On Our Way To Alaska

[AggieDad]

No, we're not taking the RV. This is a cruise/train trip that will take us up the Inside Passage to Anchorage and then a train to Denali National Park and Mount McKinley. This trip is a long-time dream of my wife's.

We post a blog about all of our activities for our family and friends at Travels With Linda, and I am inviting anyone who is interested to follow along on our journey. Every time there is a new post on the website, I'll put a post here to let you know. I hope you will enjoy.

The first (leaving home) post is up now. You are also welcome to browse through the rest of the site. There are a few gaps as I am transitioning from one provider to another, but it is at least 85% complete.

Enjoy!

[UncleBilly]

Have a great trip. I'm looking fwd to coming along for the ride. Best part is it doesn't cost me anything. 😜

[ChallengerRN]

We did a similar trip like that in 2011. 10 days on land. Then 4 day cruise Skagway to Vancouver. If you could stay longer or go earlier a trip on your own to Whittier and do the 26 glacier tour. Enjoy your trip. It's a special place.

Russell

[Superslif]

We have flown up 5-6 times to Fairbanks the last 18 years. We did Denali back in 08'. Plan to RV up there in 16' or 17'....

One tip for actually seeing Denali...Take the earliest shuttle bus you can book. It takes 3-4 hours to get from the main visitor center to the 2nd visitor center (Eielson Visitor Center) at mile marker 66.

I'm going to assume you have a pre-booked/ prepaid trip which most likely includes the Narrated / tour bus. The other mode of traveling into Denali is just a plain shuttle bus, where you can get in and off where you want and just catch the next one every 10 or 15 minutes. The narrated ones were packed and went at a very slow pace...where as the plain shuttle bus you had a better chance of getting closer to the 2nd visitor center at mile marker 66 before the clouds can in by noon. The plain shuttle ones we had only 5-10 people per bus. Lot of room to view stuff side to side. The bus drivers would turn the engine off and coast to a stop if they saw a bear or wolf.

So our plan was to hit the shuttle bus and get into the park as far as we could before the clouds came in and blocked any view of the mtns. On the way back that was where we got off and on to see different things.

08' AK pics

13' AK. pics

[topdownman]

Hey, we're leaving in the morning for Anchorage, taking the train to Whittier and leaving via Princess Cruise Lines on Saturday. Are you on the same cruise?

[AggieDad]

Topdownman -- No. We're on the Statendam and actually sail on Saturday. The first couple of days will be spent visiting Seattle.

[topdownman]

We sail on Saturday from Whittier. Maybe we'll pass you!

Originally Posted by AggieDad

Topdownman -- No. We're on the Statendam and actually sail on Saturday. The first couple of days will be spent visiting Seattle.

[ChallengerRN]

The Phillips 26 Glacier tour out of Whittier is awesome. It's a 1/2 day cruise I think.

Russell

[Arch Hoagland]

We did the Princess land/sea cruise a few years ago.

Fortunately we did the land portion first and then rested on the ship the second week.

[Pa Uon]

I initially read with despair your title "On our way to Alaska", then got a huge sigh of relief when you said you were not taking your RV. We will follow your blog and reminisce of our nice and not so nice experiences last summer foolishly taking our RV.

We were their for 4 months and next time we will cruise. Very few RV'ers anymore (except the thousands of europeans renting class c's for a whirlwind week) and based on our experiences and all the damage our RV sustained I can see why.

Have a great time and enjoy for all of us !

[jpharley]

Wow, we are in Alaska right now and there are a ton of RVers up here. We have met some pretty nice people from the lower 48. It is an experience not to be missed. My spouse did say he needed a shot of whiskey before he looked at our accumulated fuel charges though.

[RV8]

Looking forward to reading your blog. It should be a wonderful trip. Be wary of the AK bug. Once bitten you will always be trying to find a way back. We have had 2 trips, one 3 weeks, one 4 months and are anxious to get back again. As your music clip said...."North to Alaska".....have a fabulous time!!!

[AggieDad]

Howdy!

The first leg of our Alaskan Odyssey is Seattle where we visit the Space Needle and Boeing Aircraft, and enjoy a lovely day on the shores of Puget Sound.

I hope you will join us at Travels With Linda and enjoy a cruise up the Inside Passage and a train ride to Denali.

Come along for the ride - even if it is not in the RV.

Don Simmons

[Smitty77]

OP - Hope your trip goes well.

On the comment about taking your now RV to Alaska - well, we are wrapping up our second month, and enjoying Homer area now. No more damage here then in the lower 48, so far. Yes, you do hit rough roads at times, and MUST drive for the current conditions.

Would not want to have missed this trip, hope others who want to bring thier own rigs do so.

But, to each their own!

Best,
Smitty