Week 167 - Alaska Review - 10-25-2009

The Final Word on Alaska,

Twenty-five weeks ago, our travelogue outlined our preparation and expectations of our trip to Alaska. This week we reveal how the rubber met the road. We have been wanting to do this recap ever since we left Canada, but to our delight each week had so many new photos that we needed to present. This week worked as we took few photos and are heading home quickly (for us!). We did stop by Redding to see Donnalee (Pete's sister) and her friend Don. That was a nice visit!

[Note: This review is for those RVers that would like to visit Alaska. We welcome any emails questions about a trip you would like to take.]

Now for the review: In the last couple of years, we talked to everyone we met about Alaska. We got great preparation and touring information from RVers. In addition, from Dana, a friend our close friend Paul, we got a list of must-see destinations. Dana has been to Alaska five times before (six this year?). We went to many of his suggestions and they were great. Thanks Dana.

Preparation for the Mothership included:

New front tires (last January) Definitely needed. Even one of our better rear tires blew out.
Spare wiper blades. Didn't need them. This year it rained very little. But we were told that it rained most days in summer 2008 and in 2010.
Spare serpentine belt. Didn't need it, but a must have in case you do. You could sit for days waiting for a new one. You would probably have to drive your toad just to make a call for help.
Spare fuel and fuel/water separator filters. Didn't them either, but driving in Alaska is dustier than the lower 48. Not on the highways, but so many parking lots and side roads are dirt or gravel.
Purchase The Milepost, the official road guide to Northwest Canada and Alaska. This is absolutely a must have. It has way too much info, but you would miss a lot without it.
New tires for the scooter. A good choice even though didn't use the scooter very much as we moved so often in the motorhome. Even in four months you have to keep going to see all of Alaska, it's huge!
Bear repellent spray and bug spray. Didn't need the bear repellent but the bug spray is a must. However, we did not encounter the abnormal amount of flying insects as most said we would.
We predicted that we would cruise through Canada for four weeks, 2,200 miles. It took 3 1/2 weeks for 2,500 miles.
Predicted to be in Alaska for June and July and back through Canada in August. We did stay in Alaska for June and July but then sped through Canada back to the good ole USA.

Our expectations and comments:

Bears and lots of them. No! While we saw a half dozen bears in Canada, we only saw four in Alaska. However, we did get to photograph a bear for 30 minutes from 30 to 100 feet and that made up for the lack of quantity.
Beauty, endless beauty. We had been told that every picture will be a "postcard". This is totally true as you have witnessed from our travelogues.
Lots of trees, greenery and lots of water. Great kayaking. Lots of wildlife besides the bears. Trillions of trees, 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes. These are real numbers, not an exaggeration. There really are 3,000 rivers and 3 millions lakes in Alaska. Enough lakes to give 2 and 1/2 to each citizen. We did not find many good river kayaking areas.
Friendly folks along the way. Canadians, Alaskans and fellow travelers. As usual, you won't find nicer, more accommodating RV hosts and travelers.
Lots of remote and dry camping. Other campgrounds with limited facilities. Not true! There are numerous RV parks and campgrounds that are spaced every 75 to 100 miles. In fact, we dry camped only 11 out of 105 days.
Cool temperatures and many propane refills. Not true! Temperatures were moderate and we topped off the propane only once.
No Jack-in-the-Boxes, but all kinds of great fish meals. True. We tasted the fish throughout Canada and Alaska. The best Halibut and Chips is from Klondike Rib and Salmon in Whitehorse, Yukon. In fact, we detoured twice to get back to Whitehorse just for the Halibut and Chips!
Lunch or dinner at Muck Luck Annies and a big soak at Liard Hot Springs, BC. Muck Luck Annies was closed either permanently or when we drove by. The soak at Liard hot springs was great.
High prices in Canada: campgrounds, food, fuel and wine. Yes, yes, yes and yes. Higher in Canada and high in Alaska. We found only one burger (in Anchorage) in Canada or Alaska that was less than $10.
No suntans but lots of mosquitoes and other flying pests. It is said that the mosquito is the state bird of Alaska. We did encounter tons of mosquitoes during our SOWERs ministry in Fairbanks. But neither Pete or Ellen got bit!
While this was to be quite an adventure, it is nothing compared to those who did this trek 10, 20 and 30 years ago. True. The roads have been improved to a high quality.
The main roads are all paved. However, there is constant maintenance, so there will be lots of gravel. We only drove over about 10 miles of gravel (out of 6,200 miles) except for the Top of the World highway.
Trucks fly by and spray you with gravel until the Moho looks like a teenager with acne. Not true for us. We did buy and apply "transit wrap". This plastic wrap sticks to your vehicle and protects it from flying rocks. We covered the front and driver's side but only for the 450 mile Cassiar highway. This highway had 100 miles of gravel in May but only 6 miles in August when we went through. Each year it is repaired. We suggest returning on this road so that the majority is paved.
Frost heaves constantly break up the road and if hit hard, you can break things. Not true. While it made for some wild roller coaster rides, we did not run into breaks, only waves. Fun, if you slow down your speed.
A broken windshield to break up the monotony of endless bug guts. We did break our windshield but not as expected. We broke ours through incorrect leveling when parked; this could have happened anywhere. Oh yeah, it did in Paso Robles where we broke out first one! Can we say "slow learners"?
More paint chips to add to the dozens we already have. True. But with a 8 x 41 foot side panel, you will never avoid chips. You won't notice our Alaskan chips anymore than our lower 48 chips.

