Trip Expectations

[Veebyes]

Looking at some poster's trip plans leaves me wondering just how these folks expect to see anything on their trip to Alaska.

We have been 3 times round trip from MD. Each time trip duration was over 125 days. Each time we came back wondering where the time went?

So many seem to think that Canada can be crossed in a couple of days & there is nothing to see in Canada

Dead WRONG in both cases.

More wildlife is seen in Canada. Last time we were almost a month in Canada northbound & a couple weeks southbound.

Time is figured into the trip for some weather days &possible service days. It is not like you are doing a quick whip around the lower 48 doing the National Parks.

[mabynack]

johnwalkerpa1 wrote:

mabynack wrote:
I'm planning on taking my first trip to Alaska when I retire in 2018. I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife and scenery. Can anyone recommend the best time of the year for that type of sightseeing? How much time and money would you recommend?

There are thousands of variables in your questions but I'll offer two suggestions to start..

1. I like the fall colors (and by fall, in Alaska, I mean mid-August to late September) for general landscape and wildlife photography but that's mostly a personal preference..
2. If you want bear pictures, time it with the salmon runs.

Thanks. My tentative plan is to leave Florida in July and then spend about 3 months exploring Canada and Alaska. I really love the fall colors and cool weather, but I'm not keen on towing my FW in the snow.

[johnwalkerpa1]

mabynack wrote:
I'm planning on taking my first trip to Alaska when I retire in 2018. I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife and scenery. Can anyone recommend the best time of the year for that type of sightseeing? How much time and money would you recommend?

There are thousands of variables in your questions but I'll offer two suggestions to start..

1. I like the fall colors (and by fall, in Alaska, I mean mid-August to late September) for general landscape and wildlife photography but that's mostly a personal preference..
2. If you want bear pictures, time it with the salmon runs.

[mabynack]

I'm planning on taking my first trip to Alaska when I retire in 2018. I'm interested in taking photos of wildlife and scenery. Can anyone recommend the best time of the year for that type of sightseeing? How much time and money would you recommend?

[mabynack]

I was in the Air Force and was stationed near Frankfurt, Germany. We lived in a leased building about 30 miles from the base and there was an American "Mayor". My wife and I asked him for recommendations on where to eat and things to see and he replied that he had lived there for four years and had never eaten or shopped downtown.

I had a co-worker there who was single and his great claim to fame was that he had never set foot outside the base.

Both of these guys hated Germany and couldn't wait to get back to the states.

I'm the opposite. My wife and I immersed ourselves in the culture. We learned enough German to get around and we shopped and ate downtown. We lived in a little German village for more than a year and no one spoke English. I loved it and would have gladly spent my whole 22 year career over there.

[Chiefelectusn]

You never know where it is going to go, put on your seatbelt and hold on.
That's the beauty of the forum.

[Veebyes]

Gotta love these forums. Amazing how a topic commenting on how people try to cram so much in so little time turns into a debate on the merits of visiting the Eifel Tower. Who has & who has not.

[D_E_Bishop]

When we tell people how long it took us to drive roundtrip to Alaska, they are surprised it took so long, we were disappointed in how little time we spent. We were on the road for 75 days more or less and drove 12,000 miles, met friends and family at Anchorage Airport and returned them for their flights home and spent days on our own exploring.

Obviously we like to travel and when we do we generally don't have just "one" destination, we have hundreds, as my signature says, "The great affair is to go". Now that the frailties of life are overtaking me, I like to go a little slower. Read that as "staying put for a few days or a week in many POIs and not driving 12 or 13 thousand miles in ten weeks.

We are planning on returning to AK with our Winnie and our towed, there are quite a few places we want to explore and highlights we want to know intimately and that means find a spot and meet some fellow RVers and some locals and see much more of those POIs I mentioned.

A few years ago, we had the opportunity to take our DGD with us for three weeks on a trip to Washington State. In ONE day we drove and visited a lot in ten hours, but we only went 90 highway miles. We have been going to the Oregon Coast to visit family and explore since 1967. Mostly we rushed up and back and stayed in one or two spots with family while we amassed a huge bucket list of POI between here and Florence OR. While our DDs will have to go see them on their own, WE and the DGD saw many of them.

Things and interests change, life time goals do to, so we don't judge our travel experiences against others, we just have our Great Affair.

[johnwalkerpa1]

With very few exceptions (on rare occasions, a trip is just no fun for whatever reason), I ALWAYS wish I had more time on every trip I take.

But, since I am not fortunate enough to be either retired or independently wealthy, I ALWAYS have a limited number of days available.

My approach for now, is I'd sooner take the trip with the time I have than not take it at all.

[Crowe]

I'm with Stickdog-not all of us have the luxury of extended travel time. What we have done at times is just hit highlights and then gone back to investigate further at a later date. It's not up to any of us to judge how another travels. When a poster asks if a trip is too aggressive or not then by all means answer if you have the experience to do so. Otherwise accept the fact that all of us have different needs/wants/desires. The first time I went to Banff/Jasper was via car with a tent. We did over 7500 miles in 3 weeks but still immensely enjoyed ourselves and have the most wonderful memories. Would I attempt that again? Probably not-just getting too old to enjoy that type of travel. How we enjoy life is NOT subject to someone else's approval.

