Things we learned while driving through Canada to Alaska

[hedgehopper]

The following was provided by my wife (and edited by me):

Things we learned while driving through Canada to Alaska
(not in any particular order)

• None of our three US cell phones worked in Canada. A Walmart techie said that two of our phones use network technology that Canada no longer uses. And the plan provider of our third phone does not have service in Canada.

• We bought a smartphone with changeable SIMM card and a month of service at Walmart.

• If your US cell phone has a changeable SIMM card, you can buy a Canadian SIMM card ($10) and service with a provider (maybe $30 for a month).

• Don’t expect the service to be available all over the Yukon. It is available in the cities. But out in the boonies, not so much.

• Canadian propane tanks are larger in diameter than US tanks. The Canadian ones would not fit in our camper. The strap to secure the tank is about a quarter of an inch too short. We had to get our tank refilled, not exchanged.

• Canada has restrictions on the age of a propane tank to be refilled. Go with really new tanks if you don’t think you can put a larger (Canadian) tank in your rig.

• Costco in Canada does not take VISA (not even the US Costco VISA card). The only charge card they take is MasterCard.

• Registers at Costco and Walmart can convert Canadian dollars into US dollars (or visa versa). At Costco, I paid for our propane with US dollars. I don’t know if you can use US dollars in Walmart. We charged everything in Walmart without any problems.

• The Grande Prairie Costco is the cheapest place in town to get a propane tank refilled (according to the staff at Walmart).

• The Grande Prairie Walmart parking lot is small and chaotic. The store is fine.

• We exchanged $20 US into loonies and toonies at a Canadian bank without any fees. For the last purchase we made before leaving Canada, we used the balance of our Canadian money to make a partial payment and paid the rest with our no-fee VISA card.

• There were free RV dumps everywhere we went. Ask at the Visitor Information Centers.

• There’s a free RV dump in the city park in Watson Lake (the city with the Sign Post Forest). The Visitor Information Center let us use the potable-water spigot on the side of their building. There’s free WiFi in the Visitor Center – ask for the password.

• The Fort St John’s Walmart does not have bulk water to fill jugs. Safeway, a few blocks away, does.

• Diesel fuel is easy to find. It is about the same price as regular gas.

• Water to refill your RV tanks is easy to find. No one charged us for this water. Ask at gas stations and visitor centers.

• We took citrus fruit from the US into Canada. But were not allowed to take citrus fruit or avocados from Canada into the US – even though they were grown in the US.

• Expect to sign for all your credit card purchases.

• The Walmart in Whitehorse does not have groceries or bulk water and does not exchange propane tanks. The Save-on-Food grocery store within easy walking distance from the Walmart has both water and groceries. There is a gas station between the Walmart and Save-on-Food. This gas station refills propane tanks, and has diesel fuel and a free dump station with potable water.

• There is a paved walking/bike path along the river across the road from the Whitehorse Walmart.

• To exchange propane tanks in Whitehorse, Tags (4421 4th Ave, 867-667-2203) will exchange if the tank is less than three years old. Tags does not refill.

• My GPS converts kilometers/hour into miles/hour. However, that was no help when I arrived at a construction zone and the speed limit went from 100 kph to 70 kph. But if I multiplied the speed limit by 0.6, I’d be pretty close to the speed limit in mph. Example, 100 kmh is close to 60mph (10x6). 70kmh would be close to 42mph (7x6). These speeds are less than the correct speed but shouldn’t displease the Mounties.

• (This is not Canada but Wyoming): There are free RV dumps at the Wyoming Visitor Information Centers at both the north in Sheridan and the south in Cheyenne.

Enjoy your trip!!

[SideHillSoup]

badsix wrote:
We were there in August. and i'm like you Canada was scenic and almost all the towns we were in were nice and clean. the hiways were clean much more so than Alaska. Alaska just seamed to be run down every were you looked. I was wondering how Canada keeps there hiways so clean. they don't have a bottle refund like we do here in Oregon, that helps in keeping them off the sides of the road. I wasn't impressed with Alaska.
Jay D.

In British Columbia like Alberta we have extensive container reclying. Around where we live there are people that are less fortunate, that walk the edges of the roads and hwys picking up items that they can cash in for money every day.
This is a big contributor too the nice looking roads sides you see when you travel though parts of Canada.
Soup

[trigley]

badsix wrote:
We were there in August. and i'm like you Canada was scenic and almost all the towns we were in were nice and clean. the hiways were clean much more so than Alaska. Alaska just seamed to be run down every were you looked. I was wondering how Canada keeps there hiways so clean. they don't have a bottle refund like we do here in Oregon, that helps in keeping them off the sides of the road. I wasn't impressed with Alaska.
Jay D.

