On the road to Alaska

[Dick & Joanne]

June 8Joanne & I left Virginia on Friday morning. Spent the night at Milford, PA. Slight detour to family in RI for a few days. 15.7 towing mpg so far. We expect to leave here Wednesday morning, so I probably won't update again before then.

Dick

[Connie M.]

We'll keep an eye out for you and your cool-looking Casita. Have a great journey!!!!!

[Dick & Joanne]

June 11
Left RI this morning. Nice day for a drive. We are spending the night in Bellafonte, PA. Discovered when we plugged in that the converter has decided to quit working since we used it last Friday night. The breaker had tripped and I reset and checked all the fuses. No joy. At least the AC works to keep the reefer cold. And I brought along a trickle charger for emergencies. So the battery will be charged in the morning.
Better here then the Canadian or Alaskan wilderness.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

Jun 12
Elkhart, IN. Nice driving day except for the hour+ detour off of I80 for line painting. Line painting? We covered 17 miles.
14.8 MPG average for the trip so far. I was hoping for at least 15. But we drove a little faster to make up time.

Take care.
Dick

[Connie M.]

Hope you make it through the latest round of storms okay.

[Dick & Joanne]

13 Jun
Heavy rain overnight. Casita = Who cares? Made it to Oakwood, WI. 4 hour wait for converter replacement before we could get started. Then 2 hours worth of delays on the road because of detours related to the recent flooding on I90 in Wisconsin. We still made 320 miles. The time change worked in my favor. 14.8 miles MPG to date.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

14 Jun
Grand Forks, ND. Easy trip today. Stopped early to clean the car. The new converter worked well until I plugged into park power. Gone again. I checked the park connection with my voltmeter, and voltage and polarity are correct.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

16 Jun
Last night in Lions Club Campground, Lanigan, SK
Tonight in Sagitawah, Whitecourt, SK
Two beautiful driving days with no rain.
We gained about 1500 feet today and mileage was down to 13.8. Fortunately gas up here is running only $1.33 - $1.45. Per litre (whatever that is).

Dick







I teach math. The last part is a joke.

[Dick & Joanne]

17 Jun
Whitecourt to Fort Nelson, BC. 10 hours. 13.8 MPH. Gas = $1.45 at the last stop. per litre. ouch. A couple of heavy rain storms today but they didn't last long.
Waiting for gas behind 3 motorcycles. One pump, 2 hoses, one side of the island available. As the 3rd biker was finishing up a 4th pulled in next to them and started using the second hose. When I protested the answer was "But he is with us." They were having some trouble understanding why I couldn't get close enough to use the second hose with a bike parked next to the pump. I asked how many more would be showing up and there were several more on the way. So we left and found the next one about 50 miles further on. That is the only negative "people" experience I have had this trip or last year.
Stay tuned.
Dick

[kentj]

Good thing you don't teach geography because Whitecourt is in Alberta... I couldn't help myself. Have a great trip!!

[Dick & Joanne]

Oh Man! I thought I knew where I was. Don't tell my wife.
18 Jun.
Fort Nelson to Teslin. Some rain, but a nice trip. 30 minute wait for highway construction. Sitting in the middle of some of the most beautiful country I have seen--and time to get out and enjoy the views.
Still 13.8 mph. Not too bad for 100+ miles at 60+ MPH. I've been trying to keep speed to around 55, but I wanted to make up some of the time we lost in the wait. Of course there were some downhill stretches where I wasn't using much gas and making pretty good time.

Dick

[Alf S.]

Hi: Dick and Joanne... at the rate your going " Still 13.8 mph." you should soon catch up to the wagon train SSSSorry I couldn't resist!!! I love reading about your travels though...ENJOY!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Dick & Joanne]

19 Jun.
Teslin to Tok. The road from Haines Junction to the US customs is terrible!. About 100 miles at 30 to 50 mph. Some real axle breakers. Lots of steep long hills. So far I have managed to hold speed--at the cost of my mileage. We passed two Casitas heading east on Route 2 in the Yukon. The campground at Tok was supposed to have WiFi, but I didn't manage to connect. 13.1 mpg

20 Jun.
Tok to Denali. Finally here! Some steep hills. I was down to 45 for the first time since somewhere on I84 or I80 back East. Lots of nice downhills. Mileage went back up to 13.5. We stopped in Fairbanks for a couple of hours to pick up food for the next couple of weeks. Met a couple of nice ladies washing their Casita at Delta Junction. If anyone is headed this way, we are in Riley Creek Campground. Caribou loop for now. It's a beautiful day, but I am not sure we can see Denali (Mt Mckinley) or not. A little cloudy around the edges and the mountains I can see are all really tall. Pictures to follow when I can figure how to shrink them down on this MAC.

I just realized what I did--mph! ouch. Felt like that yesterday though.

Dick

[CD Smith]

It would be great if you would go to Google Maps and print/post the route you took. Just for us 'stuck in the muds' who will never convince the spouse to take the trip.

[Connie M.]

Made it to Denali on the summer solstice, eh? Talk about good timing!

[Dick & Joanne]

It would be great if you would go to Google Maps and print/post the route you took. Just for us 'stuck in the muds' who will never convince the spouse to take the trip.

Ask and you shall receive. I tried this and it worked.

Dick
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&....054688&z=4

[CD Smith]

Thanks! That is just the thing for me to put up on the wall in my office so I can think about what could be.

I am turning green with envy!

[CarolnJim]

20 Jun.
Met a couple of nice ladies washing their Casita at Delta Junction. If anyone is headed this way, we are in Riley Creek Campground. Caribou loop for now.
Dick

Just wondering if the nice ladies happened to be Marie and Kathy. They are up there somewhere in their Casita enjoying Alaska's beauty.

[Dick & Joanne]

Just wondering if the nice ladies happened to be Marie and Kathy. They are up there somewhere in their Casita enjoying Alaska's beauty.

26 Jun
I believe it was. I know the one Joanne spoke with was Marie Moore (Morris?) I've seen 4 Casitas in the Riley Creek Campground including one that looked like a rental. The one yesterday had sprayed truck bedliner on the lower front. It looked good and had picked up way fewer dings then mine. Although, like mine, the metal frame has been about half rockblasted clean of paint.

We have had a great time here. We took a flight around Mt McKinley this morning. Nice and clear and BIG.
Yesterday we took a bus 60 miles into the park. Saw Mt McKinley, 7 Grizzlies, Dall sheep, carabou, a fox, and a couple of moose. Now we just need a wolf and a lynx and we will be ready to move on.
Tuesday we drove up to out into the park to look for the mountain. Didn't see it, but had a beautiful drive.
Monday it rained all day so we hid out in the Casita. Remembered why we got out of the tent.
Sunday we took a bus ride out to Savage Creek and walked the loop. Saw some marmots and several ptarmigan.
Saturday we went to the dog sled demo and then toured the visitor's center while it rained.

Pictures to follow.

Dick

[Dlynne]

We love Alaska. Unfortunately have never had the time to drive it. I made my first of 8 trips in 2000 to kayak in Resurrection Bay and Seldovia, PWS, Sitka... (forest service cabins are great). I saw my first Casita near Anchorage (at a friends house I met on the trip #1) and had to have one after that. If I win the lotto tomorrow we will start packing for that road trip. I told my husband ''before'' we got married that he would have to be willing to travel to Alaska and kayak, etc. ''Deal or no deal''.

Have fun!