TWOLOST: Alaska 2008 (trip report)

[twolost]

This thread summarizes a 37 day trip to Alaska that my wife and I took this past summer (July, 200.



SMB Fully Loaded (as measured on truck scale):
Front: 4497 lbs (2040 Kg)
Rear: 7672 lbs (3480 Kg)
Total: 12,169 lbs (5520 Kg)




** UPDATED **


Route:

Diesel Fuel Data:

Milage Graph:

Note(s) about the above data:

The additional 1,000+ miles we coverved from the 'Planned Travel Miles' was due to the many excursions we made from point-to-point. We also went out exploring on a number of occassions where our planned travel miles had been estimated to be zero.



About the Fuel Milage spikes (18+mpg) above. Please note that 18mpg is not realistic for my van. As you can see by the data, the next mpg data that follows any 18+ mpg value is significantly smaller (7mpg). The average of these two data points makes more sense. Also, note that we used our diesel generator a number of times overnight. This reduced the overall mpg average of the trip.




Cheers,
---TWOLOST--- :b6: :b7:

 

[twolost]

Date (day): June, 28 (Day 1)

Source: North Bend, WA (home)

Destination: Quesnel B.C. (hotel)

Travel Miles: 505

Bug Activity (mosquitoes, etc...): None to speak of.

Deviation from plan: Departure day has already slipped one day as I was still thrashing on several of my homemade van projects. We would make up the time by driving to our day two destination on this - our first day of travel.

Moment(s): While driving the van up to our front porch to finish loading before departure, I successfully backed into the one and only tree that is near our house. I was focused on not running into the porch itself and forgot just how long the van was with the added spare tire on the rear. My wife gave me grief (teased me) about this for the remainder of the day. I did not back into another thing for the remainder of our trip.

Takeaway(s): Never let your wife see you back into a tree in your own yard ten minutes before you leave on the trip of your life.

Sportsmobile Note(s): With the outside temps reaching up to 102 degrees (F) as we drove up the long steep grades of the Fraser River Canyon - we were both glad that we had added Sportsmobiles StarCool option (full cabin air conditioning) to our specific build. Truth is that we only used this feature during the first days of our trip and then the outside temps cooled enough where there was really no need to use it any longer. Sure made those first few days of driving more comfortable, though.



Our Sportsmobile sitting in our front yard during a final accessory test fit session:

We stopped along the Fraser River Canyon (driving north on TC-1) to stretch our legs and re-check all of the one-off stuff I built and hung off of our van.

On our first day from home, the outside temps climbed past 100 degrees (F) by 3:00pm as we climbed up the Fraser River Canyon.

Quesnel, destination day 01.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): June, 29 (Day 2)

Source: Quesnel B.C. (hotel)

Destination: Stewart B.C. (Inn)

Travel Miles: 505

Bug Activity: Salmon Glacier - high.

Deviation from plan: Upon arriving in Stewart/Hyder, we drove the additional 20 off-road miles up to Salmon Glacier. Turns out, the main glacier viewpoint (a mile away or so from where we stopped) was still buried under four feet of snow. For fun, we tractored through the light stuff for a few hundred yards... but with a narrow road and a sheer drop-off on one side, we thought better of trying to go any further.

Moment(s): Turning around on a narrow snow covered road by creeping back and forth a couple feet at a time with an abyss (beautiful as it was) just a few feet in front of me was enough to get my complete and undivided attention.

Takeaway(s): Don't wear wet, snow covered, boots when attempting the above. This will make the brake pedal slick as...

Sportsmobile Note(s): After running our first off-road section of the trip (with lots of sharp golf-ball sized rocks) - I was very glad that I had installed a higher rated and more aggressive set of tires on our van prior to the start of our trip. We did not suffer a single puncture or tire related problem the entire trip... and we covered some pretty rough and chewed-up terrain.



Bear Glacier, Stewart B.C.

Stewart B.C.

We stayed at the Ripley Creek Inn while in Stewart B.C. Here is :b7: in the common sitting area:

Ripley Creek Inn; room accommodations.

Ripley Creek Inn; here is the deck off of our room overlooking our van.

