2022
We planned to spend the entire 2019 summer, which turned out to be a 100 days, visiting the Great White North of Alaska. #LocalGuidesUSA
Kayaked to an amazing glacier near Valdez, AlaskaFirst off, we RV (which is a home on wheels) a little bit differently than most of the other folks we meet on the road. We typically stay at a destination for about a month at a time. We do this for a couple of reasons.
- First, the cost savings of getting monthly campground rates which usually is a discount of around 50%.
- Second, we like to take a leisurely approach to visiting a destination. I refer to this approach as "living like locals" or being “a traveler versus a vacationer”.
With that said, to be able to get monthly rates at some of these "hot" destinations, you have to book reservations well in advance, like 9 months to a year. Typically, I have a plan which is around a year out that she continually tweaks and modifies as we learn more about the area where we are headed.
We started our trip the 3rd week of May with some amazing friends, Ro and Reese Dillingham. Our original plan was to leave the good ole USA at Vancouver but heard that Sumas was a much more lightly traveled crossing. We read, and read, and read about what was allowed to cross into Canada such as fruits and vegetables, bear spray... no pistols or weapons. Dave is from Texas and has a concealed carry license...he is a rule follower. We declared everything. Regardless, Canadian border guards searched our Anthem 42DEQ from stem to stern for an hour and half. They pushed the slides out, looked in every bin, including in the basement, had a dog sniffer go through the coach and around the outside, and questioned me about what kinds of guns Dave owns while she was alone walking the dogs. They also searched our tow vehicle, a Clemson Orange Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with two Hobie kayaks on top. Just be aware that if they search, the Canadians really search your coach.
Key learning: don’t expect to just fly through the Canadian border. They just might search your WHOLE coach. Read up on what is allowed and what is not.
We stopped at the Walmart in Prince George to purchase vegetables and stock up on things we threw away prior to crossing the US/Canada border. The parking lot is not great for big rigs as we were led to believe but it can be navigated.
Key learning: Go during off hours, and look at those satellite views on Google Maps to make a plan in advance.
We drove North, switching off drivers every couple of hours. We boondocked up the Cassiar Highway.
We expected to take 7-10 days on our slow drive North due to reports on how horrible the roads are in Canada. We found this to be totally inaccurate. The roads were pretty smooth with very few rough spots, and well maintained.
Oh my… beautiful scenery! There were majestic mountains, amazing rivers, black bears, black bears with cubs, grizzlies, a porcupine, foxes, several moose, and bald eagles everywhere. We even crossed a single lane wood plank bridge with the coach…no kidding! We also found Canadian people to be very friendly, courteous, and just down right nice.
All that natural beauty comes at a cost in the form of fuel prices...ouch!
Key learning: Make sure you cross the US/Canada with full fuel and DEF tanks. Fuel is much cheaper in the US than in Canada. Also, calculate out your range so that you can refuel in Tok, Alaska. Fuel costs in Canada increase dramatically as you approach the Alaska/Canada border.
Crossing back into the US at Alaska was a non-event. The US border guard even suggested a particular store in Valdez to shop for groceries!
As we drove to our first destination, Valdez, we went through Keystone Canyon and found the amazing Bridal Veil Waterfall. There are several falls in the canyon worth a stop and pictures.
We stayed in Valdez for a month at the KOA campground just outside of town. The KOA was slightly cheaper and far prettier than the places directly in town. However, the camping parks in town have much better cell phone signal and all the places to eat out are within walking distance.
We went halibut fishing a couple of times with Capt. Josh on the Reflections. Cost was $375 per person for a full day of fishing. We caught halibut and rock fish. Had to clear out the underneath refrigerator and totally filled it with 80 pounds of fillets.
The fishing out of Valdez was magical. Beautiful weather, calm seas, and lots of success. We also took a boat tour on the Lulu Belle to the Columbia Glacier for $80 per person. It was amazing! Dave could not believe how many sea otters we saw...literally hundreds. We also saw hump back whales, killer whales, porpoise, salmon, and mountain goats! We kayaked up to the Valdez Glacier and around the lake below it. We kayaked up to Shoup Glacier and around its bay. Hiked to Worthington Glacier which allows a person to actually touch the glacier...which can be dangerous due to calving ice.
Key learning: the scope, or scale, of places in Alaska is immense. For example, Wrangell-St Elias National Park is on the way to Valdez from the Tok Cutoff. It is the US's largest national park. There is an 18,000 foot mountain, and several mountains at 16,000 feet visible from the road. When looking at these impressive mountains, you cannot judge just how huge these things are. When looking at glaciers across Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay, the mountains and glaciers defy description. We were constantly amazed at the scope of the vistas, and the beauty of Alaska.
