Our Alaska Adventure...summer 2013: The planning is underway!

Hi Salty Adventurer:

>>June 15  CHETWYND BC CANADA  (3.5 hrs/190 mi) / FORT ST. JOHN BC CANADA (2.25 hours/108 mi)
  --Our LONGEST DAY?5.75 hrs!!
  --Ross H Maclean Rotary RV Park, at Charlie Lake just north of Fort St. John. Good Sam park. $33-38 for full HU. 250-785-1700
  --IF we go to Dawson Creek (interesting town, nice place?), sty at Northern Lights CG, has good restrooms! Says Sarge?does he mean Dawson City???
  --June 9-10 in Chetwynd is the Intl Chainsaw Championship!<<

Nope.  Sarge means Dawson Creek, BC.  If you choose to take the slightly shorter route to Ft. St. John, BC from Chetwynd,  you will not be able to say "that you have travelled the entire Alaska Hwy".  The Alaska Hwy begins (Mile 0) at downtown Dawson Creek, BC.  8)

Also I hope you will stop for lunch (or something) at Pine Pass Provincial Park (about half way between Prince George and Chetwynd.  The scenery there is spectacular with a blue/green lake (full of trout) along side a high straight line of granite mountains.  At least, take a picture!

Enjoy your trip.  It sounds wonderful.

Gord

Lorna said:

When you go to Valdez be sure to go out to the airport to a museum that is located there.  It is not an air museum but a very pleasant surprise indeed.  It sounds like you have your trip well planned out and will have a great time.

Click to expand...

This museum has been moved to the college in town. It's called the Whitney Museum, and it has beautiful displays. The Valdez Museum and its Annex are also both worth visiting.

Cordova is a lovely little town!  You can take the ferry from Whittier or Valdez. There's not much to do - Childs Glacier is some 50 miles out of town, but a bridge on the road out of town washed out and hasn't been repaired so you cant get to it. If you enjoy hiking, there are several trails and the scenery is beautiful.

When you're in Anchorage, eat breakfast at Snow City Cafe on 4th and L street. It's DELISH and fun!

Enjoy your trip!

We're getting more and more excited about our Alaska adventure in our Itasca Reyo motorhome.

Yesterday, I ordered a pre-season checkup by the RV tech who works at our winter storage warehouse.

Last night, I took at our 2013 edition of Milepost, which is pretty much like our heavily used 2012 edition. The guide books and maps are piled high in the kitchen.

Today, I started thinking about how I will blog about our trip and what I'll focus on as I write journal entries here. I'm also thinking about how I might post on twitter, Facebook and a new social media site that looks exciting, medium.com.

Next, I need to decide whether to replace my Nikon P90 digital camera and an old Canon movie camera before we leave. And I need to break out my Verizon MIFI card and make sure the connections work.

Equally important, it would help if I could shed some of my winter pounds. It would make driving more comfortable and the clothes I've bought for the trip fit.

But first things first. Tomorrow, Susan's going to show about 48 of her wonderful water color landscapes at our HOA club house. A neighbor also is showing her paintings. Hope somebody comes and Susan sells at least one painting. We need to clear our walls.

Ya know it's been a year since we took off for Alaska last May.  I can feel your excitement and it brings back so many memories.  I kept a log going for most of the trip and when it had ended, I wrote that if we went again, we would do it a little bit differently.  However, thinking about Alaska, we  had a great time and miss it.  We hope to go again.  Might get through Canada a little quicker and stay a little longer in Alaska on the 2nd trip; and/or do it with a truck camper so we could get way back off the main roads.  We loved it there.

Please..please keep a log for us to follow along with you.

Marsha~

Having just completed the trip from Kalispell, Montana to now tonight in Tok, Alaska...I think I can give you a few pointers before your journey.