Actually several of the provinces do have bottle\can return programs. In Alberta ours has been extended to all juice and milk containers as well. Also in Ab one day is set aside in the spring where youth groups can clean a section of highway as a fund raiser. Adult individuals or groups can also contract to clean a section.
In Ab we also use strong winds to blow items into other provinces or countries.;) I never did find my Thule car topper which blew off on highway 22 last winter!!

[badsix]

We were there in August. and i'm like you Canada was scenic and almost all the towns we were in were nice and clean. the hiways were clean much more so than Alaska. Alaska just seamed to be run down every were you looked. I was wondering how Canada keeps there hiways so clean. they don't have a bottle refund like we do here in Oregon, that helps in keeping them off the sides of the road. I wasn't impressed with Alaska.
Jay D.

[jensenst]

I have verizon service no problem with using my I phone, I had limited coverage in Yukon< i just up. dated my plan to unlimited data for trip tp Alaska. Data was limited to .5 gigs a day. My wife flip phone would work in Canada. I thought Canada was awesome. Alaska seem trashy to me I'm glad I went but would never go back.

[Z-Peller]

Canadian propane tanks are larger in diameter than US tanks. The Canadian ones would not fit in our camper. The strap to secure the tank is about a quarter of an inch too short. We had to get our tank refilled, not exchanged.

Not sure what to make of that??...I have bought portable 20lb tanks ( 5 gal ) in both Canada, and US over the years and put them in a 12" x12" plastic milk crate to carry in my truck box. They all fit the crate exactly the same for me..same with 30lb tanks ( 7 gal ) ....11lb tanks ( 2.5 gal ) can be different shapes. Tall as a 20 lb tank but smaller diameter, or same diameter as a 20 lb tank but not as tall.

[wilber1]

Never had a problem with using a Canadian debit card at US Costco’s. It’s interesting that the credit card chip and pin systems aren’t compatible. Canada went chip and pin in 2007.

[FordDiesel250]

Does this include Debit cards too?

[almcc]

Interesting that Costco in the US is allied with Visa and here in Canada with MasterCard. Makes it tough if you have only one US dollar credit card for us travel, pay more if you use your Canadian dollar Visa card.

[c_traveler2]

The only problem we had with our cell phones in Canada was dealing with Bell, it's system would simply not recognizes some USA phone numbers, like my credit union. We have Verizon service.

If your debt card has a MasterCard logo on it you'll be charged a 1% surcharge when using it outside the USA, it will show up as a international trans-action fee, MasterCard didn't do this in 2015 when we traveled through Canada but did this past summer, 2018.

My Costco Card wouldn't work at any Costco in Canada but worked fine at any USA Costco stores, a mystery at hand.

We were never asked about fruits or vegetables coming or going, just money, guns, pepper spray stuff like that.

[pyoung47]

We have ATT unlimited plus, which includes free calls to and from Canada and Mexico as well as unlimited data. It worked surprisingly well in both Canada and Alaska. And, later in the fall, it worked very well in Mexico. We carried some cash, but it was rare that we couldn't use a credit card. The easiest place to get cash is at a Wal-Mart, since you don't have to pay an ATM fee for the cash.

[theoldwizard1]

hedgehopper wrote:

• Canadian propane tanks are larger in diameter than US tanks. The Canadian ones would not fit in our camper. The strap to secure the tank is about a quarter of an inch too short. We had to get our tank refilled, not exchanged.

Exchanging a LP tank is one of the BIGGEST RIPOFF there is ! Exchange tanks only put 15 lbs in the tank !! They claim it is for "safety", but those tanks are design, tested and certified to hold 20 lbs.

The only time I would ever exchange a tank was if it was expired.

[toedtoes]

AT&T has an international add-on plan for the cell phones. I used it in China last fall. $10 flat fee for 24 hours of use. You only pay if you use the phone within a given 24 hours and you pay only $10 no matter how many calls you make in that 24 hours.

So, I made a bunch of calls all on one day. Then made a bunch more a week later. $20 and I was able to talk to everyone I needed to talk to without worrying.

[almcc]

Tom/Barb wrote:
We have a newer iPhone, and AT&T coverage, which works in Canada, but has high roaming charges, we simply shut it off.
Use the internet to keep in touch with the kids. and Email is great.

Coverage is coverage, no towers you get no service. Da

No roaming charges on my AT&T pay as you go plan while in Canada, used it for a month up here and used a bit of data.

[Tom_Barb]

We have a newer iPhone, and AT&T coverage, which works in Canada, but has high roaming charges, we simply shut it off.
Use the internet to keep in touch with the kids. and Email is great.

Coverage is coverage, no towers you get no service. Da