We headed North to Anchorage, restocked supplies for a couple of days and then headed down the Kenai peninsula for a week in Seward for the 4th of July. An amazing number of float planes came in and the city of Seward has an awesome collection of events. Seward also has the Mount Marathon Race, a crazy race up a very steep mountain and then back down again. People come from all over the world to participate in this crazy race. And don't forget the mountains, ocean, glaciers, fishing and all that.
From Seward, it is just a few hours over to Homer, “the halibut fishing capital of the world”. After crossing over the Kenai river, a couple of amazing stratovolcanoes are visible across the Cook inlet. Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna are well worth stopping for a photo just a few miles outside of Homer. Watchout for moose along this highway. We saw several on multiple occasions.
Homer is a very neat little town. It even has a McDonalds for those who need a fast food fix. Views from skyline drive, above Homer, clearly show the spit of land Homer is famous for as well as a couple of amazing glaciers across the bay. We stayed at Ocean Shores campground and had a view of the ocean every day. It’s amazing to have walks on the beach at low tide...Homer has 18 foot tides!
Homer has a cool little fishing hole right on the spit. We were already full up on salmon, but we watched people pull many Silver Salmon from the water, even little kids with spinning rods were catching salmon!
Across Kachemak Bay is some wonderful kayaking. We took a water taxi over to Katma Bay for a day trip. It costs $80 per person round trip to use any of the numerous water taxi companies supplying this service, unless you know a boat captain. We suggest using Forrest Greer. His rates might be more negotiable. Also, his wife flies a float plane for air tourist opportunities, Barron Air. Expect around $750 per person for flightseeing to see bears or fishing trips to REMOTE locations.
We fished the Kenai river for Silver Salmon...using the most amazing technique... what the locals call flossing. Basically, drawing the fishing line across the path of salmon swimming upstream, and when the hook connects with the salmon’s mouth, you set the hook. It works!
We left Homer a couple of days early so that we could attend a music festival called Salmonfest. This a fund-raising festival to support protecting the salmon fishing and the environment. They had 64 bands playing at this year’s festival. They also had some great food trucks located throughout the festival grounds. We ate very well.
We headed North again towards Anchorage, and then Wasilla. Wasilla is a bedroom community to Anchorage. We stopped at Walmart to stock up again on soda and other essential camping supplies like DEF... $10 for 2.5 gallons, where it would be $7.88 in the Lower 48.
Key Learning: we saw prices around 15-30% higher in Alaska than in the lower 48. Anchorage prices were better than more remote places like Homer and Valdez.
Heading towards Talkeetna, we stopped at a truck stop filling station for $2.82 per gallon for diesel which was the best price we saw since we left Texas in May.
When we tried to find a campground near Talkeetna, there was nothing available for our size and dates. But the campground manager said he had a card for some folks who had a lot just outside of town that would accommodate our size coach. I called them and we booked the month of August. After our first day in our new location, we were able to catch Mt. Denali in all her glory... 20,348 feet tall.
With Talkeetna as our base camp, we rode the last Whistle Stop train up to Hurricane Gulch with Mt Denali reflections in the river along the way, kayaked in Denali State Park and several local lakes, drove back roads to public mining recreation areas and more! A highlight of Talkeetna was visiting the Alaska State Fair where it was more like a festival than what we’ve experienced in the Lower 48 with local food vendors, artisans, and musicians around every corner. We also learned that Alaska produces very LARGE vegetables due to almost 24 hours of sunlight. The winning pumpkin at the fair this year weighed 2000 lbs!!!
As our time was coming to an end, we spent a few days driving the Denali highway and Denali National Park to see the tundra color change already happening in August! Fall comes early in Alaska.
To prepare our trip back to the Lower 48, we restocked at the Walmart in Fairbanks and the town turned out to be much bigger than we expected. We learned that it is the jump off point to all folks heading north supporting oil, gas, and mining interests.
On our way back we took the Eastern route through Banff National Park since we had already driven the Western route on our way to Alaska. All routes through Canada are just beautiful and Banff/Jasper is an amazingly special place! Now that we have had a glimpse of Canada’s beauty, we’re going to plan a future trip through Canada for another full summer.
We are now back in the Lower 48 and we have consistent cell service, access to the DirecTV satellites, roads with greater than 2 lanes, lower food/gas prices, and fast food restaurants on every street corner.... but we won't have significant beauty around every corner.
We had such a memorable time with friends we traveled with and we had the opportunity to meet so many new friends and thankful they will now be part of our life going forward!
If you are wanting to go to Alaska and concerned about roads and costs, we have learned that it is manageable. Alaska is truly the last frontier and it’s like going back in time 20 years. We both checked off a bucket list item and plan to go again in a couple of years.
Some of our best photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PRzoNbiammBYUpS27
Data details from our RV life: [redacted]