[Chiefelectusn]

PA12DRVR wrote:
I was in Paris a couple of times and was duly impressed by the Eiffel Tower. On the other trip, my colleague and I were determined to sample as much of the local wine as possible...I think I was duly impressed but can't remember.

Some thoughts on Alaska vs. Canada:

1) If this is the "trip of a lifetime", don't shortchange Canada. FWIW, having made my own 20+ trips on the road to Alaska, I consider coastal B.C. to be as scenic as anything on the road system to/from Alaska. My personal informal view is that one has a better chance of seeing wildlife on the road through the Yukon than anywhere else on the road trip except for seeing sheep on the Seward Highway. When one goes into McKinley or takes a flight seeing trip or even some of the water-borne trips, of course you'll see more wildlife than on the road, but for on the road, Y.T. probably offers equal if not slightly better chances of seeing wildlife
2) I strongly suggest that one take as much time as possible to make this trip, but if you have limited time, depending on your route, go fast through Alberta and/or Saskatchewan. IMNSHO, they don't compare to B.C. and/or Y.T.

3) Probably some sort of heresy, but if I had limited time: I'd skip any part of the Kenai Peninsula except for a day or a few in Seward and concentrate on Valdez/ PWS instead; I'd skip spending anytime in Fairbanks other than to restock and pass-through and would instead spend a longer time in the McKinley area, Valdez, and I'd skip Anchorage except as a pass-through....don't skip driving the Glenn between Palmer and Glennallen...one of the nicer drives in the state and a close second to the Glennallen-Valdez drive as almost the nicest.

3) IMNSHO, the Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell (or vice-versa) should not be missed if one's rig is suitable.

X2

[PA12DRVR]

I was in Paris a couple of times and was duly impressed by the Eiffel Tower. On the other trip, my colleague and I were determined to sample as much of the local wine as possible...I think I was duly impressed but can't remember.

Some thoughts on Alaska vs. Canada:

1) If this is the "trip of a lifetime", don't shortchange Canada. FWIW, having made my own 20+ trips on the road to Alaska, I consider coastal B.C. to be as scenic as anything on the road system to/from Alaska. My personal informal view is that one has a better chance of seeing wildlife on the road through the Yukon than anywhere else on the road trip except for seeing sheep on the Seward Highway. When one goes into McKinley or takes a flight seeing trip or even some of the water-borne trips, of course you'll see more wildlife than on the road, but for on the road, Y.T. probably offers equal if not slightly better chances of seeing wildlife.

2) I strongly suggest that one take as much time as possible to make this trip, but if you have limited time, depending on your route, go fast through Alberta and/or Saskatchewan. IMNSHO, they don't compare to B.C. and/or Y.T.

3) Probably some sort of heresy, but if I had limited time: I'd skip any part of the Kenai Peninsula except for a day or a few in Seward and concentrate on Valdez/ PWS instead; I'd skip spending anytime in Fairbanks other than to restock and pass-through and would instead spend a longer time in the McKinley area, Valdez, and I'd skip Anchorage except as a pass-through....don't skip driving the Glenn between Palmer and Glennallen...one of the nicer drives in the state and a close second to the Glennallen-Valdez drive as almost the nicest.

3) IMNSHO, the Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell (or vice-versa) should not be missed if one's rig is suitable.

[4X4Dodger]

Naio wrote:
I am so much the person who would go to Paris and skip the Eiffel tower. It would not even occur to me to go check it out. The Paris flea markets, on the other hand... :).

Having lived in Paris for 6 months I can say it is a beautiful and historic city and to bypass one of mankinds truly innovative and (for it;s time) technologically advanced buildings wold be a shame. It is not just a symbol it is the embodiment of design and technology of it's era.

[GPWayne]

Done Paris, the Eiffel tower and Alaska etc. In each case we did as the locals do and have a great time and take all the time you can. To each their own!
(Was lucky to work overseas for more than 15 years and the memories we and our kids have are priceless.)

[fla-gypsy]

When I travel I go see what I want to see and for whatever amount of time I choose and don't worry about what someone else would do.

[fullmoonoversal]

tonymull wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
Looking at some poster's trip plans leaves me wondering just how these folks expect to see anything on their trip to Alaska.

We have been 3 times round trip from MD. Each time trip duration was over 125 days. Each time we came back wondering where the time went?

So many seem to think that Canada can be crossed in a couple of days & there is nothing to see in Canada

Dead WRONG in both cases.

More wildlife is seen in Canada. Last time we were almost a month in Canada northbound & a couple weeks southbound.

Time is figured into the trip for some weather days &possible service days. It is not like you are doing a quick whip around the lower 48 doing the National Parks.

X2

I agree. We always feel that we need to spend more time going through Canads. Now that we have settled in Alaska, we plan to make some trips there just to see some of the places we passed up.