Some applies more to people pulling something, be it a 5th wheel or a TT or a Toad.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Keep the fridge latch latched!! Holy crap what a mess!
[*]Have all of your suspension system reviewed before the trip...check tie-rod ends, ball joints, shocks everything.
[*]Tow vehicle - if you are towing a trailer or 5th wheel, have the suspension checked and springs checked and make sure all the shackles are in good shape.
[*]Hitch - for you 5th wheelers - check all the king pin bolts and make sure they are tight...check you hitch and make sure it is tight. Buy a new teflon pad for the hitch.
[*]TT - make sure your hitch and wiring is in order. Anti-sway bars are in good shape and your safety chains are in perfect shape.
[*]Double check all electrical wiring for the trailer / hitch.
[/list]I found the roads from Kalispell to Dawson Creek to be fine. Although the bypass around Edmonton even though a new road, had some pretty rough bridge transitions.
From Dawson Creek to Watson lake for the most part was fine. I only hit one hard frost heave and it was being repaired. The main intersection in Watson Lake is terrible...at the turn off to the "Downtown RV park".
I hit bad slick weather and icy roads from Watson Lake to Teslin, after that the road was dry. There were some potholes and a couple small frost heaves but they were well marked and for the most part not a problem.
Now the bad part. From Haines Junction to Destruction bay was not bad. From Destruction bay to the Alaska Border was a challenge. Some of the most spectacular scenery, but the roughest road you will encounter, including at least 3 sections that were gravel only, not long, but washboard rough.
Watch out for the un-marked or repaired sections, they may be smooth but what I would describe as "Whoop Dee Doo's", which can play havoc with your tow and the ride in general, not a bone jarring hit, but rather the bottom of a short roller coaster, watch for the orange flags and warning cones and slow down. If there is a sign warning to slow down...slow WAY down it is bad!
I really recommend you make this 300 mile run in two days, it is tedious and the most beautiful, so enjoy it.
You can read my blog under my signature for more details of my experience.
Good Luck, I am an Alaskan, so welcome to my world.


Jim

OOPs, I forgot an important item.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Beware when opening cabinets - a can of Bush's baked beans can be deadly! And i have the knot on my forehead to prove it!
[/list]

Of course that applies anytime after towing, but after today my stuff go really arranged!


Jim

Jim

Glad to hear you made it okay.  Have a good summer.

Gord

Wigpro said:

Having just completed the trip from Kalispell, Montana to now tonight in Tok, Alaska...I think I can give you a few pointers before your journey.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the update, Jim. We'll discuss it over dinner in a few minutes.

Don

We're trying to figure out how to get our insurers to let us buy 110 days supply of prescription drugs. Walgreens and Kroger only have stores in Anchorage, which is less than a month into the trip and about 57 days from our return to the USA.

Fred Meyers, which is part of Krogers,  has a lot of stores in Alaska.  See if their prescription service is tied to Krogers computers.

Sheila

Oldedit said:

We're trying to figure out how to get our insurers to let us buy 110 days supply of prescription drugs. Walgreens and Kroger only have stores in Anchorage, which is less than a month into the trip and about 57 days from our return to the USA.

Click to expand...

If you are on Medicare, our two different prescription providers, Express Scrips and Optimum, told us we could get a special exemption once a year, and they provided us each with 6 months.  Hope this helps.  Linda

Insurers were ok with 90 days supply of prescription drugs. That with current supplies should get us to the Seattle area where we can replenish.

Kroger and Walgreens each have three stores in Alaska. Far as I can tell, they're all in the Anchoridge area.

Oldedit said:

Kroger and Walgreens each have three stores in Alaska. Far as I can tell, they're all in the Anchoridge area.

Click to expand...

Walgreens yes.
Kroger No. Unless it under another name?

The Krogers affiliate in Alaska is Fred Meyers...I know they have more stores than just Anchorage.

OH Yea; Freddy's everywhere. ;D
Didn't know they were connected with Kroger;  Learn something new everyday. ;D