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Category: Alaska

  • Our Alaska adventure parting thoughts and stats

    Our Alaska adventure parting thoughts and stats

    Above is Our Alaska Adventure Route, the red pins on our way in and the purple ones on our way out. Exploring Alaska on our first year of full-timing was considered ambitious and brave by some of our friends.  But we’re so glad we did it!  The experience taught us so much in a very short time.…

  • Do NOT Travel To ALASKA, if…

    Do NOT Travel To ALASKA, if…

    DO NOT TRAVEL TO ALASKA, if… 1)   You don’t like dealing with unpredictable weather. 2)   You hate it when your GPS signal sometimes gets lost because you’re so far north. 3)   You don’t like people who work at a more leisurely pace than you’re used to. 4)   You get aggravated when…

  • Leaving Alaska thru the Inside Passage – Alaska Marine Highway

    Leaving Alaska thru the Inside Passage – Alaska Marine Highway

    When we were planning our Alaska adventure early this year we learned that the classic itinerary from the Western states is to drive the Alaska Highway one-way and take the Alaska Marine Highway the other way, or vice versa or backtrack the same way again.  Also, the mantra for any Alaska-bound traveler is to be…

  • Bald Eagles, Bears and Totem Poles – Haines, Alaska

    Our final stop in Alaska was Haines, and also our base camp as we explored Southeast Alaska.  From Tok we had  to meander through the Yukon Territory and a little bit of British Columbia in Canada (and of course U.S. Customs) before getting back to Alaska again. Haines has been tagged as the Valley of the…

  • Island hopping via ferry – Skagway, Juneau and Hoonah – Southeast Alaska

    We left  Million Dollar Falls campground and  headed back into Alaska.  Alas, we had to go through another border crossing into America.  For the first time, we were asked to pull over and step out of the motorhome after our passports were checked and we answered some questions.  The lady officer checked Betsy, opening several cupboards/cabinets…

  • Wrangell-St. Elias National Park – Pristine Mountain Wilderness

    Our trip into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was a real eye-opener.  We thought Yellowstone was big – this park is 6 times larger!  It’s America’s largest National Park at 13.2 million acres, and it holds 9 of the 16 highest mountain peaks in the U.S.  Vast is the correct term for this park, and yet it is one of…

  • Prince William Sound, a Sound you won’t forget – Valdez pt. 2

    Prince William Sound is ringed by the coastal mountains of the Chugach Range, and situated in the midst of the Chugach National Forest.  Within its 2,700 miles of coastline lies Valdez at the north shore edge.  When hearing reference to Prince William Sound, the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster most likely comes to mind.  Today the…

  • From peaks to ports – Valdez pt. 1

    Leaving Glennallen, our adventure to Valdez (pronounced Val-DEEZ) began on the Richardson Highway.  We crawled along at a slow pace, negotiating 17 pavement breaks (yes I counted them) with abrupt edges, dips and frost heaves.  That meant Steve had to slow way down for every encounter so we wouldn’t empty our cabinets of their contents as Betsy…

  • Lazy Days at Tolsona Wilderness – Glennallen, Alaska

    Continuing east we headed out to the town of Glenn Allen, 187 miles from Anchorage. The drive along the Glenn Highway designated as a National Scenic Byway  is one of Alaska’s most beautiful, traversing a broad tundra and because of that we are reminded once again of frost heaves, damaged roads, dips… The road winds through…