Roll Call Alaska 2013

[JANETRUPP]

Just thought I'd start a thread regarding who will be starting up to Alaska in 2013. It would be nice if we could share information so everyone has a memorable and safe trip.
We will be leaving around the end of May out of Las Vegas. We will be traveling with our 40' MH and towing our Equinox car. We are heading up with my husband's cousin and her husband and they have an airstream.
We have gone before but in 2005 so we are really looking forward again to the adventure. It is surely a trip of a lifetime and to do it more than once is a blessing. We are only on this earth for a short while.
Travel safe!

Janet

[JANETRUPP]

Packing Ideas:

Milepost
Travelers Guide to Alaska Camping - Church
Toursaver Coupon Book
Binoculars
Camera
Extra batteries
Kindle- Books-Audio Books
CD's and DVD's
Special Food Likes
"Roll Call Alaska 2013" signs
Walkie Talkie
Deet
Fishing Gear
Puppy Documents
Passports
Raingear
Mud Boots
Fishing Gear
Tarps
Window Bug Cleaner
Black-out Curtain or sleep masks
Prescriptions or special meds ie: Prilosec, Tylenol PM
Debit Card and Credit Cards
Canadian Coins
Sign for the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake - Nails and Hammer
Maps/ GPS
Books/ Magazines
Cell Phone/ Internet
Smart Phone/ Tablet apps for Camps/business and fuel
Spare Parts -Fuel Filters, Engine Belts, Extensions for E,W,S and Cable
Tools
Fuses
Gorilla Tape
Reflectors
Velcro
Evaporated Milk
Vehicle Insurance Documentation
Extra Air Filters
Cell phone amplifier / external antennas
Personal Locator Beacon
Bear Spray


Just bumping this for the newbies! We always welcome new suggestions :B

[JANETRUPP]

"Not To Miss"
Alaska Roll Call 2013

Mile "O" Signpost
Frantic Follies Show - Whitehorse Follies
Santa's House - North Pole- Santa
Denali River Rafting - Rafting (mild to wild)
Moose Tooth Pub -Anchorage
Alyeska tram and resort- Alyeska(dinner is great here-Seven Glaciers)
Glacier Tours - Glaciers
White Bus (Lunch) - Hyder, Alaska
Knotty Shop - Knotty Shop-Fairbanks
Pratt Museum - Homer
Homer High Rd Drive
Winner Creek Trail -Alyeska
Williwaw Campground - Portage Glacier
Downtown Anchorage Museum
Seward
Charter Plane - Anchorage/Chugach Mountains
Liard Hot Springs
Barrow
Icefield parkway -Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff
Skagway/ Haines
Top of the World Hwy - Dawson City
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Watson Lake Sign Post Forest
Simon & Seafort's Saloon - Anchorage
Kenai Fjords Boat Tours
Talkeetna Sightsee Flight - Mt Mckinley/Denali
Denali Bus tour
108th Annual Midnight Sun Summer Solstice Baseball Game - Fairbanks
Seward Silver Salmon Derby - Aug 10-18 Kenai Peninsula
Double Musky (Dinner)
Crow's Nest (meal Captain Cook Hotel)
Native Medical Center - Anchorage
White water Rafting - Hope (near Seward)
Drive Denali Hwy


Wanted to repost this for the new Alaska Roll Call sign-ups

[JANETRUPP]

Welcome to gandalf12. Welcome to the Alaska Roll Call. Since you have been several times I'm sure you will be a great help in answering some of the questions many here have.
By the way are you related to "gandalf42" of Fort Collins, CO which is already on our Roll Call? Your screen name is so similar is why I ask.

