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.

[sue_t]

Drive careful and avoid those unpaved and/or soft shoulders!

Yukon News - RV rolls near Tagish, injuring couple

From the article:


Stay safe...

[bee_46]

We returned home on August 4th after 9 weeks on the road. Saw more animals on the drive back than on the drive up. Loved being in Alaska but did not enjoy the road between Burwash Landing and Beaver Creek. Only damage a cracked windshield in the MH from a travel trailer traveling in the opposite direction through a gravel repair at high speed. Couldn't get over far enough. Also a broken bracket underneath that we had repaired on return in Whitehorse that is now rattling again. We did not see any 2015 signs.

This will probably be our last driving trip to Alaska. We drove 13,355 miles from Maryland and back. It seemed a lot longer than the 14,000+ we drove in 2008.

Here is the link to our blog

Alaska Bound

[Basketweaverz]

We also are home after 8 weeks. Living in NW Washington state, we do not rack up the miles of some of you. We drove 5700 miles. A wonderful trip except for the smoke in Fairbanks and Denali. Oh, and the washboard and potholes in the construction between Tok and Whitehorse. Only damage was the door to the fridge, hinges broken, have to replace door and there is a new, loud rattle sort of in the middle of the underneath.

We didn't see a single sign 2015. We are considering going back again next summer. Still want to drive the Dalton and the Dempster.

[RamblinManGA]

Hi from AZ. . . well we're home from the North Country (only 109 here today) and had a great trip. We only saw one North to Alaska 2015 sign (a class A from ALA) 14,429 miles on tv, 11,414 on tt. I have to say the roads in AK are as bad as advertised, maybe worse. The construction zones got tiresome, and the price of almost everything was really high. We did however have a great time. The TOW hwy was one of our favorite drives (twice, going & coming) Dawson City was fun. We enjoyed Haines, Seward, Denali, the Riverboat Discovery in Fairbanks, not so much Anchorage, Chicken, Homer, Valdez. Lots of wildlife when we 1st got up that way in June, almost none coming back in Aug. Some minor interior damage to tt, nothing serious, one blown Michelin and knocked loose exhaust on tv. Met some nice people along the way. Start planning next adventure soon. . . regards, Craig

[sue_t]

The seasons are switching, fall colour is creeping in. Willows are changing to yellow and the hills around our place are losing their greenness.

Had our first frost last week, had to s****e my windshield!
Days are warm but the nights are starting to hover around freezing.

This was yesterday, August 16 on a mountain to the south of us.



In 2012 the mountains had the first snow on August 29

[Community Alumni]

Bump

[bee_46]

Okie Lady Traveler - Thanks for the mention of The Moose is Loose. We stopped there going and coming from Homer. Not sure my waistline is happy though. Really good donuts and breads.

[Damdifino]

Just returned from my 10-week, 12,000 mile trip there and back again. It was an awesome, almost overwhelming experience--and I'm just talking about the expanse of wilderness up around the Campbell Highway and the Top of the World Highway. I skipped Denali and the Dalton Highway at the last minute due to persistent rain, cold and fog, which made the extra 2,000 miles seem pointless. Suffered two severed brake lines on the TT while on gravel roads, plus a broken leaf spring on the TT. Thank God I was running Michelin XPS Ribs, or else the tires collapsing together would have resulted in two blowouts. Made eight border crossings in all and was summarily waved through each (and no line at any of them!)

I am totally up for a return engagement!

[Prairie_Wandere]

We crossed into Canada at Sweet Grass on Monday, July 6th. We endured an 1 1/2 hour complete search of our motorhome and tow vehicle. We were told it was a "random" search, but they had 4 officers going through every compartment on the motorhome, even pounding on walls in a couple of cabinets. They confiscated nothing, even though we had plenty of meats, fruits, vegetables and eggs they probably could have taken. They went through everything thoroughly, not always returning things in a neat manner, while we spent the time in a waiting room with our dog. We've crossed the border to Canada many times before, but never at this crossing. We've never been searched before. I don't think we will choose this crossing again.

[mabynack]

Probably due to Citrus Canker. It can wipe out groves of citrus.

[CA_Traveler]

US agents once took our US tomatoes, well I ate one. Sometimes if the fruit has those little round labels and they indicate a OK country they will let you keep them. The same agent took the tops of our green onions and we kept the bottom. He scratched our cat and never asked about her so I guess she was bug free. :B

[sue_t]

If you peel the citrus fruit and leave the peelings, they'll let you take the fruit.
On one of our day trips into Alaska, the agent let me keep the whole fruit with skin, but I had to promise to NOT leave the peels/rinds in Alaska if we ate the fruit.
On a crossing from Canada into the Lower 48, the agents took my California grown oranges indicating they may have become contaminated while in Canada.

http://www.cbp.gov/importation-advisory-citrus-fruit-may-not-be-brought-into-USA
"We just want to get the word out that these products are prohibited from being imported into the United States because of the unseen diseases and pests they may carry."

[Chiefelectusn]

Crossed into USA today at Oroville, Wa.
Customs took oranges, lemon, yellow peppers and tomatoes! Left apples, eggs??
Asked about dog food, if we bought in Canada.
Peppers and tomato I can somewhat understand but lemon and oranges?

[beeman1]

Just got back to New Hampshire after 7 weeks traveling the Alcan,to Fairbanks to the "TOW" road to Dawson City and more. Somewhere around 12,000 miles and sadly never did see any other Roll Call 2015 signs.
Had a great trip...

[sue_t]

Yukon media are advising that the AK Hwy is open again, with a pilot car guiding travellers through the area.