On the road to Alaska

[Alf S.]

Hiick& Joanne... I guess we will never make it to Alaska...our trailer has been already...Either the gas is too expensive or there isn't enough oxygen in the air on top o' the world!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Harris Tobias]

16 Jul
Another quiet driving day. No animals all day. Not even a bird.
We woke up early as a cruise ship docked about 2 blocks away--nice horn.
Drove up to Tok.
Paid $50/gallon for gas at one point. No gas open in Valdez when we left. The next two stations in the Milepost were permanently closed. I finally found an open station about 3 miles after the warning bell chimed. Put 21.8 gallons (at $5.05) in my 20 gallon tank. Didn't look at the gauge until the bell chimed again about 26 miles later. Pulled into Copper River and put 18 more gallons in. Called the station and explained we got only 2 gallons for our $108. She was nice and called me back about 20 minutes later to say she had cancelled the charge. Hopefully when I check my account there will be a charge for only the 2 gallons I got.
We spent about 2 hours in Wrangel-St Elias Park. Really nice visitor center and loop trail. We got a ranger talk and a short movie. If they had a campground I could have driven to, I would have stayed there.
Once more we are camped with the same group of Fantasy Tours we have been with twice before. They are on their way to Skagway and Juneau, so this should be the last time I see them this trip.
Got to Tok about 6, hooked up and kicked back. More tomorrow. Mileage is up to 14.8. Probably because we drove so long at 45 - 50 on the wavy road.

Dick

[Harris Tobias]

Hello Dick and Joanne,

We have been following your adventure in Alaska. I'm assuming that you live in or near lovely Charlottesville, Va. That is where my husband Harris and I live. In April we purchased a Casita and someday would love to follow in your footsteps to Alaska.Perhaps someday we could meet with you?
Have a wonderful, safe trip back to Virginia.
Ellen Tobias

[Dick & Joanne]

Hello Dick and Joanne,

We have been following your adventure in Alaska. I'm assuming that you live in or near lovely Charlottesville, Va. That is where my husband Harris and I live. In April we purchased a Casita and someday would love to follow in your footsteps to Alaska.Perhaps someday we could meet with you?
Have a wonderful, safe trip back to Virginia.
Ellen Tobias

Scottsville

17 Jul
Set my clocks ahead one hour today. Sad moment in this trip.
We left Tok about 8 this morning. Got to Chicken about ten. Cleared Canadian customs about 12:30 and lost an hour on the time change. Great scenery and our last view of the Alaskan range this trip. Mostly gravel or broken pavement. I've got dust all over everything. We got to the free ferry about 5 and got right on. Set up in Dawson City by 5:30. Again, not a good day for animal sightings. A few birds--mostly ravens, and some snowshoe hares. We kept getting passed by the strangest looking tour bus all afternoon--we were averaging about 25 and they stopped at every rest area. They ended up in the same campground in back of us. Regular bus in front--looks like about 25 passengers. The back is made up of sleeping tubes. Each one has its own DVD with headphones.. They slid out a full kitchen and cooked a complete meal. They have only a small toilet in back of the passenger area. That is why all the rest stops. The driver said they try to stop at a campground every few days for laundry and showers.
Judging by the shower this evening, the smell on the bus must be incredible.
The couple in the next campsite are riding the biggest trike I have ever seen. Must be close to 10 feet long with a V8 engine and auto transmission. Looks mighty comfy.

Still averaging 14.8 Gas was $4.69 in Chicken, $5.76 here in Dawson City.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

Glacier views


Campsite in Valdez, right on the harbor


There’s Cassie!


Mt. Sanford


More pictures at
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19x9yt...;localeid=en_US


Dick

[Connie M.]

I've heard that Chicken got its name because the folks there couldn't spell ptarmigan...
Enjoyed your pictures!

[Mary F]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

[Dick & Joanne]

Mary F.
How do I do that? Upload from Kodak? I have a bunch on Kodak, but I can't get them to upload from my computer to this (or any) website.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

19 Jul
Spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot last night. Whitehorse. They had a welcome sign up with parking directions. When I woke up at 6 there were about 30 other RV's in there with us. It was very quiet all night. KOA's next to the interstate are noisier.
We left Dawson yesterday morning. Good road most of the way to Whitehorse. Not much by way of wildlife visible from the road. Just a bunch of drunk ravens. I've never seen so many birds playing chicken with cars. 14.8 mpg

Staying in Toad River tonight. Pretty campground. Wildlife viewing paid off today. 3 black bears, 1 small grizzley, a small herd of bison, a white tail deer, a mule deer and 2 moose. The only thing we expected to see and didn't was stone sheep next to Mucho Lake. We've seen a small flock both previous trips through there.

mileage down to 14.5 - lots of hills.

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

20 Jul
Good travel day--Stone sheep! Stayed in Dawson Creek 14.5 mpg

21 Jul
Quiet travel - Stayed in Lloydminster Walmart. Being converted to a supercenter. Did you know that in Canada they work all night? 14.4 mpg

22 Jul
Miller camground outside Winipeg. 14.2 mpg

23 Jul
Menomine (?) Wisconsin 14.0 mpg

24 Jul
Near Columbus, Indiana 13.8 mpg

My daily mileage must be really bad, what I am reading is the cumulative total since about 1 Jul. I think it is mostly the difference of 55 and 65 mph.

We are over 100 hours on the road and 10k miles. Both of my counters hit the max and reset.

I haven't looked at all the receipts yet, but I think I am rapidly approaching $2000 for gas

Dick

[Dick & Joanne]

25 Jul: Home!

11866 miles
162.56 hours
14.0 mpg for the trip (towing and non towing)
$4439.46 for gas (Last year was $2200 for gas and $4000+ for the ferry from Skagway to Bellingham)

Notes to self: allow at least another 2 days for the return trip next time. My poor head is still buzzing!

Canadian customs asked us about firewood and firearms. Asked me if I owned any firearms, what, and where they were "right now".
US customs asked about firewood and fresh fruits and vegetables. Searched my refrigerator and got a little snippy when I couldn't show her the ingredients wrapper on the Emeril Sausages I bought at Sam's Club in Anchorage. Confiscated my lime but let me keep the lemon--both came from home.

Magellan GPS got confused in Alaska--a lot. Same as last year. No problems in Canada.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.j...2191&page=1

Dick

[Connie M.]

Great photos of your trip!!
Hope you don't melt back there in the states. It's 44 at my house tonight

[Dick & Joanne]

Thanks Connie.
I have all great memories of Alaska, the things we saw and the people we met there.
It is going up to only 90 today. I can ease back in to the hot life. Might get around to bathing the Casita today. The 2 inches of rain we had yesterday knocked off a lot of the dust. My yard is a jungle.

Joanne went back to work. This is the first time I have been alone since June 6. It feels strange.

Dick

[Lars H]

It is Menomonie, WI Did you stay at the Wal-Mart there? Last summer, our family moved from Menominee, MI to Menomonie, WI and then on to Eau Claire, WI.

What a fantastic trip you had, thanks for sharing the adventure and the awesome pictures.

[b]23 Jul
Menomine (?) Wisconsin 14.0 mpg

Dick