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.

[Joyceyam]

Went through Sweet Grass MT yesterday. Border agent-passport please. Handing over the passports.
Agent-ang guns or ammo-we replied no
Agent- any alcohol-yes, 1 liter.
Agent-Where do you live-we replyed, Alaska
Agent- how long in Canada- we replyed 4 to 5 days
Agent- leaving anything in Canada- we replyed no.
Agent- hands back passports & says " have a safe trip. All of 2 minutes & we had 2 dogs in motorhome looking at the agent. Best border crossing ever!!!

[SpencerRB]

Checking in from Whitehorse, YT. Trip has been a breeze so far. Great weather, no mishaps, friendly people!

Give us a honk/wave/hello if you see us on the road. No 'roll call' sign but hard to miss.

Photo from Stone Mountain Provincial Park in BC...

[Okie_Lady_Trave]

NewallaBus wrote:
Crossed over at sweet grass Mt Friday the 29th. Real easy till the agent in the both ask where we are from. Told him Oklahoma, he looked at me like I was a member of the Waco TX Bandito's gang and told me to pull over and go in side to verify I was from OK. Went in and I was told to go back out and pull in door #4 (of the big inspection building for verification. Real nice female agent, usual questions, got a gun, No, got any gun parts? No. Own a gun at home? Yes. Has it ever been inside your rv? Yes. Then she said she was going to swap parts of the coach for residue, which might lead to a further deeper inspection, so try and remember any place I might have set it. No problem, gun had not been in the rv for months. We walked the dogs, about 20 minutes she was finished and away we went. No questions on egs, fruit, dogs or dog food. Dawson Creek Northern lights tonight, further north tomorrow. Newalla Bus

Thats interesting. We passed through that same day traveling with brother from N.M. We were searched but even though he filled out papers on his shot gun, they didn't search him. Wonder why Oklahoma has been targeted. Same questions about guns but did not swab anything, just a good search. We had nothing to hide so enjoyed just watching.

[Kidoo]

These agents have full authority on their interpretation of the rules, sometimes, someday, some go on a power trip. Just read and follow the basic rules and you will be fine, you never know what they will come up with and you cannot predict what is the theme of the day. Follow the basic rules, sit back, relax and let them do whatever they have to, unless you have somthing to hide.

[NewallaBus]

Yes I do. He asked what state is the RV registered. I said Oklahoma, and he said,"Pull over so we can verify where your RV is registered.
They were nice, but it was an excuse to look; not that they need one. Richard

[Rollnhome]

Security procedures change constantly. Worked at DOD facility. Some days every vehicle got searched, some days every 5th (example) was searched. Some days lots of questions. Some days a smile and a wave thru. You never new, hence security gate. They don't like to joke around most take their jobs very seriously. Nothing personal....it is their job.

[CA_Traveler]

Not every crossing is the same on purpose and due to personalities. Maybe it was just check more OK people today. If every crossing was the same then that would be an open door to moving stuff across the border.

Dog got walked, they did their job and others were passed through.

In Victoria I was waved through in the MH. DW was in the toad and grilled for 30 minutes because she had no luggage or hotel reservation or fixed destination. Never mind that she was with that MH that they just let go through - go figure.

[2lazy4U]

The real question was (and I bet she forgot to ask): Are you a member of the Waco TX Bandito's gang??? I mean, Texas is close, right? LOL

But seriously, do you think having an OK residence had a part in her decision to search the rig?

[NewallaBus]

Crossed over at sweet grass Mt Friday the 29th. Real easy till the agent in the both ask where we are from. Told him Oklahoma, he looked at me like I was a member of the Waco TX Bandito's gang and told me to pull over and go in side to verify I was from OK. Went in and I was told to go back out and pull in door #4 (of the big inspection building for verification. Real nice female agent, usual questions, got a gun, No, got any gun parts? No. Own a gun at home? Yes. Has it ever been inside your rv? Yes. Then she said she was going to swap parts of the coach for residue, which might lead to a further deeper inspection, so try and remember any place I might have set it. No problem, gun had not been in the rv for months. We walked the dogs, about 20 minutes she was finished and away we went. No questions on egs, fruit, dogs or dog food. Dawson Creek Northern lights tonight, further north tomorrow. Newalla Bus

[dahkota]

We are now in Tok, heading for Valdez today or tomorrow, depending on where we can find a water pump. We have met people from Colorado, New Hampshire, New York, California, Washington, and Michigan so far. We have also seen a couple of Caravans, both with Aussies. The weather up here has been heavenly and I wear flip flops and shorts. Not good for the glaciers, though. Wildflowers blooming everywhere.

Just a heads up - the road from Burwash Landing to the Alaska border is abysmal. We couldn't understand why people commented that the highway was so bad. Until we passed Burwash Landing. We've seen better roads in the swamps of Louisiana. I find it strange that, once one crosses the border into Alaska, the road improves 100%. We have a 2013 edition Milepost (written 2012) that notes the EXACT same problem areas. We drove it on a Friday afternoon so did not run into any construction crews. No damage to tires, windows, or body of rig or toad so far.

[Okie_Lady_Trave]

trcgolf wrote:

Okie Lady Traveler wrote:
We are in Selby, Mt ready to go into Canada tomorrow. The exchange rate on money is $100 US to $120.34 Canadian. Is there a negative to getting enough Canadian cash to pay for gas up to Alaska instead of using credit card? Do all gas stations take Canadian cash? Looks like we would save 20%.

Also is there a better time during the day that would be less traffic at the boarder?

How are you going?....up thru Banff? Looks like there are forest fires going that way. Let us know how it goes?

We pulled up the map of the fires and it looks like most are up closer to Edmonton. We are in Banff right now and all is good. We will be going up through Jasper to Dawson Creek. I think one of the fires is NE of Hinton but we will be cutting through south of the fire.

[PghBob]

Getting excited and somewhat nervous. Heading out from Western PA on June 3. Crossing from Great Falls MT, then up to Calgary, Banff, and Jasper. Next, the Alaska Highway up to Fairbanks. Hope to meet fellow travelers along the way.

[2gypsies1]

Riley Creek is very nice and it's an easy drive in your vehicle as far as you're allowed. Same for Savage Creek. There's a lot to do in the front portion of the park for either campground. Take the school bus tour deep into the park. It's much better than the commercial tour but you have to bring your own lunch. 🙂 The bus drivers are very knowledgeable and will easily spot animals that you may not see. They know where they'll be. They'll also stop the bus and let you take pics. Have a great trip!

[misskate]

Many gas stations in BC require payment in advance before they turn on the pump. I think it's a law passed when an attendant was killed during a gas and dash. Plus many stations have a $100 limit on your card. Many times I have to swipe twice just to fill up.

I'm planning onleaving Vancouver June 13 for a 3 week northern trip - Whitehorse is the farthest north I'm going. Any idea of the type of weather we'll get in late June? And how are the bugs, big or small?

[sue_t]

If you're travelling with a dog, Riley is a good spot. More places to walk, for sure. More amenities too, restaurants are close by as well as the stores.