lower 48.

We, too, have been advised to allocate as much time as possible and prepare to be as flexible as possible. But even though we have not been there, I think Betty is probably right - you don't have to do it all the first time, but you surely need to enjoy the part you do!

Looking forward to your preparations and will certainly weigh all the experiences. Thanks for posting this!
 
We've never enjoyed a trip as much as ours to Alaska in 2010.  As others have said, you'll enjoy it no matter when you go or how long you stay.  When we go again, we want to go up in late June and plan to follow the Fall colors all the way down with a plan to be in New Mexico about October 1st.

I think it's worthwhile to drive the Alaska Hwy at least one way.  There's a bunch of History that's worth your time.
 
There's a bunch of History that's worth your time.
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Oh Yes!  And every little town has a museum.  We thought we'd tire of them, but the towns have managed to have enough variety that each one is unique.  I'm not sure which town it was, but the museum was a fascinting view of the gold rush.  They had letters that were well worth the time to read.  And then marvel at the hardships those people endured.  Whitehorse has several museums.  The one on transportation has everything from mushing to trains to float planes.  Which reminds me, when you get to Fairbanks expect to see more float planes than you've ever seen in your life.  Actually, now that I think about it, this will be your first trip to Alaska!  ::) 

ArdraF
 
Sarge,

I see, like us, that you have a Rubicon. Unless I missed it, I have seen nothing in this thread on the subject of towing the toad or not. I have done it both ways, and I recommend leaving it at home.

Case in point - On our first trip, when we got to Ft. Nelson, we decided to jog north up to the Northwest Territories, just to say we had been there. We were in a 32' Bounder, towing a Jeep Cherokee. After about 10 miles on the gravel road, we decided enough was enough - the gravel was bombarding the Jeep and I couldn't see a couple of hundred miles of it. Problem was, no place to turn around. We wound up unhooking the Jeep, drove another 15 miles or so in the MH, turned it around, drove back, turned the Jeep around, hooked up again and drove back to the Alaska Highway. A big waste of time!

This was minor, but the biggest drawback of towing is that it seriously limits you in terms of places you can park, sideroads you can take, campgrounds you can venture into, etc. etc. IMHO, you will never miss not having it with you.

Enjoy.

Bill
 
Thanks Bill, but unfortunately as full timers we don't have a lot of choice of where we leave it. I may look into a rock guard of some sort. Fortunately the Rubicon sits up fairly high so usually gravel and such are not much of an issue. Thanks for the heads up though.
 
I guess everyone has their wants but I couldn't imagine our trip to Alaska without the toad for all the side trips we made.

Buy a roll of the sticky carpet protector and cover the front of the m/h and toad. Its easy to replace and a $25.00 roll goes a long way.
 
Sarge,

You definitely need something to protect the toad's front end, especially in road construction areas where there's lots of loose gravel.

Like Jeff, we want our toad.  The first time to Alaska we didn't have one and realized the second time how limited we were in exploring without it.  There are a lot of places up there where you wouldn't want to take your motorhome.  A good example is the residential area high above Homer.  The views are fantastic but the roads are not suitable for large vehicles.

ArdraF
 
SargeW said:
Sticky tape, now there is an idea..........
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I am talking about a transparent film that is used in new RVs and homes to protect carpet during shows.
 
Sarge,

In our opinion we would have missed so much  without our toad.  We had no trouble finding  places to overnight with our 40 foot rig and toad.  In fact we had Russ with us in his identical set up and we found places to overnight along the  road for 2 rigs, in campgrounds and whereever we wanted.  We did have the  3M protection stuff put on front of our GMC envoy. When we took our trip to the Northwest Territories we left our motorhome at a campground and took the car over  950 miles of the Dempster HIghway.  Then we flew to  Inuivik and overnighted in a small cabin meant for hunters.  This was the highlight of our trip

We sort of planned on replacing a windsheild on either coach or toad, having heard stories, but the damage  we received ( a big rock chip in windsheild) was encountered in Montana on our way home.  Every situation will be unique.  One can never predict nor guarantee the same results on a different trip.  Be flexible and have a blast!
Betty
 
Great info Betty. I shuffled some stuff around so we would have plenty of time to do the trip. I really like to take our time and see what we want. The DW is planning the adventure as we speak!
 
That transparent carpet film isn't very thick - not sure  it would slow down a flying stone enough to avoid a chip. The clear paint protection film is thicker and sturdier, but most of them are more or less permanent. Maybe overkill, but useful after the trip as well.

http://www.clearmask.com/

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotchgard_Paint_Protection/Film/
 
Gary:

I applied 2 sheets of the film  on the grill and there were several marks from rock strikes but no damage or erosion. In comparison I forgot to cover the front of the mirrors on the CRV and the left one had to be repainted.
 
We too were planning on getting to Alaska in the near future...not sure if next year or the following.  My DH is worried about taking our MH to Alaska.  He's heard horror stories about the damage done to the paint of both the MH and the toad.  Since many of you have gone up there in the past few years what are your thoughts about this?  Heard somewhere that the roads have been improved??
Thanks.
Mikie
 
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