Roll Call Alaska 2015

[trcgolf]

I know its early but we have been planning for the past 3 months. I know its another 15 months at least till we leave but we are just going crazy...
So here is our very rough plan overview. Leave mid June from western NY; travel west up through Ill., Wis., Min., ND, into Canada.
Diagonally across Saskatch. and Alberta, BC, and YT...
Our first destination is Fairbanks, via Top of the World Highway... thinking of doing the Dempster to the Arctic Circle. I know there will many stops... some short, some long but all will be great.
Fairbanks to Homer with the obligatory Denali stop for a few days.
Homer to Portland Or; Oregon to San Fran; San Fran to home via the Northern US.

We have so much planning yet to do but reading all the Roll Call posts in 2013, and 2014 just keeps us going. Started to plan finances which brings us to the first major question.
I have heard all the diesel advantages and draw backs of the gas engines. We invested in a 32' fifth wheel and 2013 GMC 2500 HD with 6.0L Crew 4x4. The fiver weighs about 8K empty, I would guess 10,500 loaded. ( I will get that checked for sure)Brand new to Rving

The truck is my every dayer.... need the 4 wheel drive here in winter. The decision with gas was pure economics. A Cummins diesel and matching tranny was $9500 more. Doing the math it was going to take a bunch of miles to save enough in mileage to pay for the increase in price. About 100000 mile by my calculation. We not going to be full timers; one long trip a year to Florida.
Traveling around NY and Pa and maybe Florida, that all makes sense but going on a trip like this, I am not so sure gas was the way to go. So I am asking for those who used a truck like mine to haul a fifth wheel through Canada...Alaska...et al... What kind of mileage can I expect? Sorry for the novelette...I will get better at this.

Edited to add 'Alaska' within the title.

[cdbinns]

You can add us to the list. Brett and Celina Binns, Gouldsboro, Maine.

[Chiefelectusn]

Chiefelectusn - Sarasota, FL
Rick & Gaye Meade

[CA_Traveler]

JANETRUPP wrote:
Nice to see so many of you are starting your planning "Alaska Bound". We all had a great time in 2013 "Roll Call". What would be nice if someone could make a list of all who are going from the past postings, along with the city they are from. I did this for our 2013 clan and most of us made signs for the RV. It was great fun seeing other "Roll Call" friends on the road. The signs can be as simple as poster board placed in MH windows to as elaborate as you want. Janet :B

I've been considering this and now Janet has pushed me over the edge so I'll start the list! lol

Post if you are going in 2015 and I'll add you to the list.

The list:

CA Traveler Sun Lakes, AZ

[JANETRUPP]

One thing I would like to add from our experience is....you can buy just about anything you forget or need more of. The only thing I would suggest is if you have that favorite seasoning or favorite hard candy etc bring it. I noticed that while they do offer most items there is little variety like you would have at home.
I love my favorite taco seasoning and my favorite hard candy etc and it was hard to find. Although if you try something new you might just have a new favorite. :W

[JANETRUPP]

Nice to see so many of you are starting your planning "Alaska Bound". We all had a great time in 2013 "Roll Call". What would be nice if someone could make a list of all who are going from the past postings, along with the city they are from. I did this for our 2013 clan and most of us made signs for the RV. It was great fun seeing other "Roll Call" friends on the road. The signs can be as simple as poster board placed in MH windows to as elaborate as you want.
In the front of the Alaska posts are some great helpful lists which all of us from the 2013 family help to make. This really helped in packing and making our personal lists.
Have fun all !! I'm jealous. We won't be going this year but who knows maybe next year....You never get tired of Alaska and all her beauty.

Janet :B

[mabynack]

tmuckenfuss wrote:
Yep finally going to do it. Leaving last week of May headed to AK. I am one that likes to have it all planned and reservations made. So far just have one made for Homer for July 4th. Will work the others out as we go. Going solo figure we will meet up with others along the way ands team up.

I'm jealous. I hope to make the same trip in about three years when I retire. I just have to keep the RV and the truck running that long.