Crossing the dividing line between Canada and the U.S. @ Hyder, Alaska.

On the way out to Salmon Glacier.

Inhibited from pushing the remaining mile to the main Salmon Glacier lookout due to the depth of the snow... and the height of the cliff.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): June, 30 (Day 3)

Source: Stewart B.C. (Inn)

Destination: Same

Travel Miles: 0 (pre-planned layover day)

Bug Activity: high.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): With a free day on our hands we decided to go out and explore the surrounding area. At one point we attempted to follow a jeep trail up to a lake (presumably), but we were hindered by the fact that our vans departure angle out of one of the creek crossings was too great for my added spare tire carrier and under-floor generator. Leaving the creek bed alone and intact was more important to us than forging ahead - so we ended our excursion here and found a few other less aggressive trails to explore instead.

Takeaway(s): It was absolutely awesome to have 'time' to actually explore the surrounding area (even if only for an extra day). We had traveled up here on motorcycles in 2006 and due to our tight travel schedule we did not get the chance to just see what was down this path or that path. We had no time to let curiosity take over and lead us down some random spur road or goat trail - for no other reason than to just see what was at the end. We built a few 'extra' days into this trip (primarily as a safety buffer) and we were fortunate enough to cash them in for play rather than to handle an unexpected emergency. Both Alaska and the Yukon have hundreds upon hundreds of 'random' trails that just lead off the main highway for no apparent reason. Many of the richest experiences we had on this trip was taking the time to follow some of these off-shoot trails - just because we were curious.

Sportsmobile Note(s): The backup camera was a nice aide in backing down this long stretch of steep narrow and winding jeep trail... at the same time it did not prevent me from backing into the only tree in my front yard on day one).



Out exploring trails and roads that were not on the map.

Rear mounted generator and additional spare tire carrier were not going to make this creek crossing without a fight. We chose not to fight and backed out peacefully.

In our specific case, other than some occasional interference in the back, there are not many places this rig simply wont go.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 01 (Day 4)

Source: Stewart B.C. (Inn)

Destination: Nugget City (RV Park)

Travel Miles: 404

Bug Activity: high.

Deviation from plan: We had planned to simply stay in a 'dry' no accommodations campsite. However, after being directed to an open field of sand, in direct sunlight (90+ degrees F outside), and next to a dump area... we upgraded to a 30amp site in the trees (what little trees were available).

Moment(s): I attempted to use my credit/debit card to pay for fuel in Dease Lake, YT. Gal behind the counter said that my card had come back 'rejected'. Luckily, I just happened to have enough US cash to pay this fuel bill. However, I was now out of cash with this unexpected surprise and was in jeopardy of not being able to contact my financial institution by conventional means before I needed to pay for fuel again. I found a clearing on-top of a ridge and deployed our newly acquired satellite phone. As it has been a while since we tested it in our front yard, it took us a few times to successfully connect. Mosquitoes were in full attack mode. Phone would stay connected... but reception would fade in and out. I explained to the lady on other end of the phone my situation and she confirmed that my account had been blocked due to a previous fuel purchase in Canada. She then went on to reprimand me for not informing my bank of my intention to travel out of the US and she said that I had to speak with a security officer first before my account could be unblocked. None of this has ever happened to us before and we have made several trips to Canada in the past year. Waiting on hold with a fluctuating connection, getting dive bombed by blood sucking P-51's, burning what little pre-paid SAT phone minutes I had, and getting a lecture from someone who was denying me access to 'my' money was really pushing my patience. Finally, security dude comes on the phone, asks me a few questions about a Canadian fuel purchase and then after 25 minutes agrees to finally unblock my account. By the time this was over, some of the mosquitoes were so full they were unable fly any longer.

Takeaway(s): Call bank and confirm any out of US trips before leaving the US. SAT phone was very expensive... but it saved my backside (on only the fourth day of our trip).

Sportsmobile Note(s): Nugget City was the first place we ever used 'shore power' connected to our SMB and all of these systems just seemed to work as expected.



Heading up Hwy 37 toward Nugget City, YT.

