Heading to Alaska in late June, suggestions?

[moosemom]

My husband and I are heading out to the Great White North around mid to late June from our home in SE GA. We've been reading brochures and magazines and Milepost. I would be interested in hearing from those of you who have made the trip and any suggestions with spots to stay and spots to skip. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[tomandi]

dw and I are also planning a trip to ak this year,will be watching this thread,,,

[halfdimes]

We are by no means experts, but we made our first trip to AK last summer and had a great time. If you're interested, our website of the trip is still up at:

www.home.earthlink.net/~halfdimes

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[lipsey2]

DW and I have booked a cruise/land tour for mid June. We will leave our MH in Vancouver and sail up. Get off ship in Seward and do 7 day land cruise then fly back ot BC from Fairbanks. Would like to drive MH all the way up but will settle for this for now. Looking forward with great anticipation. don

[ladylapidary]

One of the things we always suggest to folks is to cover any exposed filters with a coffee can or the like to prevent puncture by gravel on the roads and carry spares.

[jarnocan]

I did not camp. but would like to someday. You can take the train from Skagway without going on a cruise of course. which was my favorite part of the trip http://www.skagway.org/ a really nice place and the train is awesome. here is the site for camping/RV links http://www.skagway.com/accommodations.html http://www.skagway.com/gettinghere.html#land helpful travel by land info and here is what was the highlight of my trip http://www.wpyr.com/
"Skagway's White Pass & Yukon Route is the " Scenic Railway of the World" "
there is a round trip scenic tour.

[viking1470]

can i come?

[tbussche]

A few suggestions for you are have a copy of the "Milepost", take plenty of pictures, dry camp on the Homer Spit.

If you go to Danali, take the park bus and not the expensive tour bus. They both go to the same places and wildlife and such is pointed out to you.

A good travel log to read about an Alaska trip is located at "www.therollinghome.com".

Be ready to enjoy the trip of a life time and like the book title, Once is not enough.

[jgospirits]

We made the trip 6 years ago. We took the ferry system up the inland passage stopping and taking the RV and car off the ferry 4 times. We had 2 cats that had to stay in the RV and boy were they not happy, they kept rubbing their ears. Since we were getting off the ferry each time we were the last loaded and right next to the big doors, which make a terrible noise. We left from Prince Rupert, this takes away the cost of going from Wash. and you get to drive through Canada and see it also. We stayed 2 or 3 nights at each stop. Next time I would get off at each ferry stop and stay at least 3 nights at each place. Most of the stops we had reservation already made. There is so much to see and great people to meet on these islands. Our last stop on the ferry was Haines. We did boat trips out of there to glaciers and other islands. When we got off at Wrangle we stayed at little RV park near town the first night. While we were in town we found out there is a really cool park up in the mountains called Nemo Point, for $5 a night we had a site on top of the mountain with a 360 view. Wrangle is a good stop, we stayed 3 nights but could have stayed 4 or 5. From Juneau we took a small boat up Tracy Arm to the Sawyer Glaciers, what a treat this was, we got some great photos of ice burgs and got very close to the glaciers. If you go to Valdez stay at the Sea Otter RV and ask for a water site. Also take the pipline plant tour, very interesting and fun. We then returned home via the hwy. We did lots of side trips with the car and enjoyed Alaska very much. Our favoriate place was Homer, go and stay a while it is great. We were going to take a boat trip out of there to see the small islands and birds of the area but it was full. The lady suggested we take a water taxi, the cost was the same and we had the boat to our selves and could stop when ever we wanted and the boat owner gave us a really good tour, just watch out for all the flies!
tbussche has some good suggestions.
We also found it was fun to just drive around in the car and see what was going on. We stopped at street fairs and sales along the hwy, what fun.
Our trip was 3 months long and I wish we had taken more time.

[roamingnana]

One suggestion we would make is that you be sure and bring extra fuel, gas,air filters and extra belts. Don't know what you are driving but we took a class A and the filters were so clogged with dirt that we had to change them. Also any meds you may need and emergency road service either thru good sam or elsewhere. Very important. I would not take a new RV up there ever again and would probably rent a class C so we could go off the beaten path. Campground electric in most campgrounds is 15 amp at best. By the way we are visiting with our daughter in Richmond Hill, just outside of Savannah. Where in SE Ga. are you? Good luck and safe travels.

[trvlnthrds]

I drove up and back in 2005 by myself (widow) in my 29' class A, from May 19to Aug 19 out of the lower 48. Going back in 2009 but will plan on 4-5 months. Seward was my favorite town seconded by Homer. Definitely stay on the spit. I drove to Prince Rupert and took a long day trip via the ferry as a walk on passenger to Ketchikan. Check out the schedules and fine one that goes and comes in the same day leaving enough time to sitesee. Hire a taxi for a tour. 4 of us got together and split the cost. Don't be afraid of using the large turnouts to overnight in. Very safe. If you belong to fraternal organizations they are good to stay in cheap. Loved the Fairbanks Elk's. 3 blocks from downtown. I did tours out of Haines to Glacier NP, Skagway and to Juneau. Fishing with the bears was fantastic out of Soldotna. Soaking in the Chino hot springs north of Fairbanks. Don't miss the Follies at Whitehorse. Over the top of the World highway wasn't bad on my return. I did the Cassier on my way up but next time will do it on my return as there will be more bears at Stewart/Hyder feeding on the salmon.

[toolwright]

Glad to see so many interested in Alaska. It is the most bueatiful trip you will ever take. We are going up for our tenth time and see something new each year. Out of all those trips NOflats and one cracked windshield. Just slow down the difference between a good road or a bad road is about 10-20MPH. Roadside stays are the best but dont expect any dark. Oh yes! cover your toad back to the roof line or it will eat a lot of small rocks. Good luck contact me if you want more info.

[roadrunner16]

Wife and I made the trip two years ago. We drove from Tucson Az to Prince Rupert and took the Ferry to Skagway. them drove to Fairbanks, Mt McKinley,Anchorage Homer then drove back home. Best trip we ever had and wwill do it again. All this took us two and one half months in our Roadtrek 190. It cost us over $300.00 to develope the picuters (wifes), mine were digital. My advise don't set time frames and stop often.