Roll Call Alaska 2018

[JANETRUPP]

Okay...I know 2017 hasn't even taken off, but those of you that remember me from Roll Call 2013 know that I plan well ahead of time, lol.
4 years is way too long to go without being in Alaska so we are heading up again. This time my sister (Barbara), her husband (Pat) and their baby poodle (Koko) are going with us with their Bounder. We are planning to leave from Bullhead City, AZ around the end of May.
Would love to get a roll call started if anyone else out there is as much of an early planner as I am.
For those of you heading up this year, have a safe and wonderful trip and maybe you will enjoy it so much that you will join us in 2018. :W

Janet and Gary

[Traveler7]

I'm leaving Idaho for Northern AK on August 17

[missnmountains]

We just got back to Wasilla from a three day side trip up to Denali.

Our Blog has been updated.

One more week here then down to Homer.

Ken

[sljohnson1938]

bump - to get this back at the top.

come on you guys traveling up North.
we have been there two times and now our third time traveling with you.
love to read your adventures, I can close my eyes and see you there.
love it.
keep up the postings.

stuart

[Veebyes]

OOPS double post

[Veebyes]

Tok tonight 6/17. Fairbanks Chena state rec area tomorrow. Denali front CG Ties. Teklaneka wed thur & fri.

[AlaskaShooter]

That will be a ZOO since Homer is always busy during tourist season. One year I led a motorcycle tour of friends from the lower 48 and Canada of the interior of Alaska. We visited Seward, Alaska hitting their Salmon Derby weekend. Place was packed. Luckily I had secured lodging for the 8 of us at two local lodging facilities the prior winter. Had a 3 bedroom house on the beach and a nice room with a couple beds at a local hotel.

[fanrgs]

For those who might be on the Kenai around the first of August, take a look at the article about the Salmon Fest HERE.. It may get you interested in attending or make you avoid the Ninilchik-Homer area completely, depending on your love of festivals.

Incidently, the author of the article is a half-time resident of Willow (the winter half!). She and her husband adopt retired sled dogs.

[PA12DRVR]

Toto on the Road wrote:
We hear the crime problem is very serious in Anchorage. Anybody have a comment? We plan on doing all the reasonable stuff, locking everything and not leaving anything in the car wherever we go. Should we get more serious than that?

I've lived in Anchorage most of my life, from when it was a small burg next to Spenard, through the turbulent Municipality (vs. GAAB) formation years, the spendy 90's and now the declining 20'teens. Spent 8+ years in Houston TX in that period as well.

Anecdotally, since I don't have facts/figures to cite, I believe Anchorage has seen an increase in "petty crime" in the past 5 years; there has been a verifiable uptick of vehicular thefts in certain parts of town and there is a verifiably greater presence of the homeless....leading to more panhandling and, again anecdotally, more encounters between panhandlers and potential donors.

In the '90's, there were parts of town (MV and Muldoon) that I didn't prefer to go to after dark. Now, while I still don't prefer Muldoon, I refuse to go to MV, primarily because I don't want to expose my vehicles to the increased risk of theft but also because I don't want to have to fight my way out of either an aggressive panhandling attempt or attempted robbery.

If one stays away from the obvious problem areas, leaves valuables out of sight, and doesn't drive a late 90's - early 2000's domestic pickup (the target of choice), you'll be fine.

If I was forced to make the choice, walk from MV to Muldoon at 11:00 pm or venture through Houston's seamier parts, I'd take the MV walk anytime. Driving through Houston's seamier parts was the only time I felt like "carrying".

[JANETRUPP]

missnmountains wrote:
I have updated our Blog with a couple new posts.

We have yet to meet any of the Roll Call Alaska 2018 travelers. Where are you all?

We are at Big Bear until the 29th except for three days starting the 18th to go up to Denali.

On the 29th we head down to Homer for three weeks.

Hopefully we will catch up to some of you.

Ken

We are still in the Yukon. Will probably be in Alaska on Friday. Moving slow and having a great time.

Janet

[missnmountains]

I have updated our Blog with a couple new posts.

We have yet to meet any of the Roll Call Alaska 2018 travelers. Where are you all?

We are at Big Bear until the 29th except for three days starting the 18th to go up to Denali.

On the 29th we head down to Homer for three weeks.

Hopefully we will catch up to some of you.

Ken

[fanrgs]

Guess my comment would be, define"crime problem". Have you ever been to the largest city in any of the Lower 48 states? Is Anchorage any more crime-ridden than any of them? Probably not, so just take the same precautions you would in Denver, Phoenix, or Seattle.

[Toto_on_the_Roa]

We hear the crime problem is very serious in Anchorage. Anybody have a comment? We plan on doing all the reasonable stuff, locking everything and not leaving anything in the car wherever we go. Should we get more serious than that?

[Toto_on_the_Roa]

By the way, see somebody out there that misses their true RV, a PA-12. We miss two old RVs, our PA-32 and our PDQ 34. We have been half time in our land RV since 2014 splitting our time between the boat (PDQ 34) and the MH.
So many toys, so little time.

[Toto_on_the_Roa]

This is Mike and Paige Caldwell - we are new to the forum. Just learned about it from Ken of missnmountains. We have a 40' Tiffin and we tow a Jeep Wrangler. WE LOVE 4 WHEELING. We spent the month of April in Moab doing everything Jeep. We left Park City on May 18th and went through the border in Sweet Grass (one word or two, seen it both ways). Up the Alcan, but took a left turn to Skagway and the ferry to Haines (should have seen me backing the rig onto the small ferry at the dock in Skagway). Haines was fun. Got to Tok and took another left turn to Valdez. Took a side trip to McCarthy and Kennecott around June 6 (no, not in the MH). That was interesting. Can't imagine that bridge without guardrails. More than that, can't imagine building that bridge in the middle of the winter. Now in Palmer heading Thursday to Anchorage.

[AlaskaShooter]

Gotta love Muskeg. When I worked as helo Mgr. for the feds out of Ketchikan, AK we would fly employees into muskeg landing LZ's to drop them of to work for the day. I would assist them in exiting the aircraft with their day packs, survival gear and work equipment. We would generally stay at flight idle to keep the helo light on its skids in the mucky marsh like LZ. Passengers would march off out from under the helos rotor disc and safe but from time to time my passengers would disappear up to their arm pits in the stinky muskeg goo. I would drag them out and back to the helo and return them to their pick up LZ to go get a change into dry clothing. Nobody wants to spend their entire work day in soaked, stinky clothes in SE Alaska. cool, wet climate.