Alaska Planning

Originally posted by wooleeman Stephen, please keep us apprised of your plans on the forum.  You have my interest but as relatively new to the RV world I don't know if I would be properly prepared to attempt a trip such as this.

That is one reason I was thinking that if we had a group that wanted to make the trip, we could team up and form our own caravan of sorts. That way, we would have some with more experience and those with less experience might feel comfortable enough to make the trip also.

We would be more likely to sign up with a caravan group if the price weren't so high. Part of that is the shows and tours that are included as part of the packages offered. We can dispense with the shows. The scenery is the main show as far as we are concerned. We don't need to go to a burlesque show or have a sled-dog ride, etc. As for shopping, we did enough of that when we went on the cruise.

We do not have any family in the area. I could ask a neighbor or fellow church member to pick up mail for us.

I did a quick Google Maps routing search and came up with some results. If we avoid the Chicago area, it makes the trip a bit longer, but we should avoid some rather rough roads that way. If I were to follow the route in the picture below, it would be 10,903 miles and (at highway speeds, not towing) would take about 175 hours to drive. Of course, that means in all practicality, it would be much more than that many active driving hours since we won't drive the high speeds on which the figure is based. Just based on those hours, it would take 21 days of 8 hours per day driving to make the trip. Add on to that the stops in Utah and Arizona to see the grandchildren (plus daughters and son in law).

This trip could easily take 60+ days when all is said and done.

Originally posted by ArenaBlanca We routimely take longer than 30 day trips.  We have had good luck by being good friends with our delivery person.  We give him a prepaid box addressed to the address of a campground we will be staying at and he mails out the first installment.  We put a second hold on for the rest of the stay.

I don't know how well that would work because the USPS does offer a forwarding service. Also, since we have not got as far as planning our stops, it would be difficult to say just where we would be.

I purchased "The Milepost" last year as we were thinking of going to Alaska in 2020.  We aren't going to be able to go then but maybe the following year.  The Milepost is also available on-line at themilepost.com.  There is a disclaimer in the book about calling the places you are planning to stop at.  Like many small businesses, these close with/without notice so check for availability.

Thanks for the online link. I'll check it out. We have been traveling for the most part without reservations except at certain destinations where we know we will be staying more than overnight. That may need to change for this trip though.

Hello Stephen,

Good luck with your trip.  We have  always talked about doing this-but never got around to it.

We ar frequently gone more than 30 days.  We put in multiple hold mail requests for 29 days and let our rural carrier know what it going on.  It works it out fine since it meets the gov't requirements. I built a plywood box with lid that is waterproof and he simply deposits 30 days worth of mail when the period is up. a neighbor stops by on the appointed day and puts it in our house.

also, we have gone from NC to Oregon and up into BC with the pod.  We had a great trip going north to Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, etc along our northern border.  Unless it's too early(cold,ice,snow) in the season, the weather will be cooler and less crowds.  There are lots of good places to visit/camp  along the way

drive safe

Vann