Janet

[JANETRUPP]

ROLL CALL - ALASKA 2013
We will need to hang a sign in the window with our screen name so we will recognize each other while traveling. I know I have too much time on my hands, lol

janetrupp - Bullhead City, AZ
DesertHawk - New Mexico
TwoHands - California
SD1209 - San Diego, Calif
Lonnie4801 - Texas
LindaZ - Colorado
JUrban - Delaware
AprilWhine -Pahrump, NV - Smart Caravan
PA12DRVR - Houston -Anchorage
KPSmithSr - St Louis, MO
JoeB - Florida
Jim4929 - Roaroke, VA
HKsilvereagle - North Pole
gandalf42 - Fort Collins, Colorado
tsimtcu8 - Vancouver, British Columbia
Hjudge49 - St Augustine, Florida
Jnharley - Indiana
sodajerk - Dallas, Texas
b2egypt - Michigan
pasco1215 - Central Alabama
glen68 -Warba, MN - Great Falls, MT for SMART Caravan
CA Traveler - Sun Lakes, AZ
Gonecamping444 - Michigan
rickjf - Florida
daily double - Ketchum, Oklahoma
retired frog - Albany, NY
jonlin - North Carolina
phxkayaker - Washington state
glaciergus - Minnesota
Dirtsailor - Halethorpe, MD
donp5311 - Iowa
AidenJ - Adirondocks, NY
Texas Roadrunner - San Antonio, TX
hjeaton - Ohio
S Ski - Chandler, AZ
Tom&Susan G - Ringgold, Georgia
lizzie - Unaka, North Carolina
Butch50 - Bentonville, Arkansas
pistolpeter55 - Maine
bajarat - Austin, Texas
pnordan - North Carolina
dlklose - Colorado
fanrgs - Denver, Colorado
Elmer Zilch - Bossier, LA
Takemeanywhere - Wisconsin
taviking22 - Omaha, Nebraska
bigtuffy2 - Merkel, Texas
Alan M - Cobb, CA
Hoaugh - Columbus, Ohio
Bob n Izetta - Florida
glen112233 - Iowa
yukiroad - South Pasadena, Calif
Bakers - ? (friends of Texas roadrunner)
two travelers - Smithtown, NY
sanjim - Mississippi
gandalf12 - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

[gandalf12]

Kathy and I have traveled to Alaska a total of 9 summers. We learn something new each time. This summer we will be "retired" at last and will head for our place at Poachers Cove on the Kenai early June and return ?. Best advice is don't go just once. And stay flexible with scheduling. Don't be afraid of the road as it will always take you where it is going.

[JANETRUPP]

sanjim wrote:
I made my sign today for the RV for Roll Call for Alaska. Changed the picture up a little, but if you see us on the road, be sure to honk or stop and have a drink. I put a picture of a highway with the caption, "For an experience of a lifetime..." Hope that's o.k with everyone.

Sounds great!! We will see you on the road!

Janet

[AprilWhine]

Three of 17 RVers from the SMART caravan are in this thread. :c

[sanjim]

I made my sign today for the RV for Roll Call for Alaska. Changed the picture up a little, but if you see us on the road, be sure to honk or stop and have a drink. I put a picture of a highway with the caption, "For an experience of a lifetime..." Hope that's o.k with everyone.

[CA_Traveler]

Klondike Loop Question: This loop gets lots of press and we're considering driving it. But from Milepost it includes 112 miles of gravel roads from Dawson City to Chicken. What are the pros and cons of taking this route? Apparently bragging rights is one pro.

[PA12DRVR]

sanjim wrote:
We are excited about our first trip to Alaska inJuly, 2013. Can use any tips for a good trip. I love the forums, so much good information, but sometimes I get confused - there's so much!!! We begin retirement in June, can hardly wait, this is the beginning of our motor home adventures, hope to have many more in the future. Sure hope to meet some of you along the way. If you see a couple that looks like they might not know what they're doing, that'll probably be us. Stop and say "hi".

So, here's a thought, probably not really a help, but a thought.

I've driven the Alcan (and started long enough ago from the Alaska side that I can call it that :)) some 20-odd times since 1972 with a couple of one-way and part-way trips thrown in. Only one of those trips did not have a deadline and it was the most enjoyable. DW and I headed out from Spokane, WA some years ago with no timeline to get to AK. We ended up missing the kids pretty badly by about Destruction Bay so we accelerated from there, but even with that, I believe we spent 16 - 18 days driving from Spokane to Los Anchorage..wandered all over BC, a good part of the Yukon, and so on.

