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Old 06-08-2011, 08:32 PM   #1
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Name: Becky
Trailer: Scamp 19 Foot 5th Wheel
Mississippi
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Heading to Alaska

After many attempts at selling our 16 foot Scamp and buying a 19 footer, we are pleased to finally be accepting that we will keep our 16 footer and will be heading to Alaska on Friday. It never was a case of not liking our current Scamp, it was more a case of thinking we would like something larger a bit more. We are content with what we have and look forward to a great trip.

From Hattiesburg, we will spend our first night in Gladewater, TX and the second and third nights in Granbury, TX. where we will visit friends. After that we will work our way toward Denver, Cheyenne, Casper, Billings, and Great Falls. We will enter Alberta, Canada at Coutts and work our way to Calgary and Edmonton entering BC at Dawson Creek. From there we will be taking the Alaska Highway through Fort Nelson to the Yukon Territory. We’ll continue on the Alaska Highway through Whitehorse and into Alaska where we will probably head toward Fairbanks. From Fairbanks, we will go through Denali National Park to Anchorage. From Anchorage, we will spend quite a bit of time exploring the Kenai Pen. These plans may be altered a bit as my friend who lived in Alaska has convinced me that if we can time it to be in Seward on July 4, we should do that. That would mean that we would just reverse our plans and do Anchorage and Kenai Pen first.

I'm planning on posting blog to my Facebook page, but if any of you are interested I can send you another link to it.
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Old 06-08-2011, 08:42 PM   #2
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Becky, enjoy your trip of a lifetime! What an adventure!
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Old 06-09-2011, 06:27 AM   #3
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If you can swing it, drive Hatcher Pass, VERY COOL DRIVE, 49 miles long.
Hatcher Pass - Alaska - Reviews of Hatcher Pass - TripAdvisor
First trip on Hatcher Pass, July, 2010 | Hatcher Pass mountains and road, Alaska, 2010 | Living in Alaska | Wasilla

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Old 06-11-2011, 09:53 PM   #4
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Enjoy!
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Old 06-18-2011, 09:33 PM   #5
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Becky.....Take your time, take lots of pictures and keep a log of your trip. You will enjoy them for years! I still read my log and dream of returning!
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Old 06-19-2011, 10:44 AM   #6
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Drive slowly, stop often and early, and savor the experience.
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Old 06-19-2011, 07:51 PM   #7
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Need I say it... pictures, pictures, pictures! I'll probably never make the trip towing a trailer so I'll live vicariously through your trip.

Safe Travels
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Old 06-20-2011, 10:06 PM   #8
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Name: Becky
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On the Road to Alaska

I am keeping a blog about our Alaska trip. If you are interested, you may read it at http://ryderrunsandrants.blogspot.com/2011/06/in-gladewater-tx.html

In summary, we are pulling our 2010 Scamp 16 foot layout 4, with a 2005 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab from Hattiesburg, MS to many points in Alaska. We left Hattiesburg on June 10 and are driving about 300 miles a day. We drive about 55 MPH and just stop where ever we want. My husband and I are exercise addicts---I run and he bikes and walks. Because of our exercise interests, we have to factor that into where we will stop and how far we will drive. We plan to be away from home for 2-3 months.

Thus far, the Scamp is working fine except we are still having problems with the refrigerator. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. At first we thought it was due to not having it level, but I think it is something more. We’ll probably get that checked out soon.

Let me know what you think of the blog and please send me suggestions for must see/must do that you think might be of interest to us.
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Old 06-21-2011, 09:11 AM   #9
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loving your blog posts thank you so much for sharing! That 99 year old elk hunter was something else, wow.
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Old 06-21-2011, 09:25 AM   #10
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Alaska Sight

The little town of Esker, AL has the best northern light show I've seen. Esker is a very small town outside of Fairbanks. The photographer bought an old fire station and converted it into a theater where he shows pictures of the Northern Lights set to music. It's truly outstanding.

Norm
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Old 06-23-2011, 04:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beckyruns View Post
I am keeping a blog about our Alaska trip. If you are interested, you may read it at http://ryderrunsandrants.blogspot.com/2011/06/in-gladewater-tx.html

In summary, we are pulling our 2010 Scamp 16 foot layout 4, with a 2005 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab from Hattiesburg, MS to many points in Alaska. We left Hattiesburg on June 10 and are driving about 300 miles a day. We drive about 55 MPH and just stop where ever we want. My husband and I are exercise addicts---I run and he bikes and walks. Because of our exercise interests, we have to factor that into where we will stop and how far we will drive. We plan to be away from home for 2-3 months.

