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04-16-2015, 10:49 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Jamestown, NC
Posts: 1,579
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Trip to Alaska in 2016
We are planning on a trip to Alaska in 2016 and I was reading up on some of the posts about caravanning/traveling alone. I found a post that mentioned a book and when I went to post something on that I found out that I couldn't as the post was too old (most than so many days). Here is the post in question:
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigmichael
We have done a caravan and a rally with adventure caravans and loved them both. We did Alaska on our own in 2011 and were very glad we did. We probably would only do a caravan again to go to Mexico or South America. But we have been FTing 7 years now and are very spoiled by setting our own agenda and "stay and go" timeframe. You have already been told nearly all I could tell you about Alaska.
Forget the "horror storys" about the roads--they are very old tapes that keep getting repeated in my opinion.
Get the Church book-get the tour saver-get the milepost.
Take your time--plan on spending most of the summer if you can.
Have fun--you'll want to go back as soon as you return--we did and we are!
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My question is what is this "Church book"? and is that the actual name? I Goggled it and didn't see anything about Alaska.
Thanks,
Gary
__________________
Gary and Kay & Chipper
2018 Thor Tuscany 38SQ
2019 Ford Ranger XLT Super Crew
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04-16-2015, 10:52 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Dayton, OH
Posts: 1,136
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Churchs guide, let me look for it. I have one at home
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04-16-2015, 10:53 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Dayton, OH
Posts: 1,136
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04-16-2015, 12:14 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Jamestown, NC
Posts: 1,579
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Thanks!
__________________
Gary and Kay & Chipper
2018 Thor Tuscany 38SQ
2019 Ford Ranger XLT Super Crew
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04-17-2015, 06:33 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Jamestown, NC
Posts: 1,579
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We are considering using a tour company when we go to Alaska in 2016 and I have only found information on these two companies: ALASKAN DISCOVERY RV TOURS & FANTACY RV TOURS. Are there any other companies that I should consider? I don't need the pros and cons of going solo vs. using a tour company as I am well aware of the advantages of both.
Thanks,
Gary
__________________
Gary and Kay & Chipper
2018 Thor Tuscany 38SQ
2019 Ford Ranger XLT Super Crew
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04-17-2015, 07:19 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Texas Boomers Club Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Big Spring, Texas
Posts: 776
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Get The Milepost. IMO it is the best book to use on your trip to Alaska.
Jerry
__________________
Jerry and Janell
Navy by record, Marine by choice. 2020 Thor Chateau 31 W towing a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
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04-17-2015, 07:53 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Jamestown, NC
Posts: 1,579
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdoc
Get The Milepost. IMO it is the best book to use on your trip to Alaska.
Jerry
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Thanks. I got it two days ago from Amazon.com
__________________
Gary and Kay & Chipper
2018 Thor Tuscany 38SQ
2019 Ford Ranger XLT Super Crew
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04-17-2015, 10:05 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Palmer, Ak
Posts: 195
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With a milepost in hand, you dont need a tour company.
Personally I don't like to live on other peoples schedules. I wanna see what I wanna see, when I wanna see it.
The milepost is huge, and has info in it, that even as a born Alaskan I didnt know about my own state. I get a new one every few years and read thru it just for grins. I also drive the alcan almost every year.
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04-17-2015, 10:17 AM
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#9
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Registered User
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 7,114
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Garry,
Yes on Milepost, its kind of the bible for Alaska Travel.
Two other sources that we found of value when we made our first trip:
1) KARO - They have some maps that help fill in some of the detail that Milepost misses.
2) If you travel the Alcan, stop by the "Alcan Welcom center" when you get to Dawson Creek. They have a wealth of flyers, tourest booklets, etc that are free.
IMPORTANT - Ask for the "Gas and Campground" info sheet. This tells you where all the gas stations and campgrounds are and their current status.
This was important to us as we traveled the Alcan just before the season started, AND, our "Toyhouse" has a very small gas tank (we carried 10 gallons in cans)
You may find this article of interest:
Not your Father’s Alaska Highway | Alaska
And if your interested in our trip, you can see it here:
Alaska | Alaska Trip Log
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04-17-2015, 10:36 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: michigan-tip of the mitt
Posts: 1,444
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We went in 2009 and we are going again in 2016. 2016 in a pickup and small trailer. We did the motorhome in 2009 and don't want to take the old girl again. We had a equipment trouble on the Alaska hwy and had to wait a week in Whitehorse for parts from Edmonton. That was after it took 2 days to get the info for what parts we needed.
We just used the milepost and I don't think I will even buy that this next time. I know what we missed and what we want to see this time. And the spots we want to see again.
__________________
2003 Class C, 29' Gulfstream
Next stop?
Previous rigs..2 Pickup campers,2 TT's, 3 DP MH's
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04-17-2015, 01:34 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,058
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The Church's book is great for finding campgrounds. They provide the lat/long for your GPS as many campgrounds do not have traditional addresses. If you want to stay in full hook up campgrounds, be prepared to be right next to your neighbor. We preferred staying in campgrounds with partial or no hook ups because they were just nicer. I have attached a picture of a typical campground on the trip (Watson Lake, Yukon). The Milepost is great for finding turnouts so you can get out of the way if fast moving traffic. It also clued us to sections where we could potentially spot wildlife. We went last summer and will return in 2017.
. ATTACH]91729[/ATTACH]
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04-17-2015, 01:37 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,058
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Note the dirt in the picture in my last post. We washed our 5th wheel 5 times on our trip.
Our site at the Riley Campground, Denali Natl Park. No hook ups.
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04-17-2015, 01:43 PM
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#13
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Registered User
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 7,114
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OH YAH - Like JPHarley says, your MH will get dirty, dirty, dirty.
Isn't Tok nicknamed "The car wash capital of the world" ??
Although our entire trip was memorable, my top of the list is when we came across an old abandoned campground off of the old Cassair Highway. We found a way to get back there and spent a couple nights. One of the advantages of the small micro class C. we could get into places that our Class A just can't get to.
I'm positive your upcoming trip will create just as many memories. (Learn how to do a blog if you don't already know)
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04-17-2015, 06:11 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Enjoying the Western States!
Posts: 19,680
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Another tour company is Adventure Caravans. We haven't used a tour so know nothing about it.
The tours don't go anywhere when you couldn't go on your own at a more leisurely time. Get a copy of their itiniery and get a Alaska map (found in the Milepost book) and highlight their stops.
Get Church's 'Alaskan Camping' book which includes Canada and the Yukon, also. There are many lovely spots just to pull off the highway for a night so you don't need campgrounds.
Also buy online the 2/1 coupon book 'TourSaver'. One glacier cruise will pay for the book and you need to do at least one!
The only reservations we made for the whole summer was for the July 4 weekend (Alaskans like to camp, too) and for a 5-night stay in Denali's Teklanika campground. We only made those reservations about 3 weeks ahead when we could better judge when we'd be there. As it turned out, we were early for Denali's reservations so we boondocked nearby at a gorgeous spot and pulled into Denali early morning. We easily got a spot in Denali's Riley Creek campground for an additional 5 nights. There's enough to do in both the front area and back area of Denali. We saw all of the 'big 5' animals, some more than once.
For July 4 weekend we'd advise not to plan on the Kenai Peninsula. It's extremely popular by the locals. Plan to be there after the holiday.
__________________
Full-timed for 16 Years . . .
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Diesel
& 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th wheel
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