Destinations and attractions:

Here is the list that our friend Dana gave us and our comments.

Canada:

Sakani Chief is historic: did not go here
Mucho Lake: Very scenic. You can't miss this one, you must drive along side it for miles.
Watson Lake Sign Post Forest: Thousands and thousands of signs from people around the world. If you go, bring a sign or materials to build one and hang it.
Whitehorse Yukon Brewing Co: We visited the tasting room and got an fantastic presentation of their brews.
Braeburn Lodge buy a cinnamon bun: We stopped and purchased an enormous bun. But ours was in the evening and we think it was baked in the morning :-(
Dawson City is like Skagway was 15 years ago: True. Skagway is a tourist trap, but we enjoyed. Dawson City is a working town with great history and old-time activities. Your experience in this town is like taking a step back in history, very fun.
Take ferry across Yukon, drive to Poker Creek and back to Dawson City: We took the Mothership on the ferry and drove the Top of the World highway. Not worth the time and fuel. While you travel on the ridge of many mountains at 5,500 feet, you cannot see far. The is because your mountains are surrounded by other mountains at the same level.
Cassiar Hwy Junction Sally's restaurant: We had just eaten as we come to Sallys so we skipped it.
Jade City, Jade Cutting: This store had tens of thousands of jade products, beautiful and very expensive.

Alaska:

Skagway ride the train: We did not ride, but Dana and others we spoke with recommend it.
Haines, could take ferry back to Skagway: We took the ferry from Skagway to Haines with the Mothership. Beautiful trip, not too pricey.
Chena Hot Springs: This was great. The hot springs are nice and taking the tours are so interesting. Free tours include the geothermal power plant and greenhouses. The paid for Ice Museum tour is awesome.
Fairbanks, Discovery Boat Tour: Very interesting history and great views of houses along the Chena River.
Girdwood resort called Alyeska, tram to mountain top: Sounds great, but ran out of time to take it.
Anchorage: Sourdough Mining Co Show: No time for this either.
Seward, Kenai Fjords Dinner Cruise, Rays restaurant, Holgate Glacier: This cruise was wonderful: Glacier, food and marine life.
Homer: stay on spit, Lands End restaurant: Could not stay on the spit due to MH problem, but visited Lands End Restaurant: Very nice.
See Denali Mountain from Talkeetna: We did see it from Talkeetna. But we were fortunate enough to see it up close while on the tour bus from within Denali National Park.
Matanuska Glacier, Long Rifle Restaurant: You can drive right up to this glacier (for a fee). We chose to see it from the Long Rifle Restaurant. The Long Rifle doesn't look like much from the outside. But the inside is great, full of animals and a fantastic view of the glacier. And Pete voted their Bleu Cheese Burger, the best burger in Alaska!
Valdez: Columbia Glacier/Ice Fields Cruise: Did not take this cruise.
Hyder AK: Salmon Creek bears: We did see the bears at 6 pm when they came down for dinner.

A final note:

9 out of 10 people we spoke with said "take your beautiful class A motorhome to Alaska". All we can say to the 1 in 10 who said we would ruin our motorhome is "shame on you". Shame on you for scaring people from enjoying their motorhome and renting or buying an old junker to take. Either they went years ago or have been scared by talking to those who went years ago. Using common sense (like skipping the Top of the World highway), your motorhome will return in fine condition. And you will enjoy this trip as much as any in North America.

North to Alaska, love Pete and Ellen

This special edition travelogue was brought to you as there is nothing new in our travel.

Photos from Oct 2009