Thus far, the Scamp is working fine except we are still having problems with the refrigerator. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. At first we thought it was due to not having it level, but I think it is something more. We’ll probably get that checked out soon.

Let me know what you think of the blog and please send me suggestions for must see/must do that you think might be of interest to us.
Make sure you plan to drive slower and get in fewer daily miles once you get north of Fort Nelson. The terrain becomes more rugged and the road becomes less of an afterthought. No problem driving it, but it is not the same as driving a southern multi lane highway. Unforgettable scenery.

Rick G.
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Old 06-24-2011, 09:30 PM   #12
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Name: Becky
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We are now in Whitehorse, YT where we boondocked in the Walmart parking lot with 40-50 other RVs. It is a very convenient location and you can't beat the price.

We are keeping the cruise control set on 55 and have been driving between 200-350 miles a day---usually about 200-250. As I mentioned before, I am keeping a blog, with pictures. It is at

Ryder Runs and Rants

We have been on the road for 2 weeks and will probably be gone for a total of 2-3 months. We stop when and where we want and we have not made any reservations.

I'm still trying to find the email from the person in Denali who expressed an interest in buying my Scamp. If you read this, please contact me by email.
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Old 06-28-2011, 08:25 PM   #13
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We are currently in Denali. I have updated my blog and added pictures to previous entries. Ryder Runs and Rants
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Old 06-29-2011, 02:01 PM   #14
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Becky, you made good time! The road through Canada to Alaska was good enough to keep it at 55 mostly? I always heard stories about how rough the road was (with heaving spots even), and how the speed had to be kept down to avoid broken windshields from flying gravel. Is it really better than that now?
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Old 06-29-2011, 03:43 PM   #15
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I'll respond to this. In 2006 the road was great until the Yukon. So Yes, you can make very good time through British Columbia. But, you've got to slow down through the Yukon that's where there are lots of frost heaves. In '06 the road was hard packed gravel/roadbase just north of Kluane Lake for about 200 to 300 miles, nearly to the Alaska border. I would doubt it's any different today.

The following is what the highway was most of British Columbia, narrowing in the northern portion. My recollection is that it remained good all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon.
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6-12-2006 Alaska highway just amazing better than CA roads.JPG  
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Old 06-29-2011, 07:17 PM   #16
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We stay at Cottonwood Campground on Klaune Lake (some 42 miles long).

Panoramio - Photo of Mum and Cubs at Cottonwood Park, Kluane Lake, Yukon





Norm
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Old 06-29-2011, 09:30 PM   #17
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Name: Becky
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Road condition

The Alaska highway is advertised as being paved and I'm sure that it has been paved, but there is constant repair due to the harsh weather conditions of winter. There were many miles of gravel and there were many heaves, potholes, bumps. I have no idea what MPH we averaged. Our maximum speed is 55 MPH which is what we think is a safe speed for towing our 16 foot Scamp. Even at that "slow" pace, we did pass a few people.

Today we are in Denali National Park campground. We obtained a site for two nights when we arrived yesterday. They were totally full last night so we stayed at a nearby private campground, but will be in the park tonight and tonorrow night. Tomorrow we will take an 11 hour round trip bus ride to Wonder Lake in Denali.
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Old 07-16-2011, 06:15 PM   #18
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Welcome to Alaska! I noticed no new updates here, but did see your current activity at your blog site. Sounds like you're enjoying your stay so far.

Also noticed your recent sale ad here (and older ads) for your Scamp. If your asking price is reasonable here, there is -no- reason at all you should not be able to sell it here before you leave. Generally, FGRVs are expensive and/or hard to come by here (I actually went all the way to Ohio to get my Burro) and they tend to sell quickly if in fair shape at a good price.

Since you plan to be in the Anchorage area for a little while there are lots of great trails for running/hiking. If the weather turns inclement be sure to check out the sports dome (welcome to the Alaska Dome) - you can run indoors year round...

There are a few of us on this site from AK, feel free to ask any questions. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

reinhold



edit: I did see your ad on Craigslist locally from July 9 at asking price of $15,000. Be sure to renew/refresh the ad when you get into town. Also if having trouble still with the pictures I can help with that if you want. Pictures do make the difference sometimes.
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Old 07-16-2011, 07:26 PM   #19
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Awesome photo, Norm.
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Old 07-16-2011, 08:05 PM   #20
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anyone have Becky's facebook page. she said more photos are on there. Thanks.
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