Milepost 22014

GordonThree wrote:

joe b. wrote:
www.northtoalaska.com to order the guide or down load it. There is a "clicky" on the page to fill out your mailing information. Of course this seems to place a person on many different mailing lists from interests regarding the north country.

Thanks for the tip Joe, I just signed up :)

Thanks for the information. We have the 2014 Milepost coming as a delayed Christmas gift and just signed up for a hardcopy of North to Alaska. Departure scheduled for the last week in June.

John

Sue, your comment on "exaggeration" made me smile. We did our first trip north in 2002. Two young kids in the back seat, and pretty green to RVing scene. One night we stopped at a "full service resort" with a glowing Milepost review. I had convinced the wife that we really should stop at a real restaurant, since we had been roughing it for a week or so, getting in to the campsite late, and eating late, if at all.

This place was out in the middle of nowhere, yet promised "the finest dining on the highway". Well, we had some version of burgers and fries, and there was no way that whatever we ate was store bought. Tasted like every deer I ever dropped, LOL. Since this place is a "resort" and campground, we stayed the night at a "full hook-up" site, as recommended in the Milepost. After I backed into a site, I asked the owner where the sewer connections were? He then informed me that the "bush" definition of full hook-ups wasn't the same as it is down south. Seems to the proprietor of this luxury resort, "full hook-ups" is defined as a 20 amp receptacle and a water spigot.

We later stayed at a place that offers "30 amp" sites. There might be a thirty amp hook-up on the patch, running straight from the genny to the owner's single wide, but the other 99% of the campground in 15 amp extension cords randomly popping out of the ground. The place is a dump, full of abandoned junk, and garbage filled fire rings. The place was so rough that when I spoke to a highway crew staying there, they were furious about the conditions, and debating if they should just drag up and relocate to a gravel pit.

For at least the next decade, the Milepost continued to run ads from both of these places, and sung the praises of amenities that simply do not exist, and fine dining that's bush meat, and reheated dreck from the Cisco truck.

I loved the whole experience, did it twice after that, and can't wait for next time. That said, I wouldn't go without a fairly current milepost, knowing that anytime I see any business listed with an accompanying advertisement, everything may be more that a bit embellished.

If you have last year's Milepost, there's no real need to buy a new one for this year. Just keep in mind some of the businesses will be closed, while others will be open that aren't listed.

The Milepost is very ad oriented -- some businesses prefer not to, or can't afford to, advertise so don't get much of a mention in the Milepost. Yet their services might be better than an advertisers.

The Milepost is great for knowing where all the little turnouts are - good for lunch stops or overnighting. It also lists decent fishing spots, history, etc. I buy a new one now and then to aid with our exploring BUT mostly for the digital version which is then stored on the laptop, which I also use for livetracking with the GPS.

I rarely look at the ads, other than to snicker at some of the exaggerated claims of service.

One of the pluses of the Milepost is that it tells you whether the pull offs have two exits or only one, we saw a number of cases where Class A's with toads ended up having to unhook because they couldn't get turned around to get back out.

fireman93514 wrote:
I was thinking of buying churches book and the milepost. Maybe I will buy churches and decide on milepost later.

The two publications are completely different and will each be used for different purposes. The Milepost is excellent for history on all areas as you're driving and the maps are great. We wouldn't advise using it for your accurate and comprehensive camping information. Church's book is mainly for finding campgrounds and boondocking spots with excellent facility information and RV size suggestions for all the spots. I would suggest that you have both.

On our first trip to Alaska we got the Milepost out at mile 0. I think by mile 50 we had put the thing away. Too much information. Dug it out from time to time for local info.

Second trip in 2011 it did not even ride in the truck with us. Spent 100% of the time looking out windows for critters & the ever changing view.

I was thinking of buying churches book and the milepost. Maybe I will buy churches and decide on milepost later.

Thanks all. I do have the North to Alaska guide - and have found it also very helpful. I will check on the Church information.

joe b. wrote:
I just received notice that the free "North to Alaska" guide is now available to be sent to those requesting a copy. In the past it has been a very well done guide. It is a joint publication of the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Yukon Territory and the State of Alaska.
...

www.northtoalaska.com to order the guide or down load it. There is a "clicky" on the page to fill out your mailing information. Of course this seems to place a person on many different mailing lists from interests regarding the north country.

Thanks for the tip Joe, I just signed up :)

I just received notice that the free "North to Alaska" guide is now available to be sent to those requesting a copy. In the past it has been a very well done guide. It is a joint publication of the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Yukon Territory and the State of Alaska.

I buy a new Milepost every year, whether I am going to Alaska or not, as I tend to collect them. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50+ or - of the editions, going back as far as 1953. 1962 is the earliest one that I bought and personally used to drive to Alaska.

Probably not necessary to buy one yearly,but it doesn't cost that much to have a new one, if you buy one at a discount somewhere. The Church book is also excellent as mentioned above. In the last ten years of trips, I have often bought two copies of the Milepost, one to save and one to cut up and staple, to make it a more manageable size and weight. LOL

www.northtoalaska.com to order the guide or down load it. There is a "clicky" on the page to fill out your mailing information. Of course this seems to place a person on many different mailing lists from interests regarding the north country.