[johnwalkerpa1]

MORSNOW wrote:
Personally I would avoid the Seward area over the 4th of July weekend, if anyone was planning on heading there. That is the weekend that Seward has their annual Mountain Marathon and folks come from all over Alaska (and the world) to run up and back down the mountain. The campgrounds are an absolute zoo, and the local entertainment has been shown on Alaska State Troopers! Just a little personal opinion from an Alaskan who enjoys the outdoors.

X2. While I am not from there, I made the mistake of being in Seward over the 4th a few years back. Reminded me of a drunken college party weekend. Not my thing 🙂

I have been in Seward several other times NOT over the 4th and it's normally a great place...just avoid the a few days around the 4th!

[HollardawgUSMC]

While we plan extensively, our planning is more like road map than a strict reservations only traveler. We find that when we have a plan, it takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the trip, and that allows us one lees thing to worry about

Most RV'ers prefer to wing it. We don't. But then that's the greatest thing about the RV lifestyle. The only rules are, that there are no rules.

[MORSNOW]

Personally I would avoid the Seward area over the 4th of July weekend, if anyone was planning on heading there. That is the weekend that Seward has their annual Mountain Marathon and folks come from all over Alaska (and the world) to run up and back down the mountain. The campgrounds are an absolute zoo, and the local entertainment has been shown on Alaska State Troopers! Just a little personal opinion from an Alaskan who enjoys the outdoors.

[2gypsies1]

Wow! I really don't think you should make reservations for the whole trip. You never know what the road conditions will be and any fire delays. You also might want to spend more time in one place and less in others.

You can always find a place for a night and the wonderful boondocking spots are awesome.

The only reservations I'd advise is for the July 4 weekend and for staying IN Denali Nat'l Park. For those we only made them about 3 weeks prior when we could better judge where we'd be.

As it turned out we got into the Denali area earlier so on a whim we boondocked nearby and drove into the park around 9am the next morning and easily secured a spot for our 40' motorhome for 5 nights at Riley Creek campground. After that we moved to our reservation spot at Teklanika campground, the farthest you can drive the RV.

[tmuckenfuss]

Yep finally going to do it. Leaving last week of May headed to AK. I am one that likes to have it all planned and reservations made. So far just have one made for Homer for July 4th. Will work the others out as we go. Going solo figure we will meet up with others along the way ands team up.

[fanrgs]

Chiefelectusn wrote:
I have made reservations to take the ferry from Skagway to Haines on June 10.

In the summer of 2013, we made reservations for the Skagway to Haines ferry at 10:00 am one morning and left at 3:00 pm the same day.

I took the spare tire off the back bumper to make our truck/trailer combo exactly 40 feet long (they measured) and save a few dollars. They will seal your propane tanks when they inspect and measure the RV, so no refrigerator during the voyage. But it is a very short-duration trip, even adding all the time you spend in line before the ferry arrives, the time for everyone to load, and the Haines unloading. Skagway to Juneau or Sitka might be more of a problem.

Recommend Garden City RV Park, if it is still open. It was scheduled to close so the city could build a new city hall on the land, but it is still listed on the Good Sam website. The first person in Skagway should let everyone on the forum know if it is open. Pullen Creek RV Park is difficult to get in and out of due to all the cruise ship pedestrians. And Mountain View is an overpriced dump, so I hope Garden City is open for all of you.

[HollardawgUSMC]

DW and I are ultra planners. We are headed up for Trip #3 (Our 50th Anniversary). I have a fairly detailed Itinerary with mileages, campground prices and some areas of interest. I am more than willing to share it if anyone is interested.

Email me privately at hollardawg@yahoo.com and I will forward it to you.

Safe travels. Remember, Alaska is best seen when you drive slower, and stay longer.

[Chiefelectusn]

We are leaving May1 headed west then north thru Ca, Oregon and Washington. Plan on crossing at Sumas end of May, Prince George, Dawson Creek. I have made reservations to take the ferry from Skagway to Haines on June 10. No other reservations at this time. We will do the TOW, Dempster, Cassiar hwy, Jasper, Banff when we head back in August/Sept.
I will have a sign on the Jeep. We plan to just follow the front end of the bus, slowly!

[trcgolf]

No way to know how the rehab will go... Plan is holding for May 30 depart but will need to be flexible.
Dawson creek in mid June was our original plan... We'll see.