Alaska or bust

buy a mile post mag. read it. keep 3-4 days food aboard, have fun. you can pretty much camp anywhere there is room to park. most of the towns have dump stations, I'd go early the bugs aren't as bad. May -June. take your time see every thing as you go,

Friends went last year. One thing that surprised them was how many times they crossed back and forth between Canada and USA. At some border crossings they had to toss pet food and produce due to regulations.

Crime is no more of an issue there than it is at your current home. Don't worry about it.

Visit the Alaska Forum here. Check out the Roll call 2014 thread - those are all people going to Alaska this year. Check out roll call 2013 for information from last year's trip.

1. We have no reservations. We will probably make some a week or two ahead for Denali.
2.The ferry is much more expensive but the view is different.
3. Thousands of people have RVed to Alaska and I haven't really heard of any crime spree against RVers. My guess is that you are as safe as you are in the lower 48. If you worry at home, you'll worry on the road. Personally, I live in the city and I don't even always lock my doors; I just don't worry about it.
4. Since you spend a lot of time on the road, you have a lot of access to grocery stores. It isn't like you have to stock up to get through the winter.
5. When the trip gets closer, the nausea will grow and your voice will be hoarse from shouting. We are leaving in 3 days. I'm a little panicked, but happy.
6. To relax and have a good time. Read and join in the Alaska forums - there is a lot of good advice there.

We are going for the whole summer of 2014. We made reservations in Fairbanks over the Summer Solstice, in Denali Teklanika River Campground last weekend in June, just north of Anchorage for the 4th of July weekend, and for the ferry crossing between Haines and Skagway in August. Playing it by ear the rest of the time.

If you don't have them already, get the Milepost and Church's Alaska Camping book. Forget the freezer, one is within reach of civilization along the major highways.

I don't know if the WEIO (world eskimo indian olimpics) will be going on while you are in AK but if this is the year for it make sure you find out what city it is being held in and attend it. We did not make reservations befor starting on the trip but when we go close to Danalli we called ahead for reservations and that worked for us. We used the PULL OUTS located all over AK for inromtu campgrounds and camped in real campgrounds about once a week for clean outs and a long shower. Like someone already said Buy a copy of the MILE POST aahead of time kand read it it will really get you excited. It will also help you identify where you want to go.

We made the trip in 2013. Lots of fun. We spent almost $600.00 on vet bills to have our two dogs up to date on all shots etc. We had copies of all vet services provided, but they didn't ask to see any of them. We also used the new Driver's License size Passport. Both Canada & the U.S. border crossing had not seen them the small passport before. We had our regular passport along as a backup but never used them. The drivers License is easy to carry but only good for Canada not overseas.
There is a great free camp area in the South Dakota Badlands (Sage Creek CG Badlands NP SD
43.89363,-102.41565 elev. 2572'). It is 12 miles off the main road with lots of space.

Another great spot is north of the North Dakota Badlands (Bowman, ND Butteview CG
46.17892,-103.37360 elev. 2974'). Cost $6.00 night or $3.00 with senior pass.

We boondocked a lot on our travel trip, up to 13 days without a campground fee. We would stop at one of the many visitor centers (almost every town) and get direction to the local recreation center. There we were able to get a shower every 2-3 days (cost from free to $2.00 each) You can also stop at most campgrounds and purchase a shower ($2.00 to $5.00 each) We traveled for 97 days with an average cost of about $6.00 per night.

We kept GPS location, elevations & photos of all our overnight stopovers for the entire trip.

To keep our Family & Friends up to date on our whereabouts we sent out a Spot message every night. This gave our lat/long GPS location at each overnight camp site. It made them all feel better knowing exactly where we were & that we were alright.

You cannot carry hand guns into Canada. We kept Bear spray at the ready buy our entrance door in case of trouble. We had no trouble on our entire trip.

You need to carry a good First Aid kit and a good tools to fix minor problems while on the road.

Take lots of photos. There is something new and exciting around every corner. Have fun. Dave & Holly Fox The Tardis Time Travelers…

As stated, food is readily available so no need for additional freezer. Yes, the ferry is expensive but if you can afford it for one-way, the scenery is fantastic. However, definitely drive the return trip. The land is beautiful, too. Safety? No problem. We mainly boondocked not far from the highways and sometimes alongside. You'll see many RVers doing this in fantastic spots. Reservations? The only ones recommended are for the July 4 weekend and staying in Denali Nat'l Park. Those can be had at only 3 weeks prior when you can better judge where you'll be when.

Hopefully this post will be moved over to the Canada/Alaskan forum where you'll find much information by looking on the 'Sticky' at the top of the page for past RVers suggestions and also on the current thread going on of those traveling this summer 2014.

Alaska is just like traveling in the lower 48 two-lane backroads. You'll be just fine. Millions drive it and you'll see many of the same folks along the way.

You should ask the moderator to move this thread to the Alaska forum.

why is this post so WIDE?
makes it a pain to try to read it.