Roll Call Alaska 2014

[sljohnson1938]

Anyone traveling to Alaska in 2014? We ,my wife and I, are planning a trip and was wondering if anyone is planning on going in 2014 also.
Would go this year, except we have two weddings to go to in MI, one in late June the other in early August.
So next year we are planning to leave home in NC in mid July, we plan a 2 month trip. We were there in 2004, only that time we were with paid RV tour. Loved it, and would take another paid tour in a 'heart beat', but the cost is now too much.
The reason for the mid July date is looking at the 2013 Alaska postings the wx, road conditions and insects are at their worst. Later in the season all three are better. Plus I want to travel back on the Cassiar Hwy in Sept is supposed to be the best time of the year on the Cassiar, plus less travelers.
Finally, money is an issue with us. So we will 'boon dock', stay at
free or low cost CG's, rest areas, etc. when ever possible.


Hope you all have a great trip and hope to see you some where along the way.

[fanrgs]

Sue,

We stayed at Junction 37 campground last summer both going to Alaska and coming back. Run down, but with full hookups. It was nothing special, but adequate for us, especially for the price. But I can't tell whether it is open this year from any Web info. You might call the phone numbers for both Campground Services and Junction 37 to see if they are open.

Campground Services - (867) 536-7448

Junction 37 - (867) 536-2794

[Fer2005]

Baby Nugget is located near the junction with the Cassair. Descent place, sites were fairly large. Wi-fi only near the office. Its located behind and to the right of the restaurant and gift shop. Its not in Watson Lake, but its a good place to stay. We didn't stay at the Downtown on the way north, but baby Nugget looks better.

[bobsallyh]

We were in Downtown RV Park last week on our way back down to the Lower 48, also stayed there on the way north. No more than a gravel parking lot with hook-ups. Quite a few pull-thrus and lots of back-ins. Plenty of room, we have a 40' fiver and dually crew cab. Sites are maybe a little narrow (pull-thrus) but our large slides were no problem. Simple over night park. Only the first site next to the office has 50 amp. That is about the only site Wi-Fi is available at a site. Other wise it is available at the laundry area. No trees to navigate, very simple place. Also has a rig wash area.

[hr0082]

We arrived in Valdez, AK on Monday with the intention of staying only three nights. We then added a night and just now I added another three nights. So, we will end up spending a full week here. It is such a beautiful place and the weather has been cooperating. On Tuesday we took the Lu-Lu Belle glacier cruise of Prince William Sound and it was wonderful. We saw sea otter, seals, puffins, porpoise, lots of fishing boats, and of course, Columbia glacier. The owner/Captain has been doing this since the late 70s and he has a wealth of knowledge and such a wonderful voice and demeanor as he talks the entire trip---which lasted about 8 hours and was well worth the cost. On a previous trip, we took the Stan Stephens cruise and it was also quite good, but if I were to recommend just one, it would be the Lu-Lu Belle

The Scamp 5th wheel is holding up just fine. Thus far we have covered about 8,000 miles with some of it on some very rough roads. We just go slow and try to avoid as much of the rough stuff as we can. Mostly, we boondock staying any place that appears to be safe and fairly quiet. In Alaska and much of Canada, you can just pull off the road and park for the night. We usually stay in Walmarts, Fred Meyers, Home Depot, state and national parks and some campgrounds. Maybe that is why I'm liking Valdez so much---we are in a very nice campground with wi-fi, showers, laundry, water and electric. There is something to be said for those creature comforts.

Because we found that we were going for days without wi-fi connection, I got really behind on updating my blog and it got to the point that it seemed like work and was taking away from my enjoyment of the trip. Therefore, I am no longer making blog entries. I am regularly posting to Facebook so if you want to go there, you can see some really nice pictures.

[sue_t]

Gosh, I'm needing some info! Regarding Watson Lake - anyone stayed in an RV park there recently? There's many rumours about what is open or not and hoping someone can fill me in. Note on edit: I'm not looking for campground recommendations - I'm only wanting to know what is open.

I think Downtown RV Park is open.

The RV Park at Tags/Tempo gas station was closed due to a fire in the building a few years ago - does anyone know if it is open again?

What about Campground Services on the south end of Watson Lake - are they open now? Last I heard they'd been closed for a couple of years.

So, I'm wondering if Downtown RV Park is the only commercial RV park in Watson Lake. Anyone?

[sheltieRV]

Graydust wrote:
It is sure is a small world as we all travel. Who will we see in Talkeetna.

Just left Talkeetna, had a great time the town is a lot of fun. Hurricane Turn train is a must do.

Now in Denali where a cold front is moving in with highs in the 40s and rain for the next 5 days.

[traveylin]

Fishing trip today was very good. Not long. Went west along the coast till some fantastic coastal islands that had to be nat geographic material. One with a hundred sea lions, one with a hundred thousand sea birds in the cliffs caught great Fish of every variety. Never find a more beautiful place.

Pops

[traveylin]

In Seward currently which seems to be a major attraction for Alaskan Rv ears. A fish trip is scheduled for tomorrow with my sons in laws. Should be good and less structured than the typical charter..

[Kidoo]

BTW, make sure you bring an extra battery for your camera or a charger on the Lulu Belle, we took a lot of photos and ran out of the 3 cameras we had, so much to see.

[Kidoo]

hr0082 wrote:
We spent last night at Squirrel Creek campground and are now at Bayside RV Park in Valdez. We'll be here at least 3 nights. Tomorrow we will do the LuLu Bell cruise. A couple of years ago we did the Stan Stephens and we have heard the LuLU Belle is better. I'll give a review later.

The weather today is absolutely wonderful. I understand that tomorrow will be the same, but not so good in days following. We'll enjoy it while its hers.

Hope you have a wonderfull day. We went today with the Lulu Belle and the weather was fantastic. This trip is not only about the glacier but about the owner of the Lulu. He talks for the entire trip about the region and it's istory and all on what goes on in Valdez and it's area, he is a book by himself. Him and his wife are very nice people, they have been doing this for over 35 years, he hnows the area and it's history very well. You can walk all over in the boat and even where he drives the boat, a real pesonnalized trip.

We saw an humpback whales, many Puffins, many Sea Lions, some sea caves and the best part, the Glacier, two huge chucks of ice came down the glacier and generated huge waves, amazing sight, I would pay just to see this, we were at the glacier for oven an hour and the trip lasted over 8 hours. It was the best day of my trip in AK.

Tomorow you should see the commercial fisherman as they will probably be allowed to take some fish.

[EsoxLucius]

Beautiful in Homer right now.

[Graydust]

It is sure is a small world as we all travel. Who will we see in Talkeetna.

[klmeenan]

Just ran into Graydust (Rich & Mary) again! This time at Anchorage Ship Creek RV Park. We also passed each other in Homer. They arrived at Heritage as we were leaving. What a small world!

[hr0082]

We spent last night at Squirrel Creek campground and are now at Bayside RV Park in Valdez. We'll be here at least 3 nights. Tomorrow we will do the LuLu Bell cruise. A couple of years ago we did the Stan Stephens and we have heard the LuLU Belle is better. I'll give a review later.

The weather today is absolutely wonderful. I understand that tomorrow will be the same, but not so good in days following. We'll enjoy it while its hers.

[Kidoo]

This portion of the road gets very muddy with all the pickup and trucks going at the oil field.
Ceiling to Ceiling sunshine here in Valdez! hoops, sorry....