If there's any way not to have a deadline on your trip, or to put any deadlines off to the bitter end, it will make your trip very enjoyable. I'm anticipating my final retirement in the next several years and that will be my next driving trip to AK, never to see Houston again! For that trip, I'll leave in the spring and plan on being in Alaska sometime before Dec. 31.

[phxkayaker]

daily double wrote:
Does anyone know when the 2013 book by Mike Church comes out?

Amazon is showing the 2013 Milepost being available mid-March if my memory serves. I have it on order since our 2010 version is in Alaska with our son. I don't know about a date for the next edition of Church's book.

[JANETRUPP]

Welcome to sanjim to our big Roll Call family. There is alot of information here so read back all the past posts and get ready to take notes. If you have any questions just post them here. There is always someone here that will have the answer. Don't forget to make a sign for your window reading;
Roll Call
Alaska 2013
"sanjim"


This way we will know who we are waving at while on the road.

Janet

[JANETRUPP]

ROLL CALL - ALASKA 2013
We will need to hang a sign in the window with our screen name so we will recognize each other while traveling. I know I have too much time on my hands, lol

janetrupp - Bullhead City, AZ
DesertHawk - New Mexico
TwoHands - California
SD1209 - San Diego, Calif
Lonnie4801 - Texas
LindaZ - Colorado
JUrban - Delaware
AprilWhine -Pahrump, NV - Smart Caravan
PA12DRVR - Houston -Anchorage
KPSmithSr - St Louis, MO
JoeB - Florida
Jim4929 - Roaroke, VA
HKsilvereagle - North Pole
gandalf42 - Fort Collins, Colorado
tsimtcu8 - Vancouver, British Columbia
Hjudge49 - St Augustine, Florida
Jnharley - Indiana
sodajerk - Dallas, Texas
b2egypt - Michigan
pasco1215 - Central Alabama
glen68 -Warba, MN - Great Falls, MT for SMART Caravan
CA Traveler - Sun Lakes, AZ
Gonecamping444 - Michigan
rickjf - Florida
daily double - Ketchum, Oklahoma
retired frog - Albany, NY
jonlin - North Carolina
phxkayaker - Washington state
glaciergus - Minnesota
Dirtsailor - Halethorpe, MD
donp5311 - Iowa
AidenJ - Adirondocks, NY
Texas Roadrunner - San Antonio, TX
hjeaton - Ohio
S Ski - Chandler, AZ
Tom&Susan G - Ringgold, Georgia
lizzie - Unaka, North Carolina
Butch50 - Bentonville, Arkansas
pistolpeter55 - Maine
bajarat - Austin, Texas
pnordan - North Carolina
dlklose - Colorado
fanrgs - Denver, Colorado
Elmer Zilch - Bossier, LA
Takemeanywhere - Wisconsin
taviking22 - Omaha, Nebraska
bigtuffy2 - Merkel, Texas
Alan M - Cobb, CA
Hoaugh - Columbus, Ohio
Bob n Izetta - Florida
glen112233 - Iowa
yukiroad - South Pasadena, Calif
Bakers - ? (friends of Texas roadrunner)
two travelers - Smithtown, NY
sanjim - Mississippi

[sanjim]

We are excited about our first trip to Alaska inJuly, 2013. Can use any tips for a good trip. I love the forums, so much good information, but sometimes I get confused - there's so much!!! We begin retirement in June, can hardly wait, this is the beginning of our motor home adventures, hope to have many more in the future. Sure hope to meet some of you along the way. If you see a couple that looks like they might not know what they're doing, that'll probably be us. Stop and say "hi".

[2gypsies1]

CA Traveler wrote:

We used the AAA maps Alberta British Columbia and Alaska and NW Canada to map out our route. We also have the Western Alaska and Canada Tour book. All of these have useful information.

Then remembering the old strip TripTik with lots of useful information besides the actual road information we spent 2 hours getting the current TripTix. This new TripTix (526 pages for Canada and Alaska) has detailed road information but no other information unlike the former TripTiks.

From our experience we would only recommend having the Milepost (which includes a nice pull-out map) and the Church's camping book. A person can get overwhelmed shuffling so many maps around! The Milepost will give you all the history you might want for your trip. Simple is sometimes best. There really aren't that many road choices to take for the trip.