Here is our 'upgraded' campsite with electrical hookups at the Baby Nugget RV Park (Nugget City, YT). The bugs here were some of the worst (most numerous) on our entire trip.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 02 (Day 5)

Source: Nugget City (RV Park)

Destination: Carmacks (RV Park)

Travel Miles: 365 (along the mostly unpaved Robert Campbell Hwy)

Bug Activity: high.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): Descending one specific paved and un-flagged section of the Robert Campbell Hwy, I had a lapse of concentration and we hit a sizable dip in the road. This dip had a few friends on the far side as well. By the time I spotted the main dip, it was too late to do anything other than ride it out (at about 45mph). The front end dropped into the wallow and we attained max compression. A microsecond later, we attainted maximum rebound as the front end left the ground. When the front end returned to the earth, it then followed the second and third dips as well. The result of each subsequent dip was less dramatic than the first... but they extended the time we were flopping about in the van. Once all of the commotion stopped, I pulled over to the side of the road and checked the front and rear axles. Everything looked fine and I could not visibly see where we hit the rubber bump stops. The air bags in the back were still inflated and not leaking. The one casualty was the Aluminess rear bumper. The bracket on the bumper that mates with the latch on the swing out holding my spare tire was basically ripped off. The latch holding my rear box was still intact. Fortunately, I had a homemade pin that fixed/connected the two swingouts together that I had fabricated and installed before we started this vacation, so there was no danger of having the rear tire swing out while driving on from here. However, this incident was just the beginning of more problems with these rear latches.

Takeaway(s): For the majority of our trip north of Hyder AK, the dirt roads were in far better condition than the paved roads in terms of encountering obstacles that had the potential to do real damage. Also, I did not have the time to add the Aluminess fix to the rear bumper latches before I left on my trip. I should have either made the time or put a hack in place as a temporary solution until I got back. I knew this was a weak link (as it has been discussed on the forum as well as email lists) and my lack of preparation here came back to bite me.

Sportsmobile Note(s): With this portion of the trip being unpaved (for the most part), we were able to see just how much dust entered the interior in every conceivable location. It came in the seal around the back doors, came in the seal around the side doors, came in the engine cowl, came in the doghouse, came in under the floor, etc and so forth. At the end of the day, the inside of our van was absolutely 'covered' in dust (you could visibly see the dust floating around inside the van just like a heavy fog).



Quick stop at the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, YT

Robert Campbell Hwy (blissfully empty for most of 300+ miles). And you will need an SMB with digger tires or something similar if you plan to enter from the Watson Lake side (due to the very soft/deep/sandy road surface being prepped for repair).

No rain... and the dust we kicked up was brutal (entered into the cabin from just about everywhere).

Our RV Park destination in Carmaks, YT.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 03 (Day 6)

Source: Carmacks (RV Park)

Destination: Dawson City (Bonanza Gold Motel)

Travel Miles: 222

Bug Activity: medium.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): It is common for my wife and I make a bathroom stop sometime during the course of the night. As we did not get bathroom accommodations installed in our van, we rely on the facilities (if available) where we stay overnight. It was roughly 2:00am when nature called on this specific night. We each got up, got dressed, and then that is when all of the commotion started. Turns out the campsites bathroom was very close to a bar (which had apparently just closed). That left a number of pretty toasted folks outside milling about looking for people to verbally spar with. Not really wanting to engage in deep discussions at 2:00am with the local spelling-B champions, my wife and I waited for the right moment and then made a stealthy 007 style break for the head. It was still light out at this time. Using the shadow of some leftover construction equipment, both of us successfully made it out and back without being noticed. How do you spell RELIEF?

Takeaway(s): Remember to disconnect 'shore power' before driving off. Fortunately, we never had a problem with remembering... but I can definitely see where this would be something that would be easy to forget (especially, if there are multiple drivers). A mis-queue would be so easy in fact, that I think that I am going to make some sort of sign to hang over the steering wheel while I am connected- just as a reminder.

Sportsmobile Note(s): I think that we had found the weight limit for what we could put on our roof and still use the electric top lift. With the Jerry Can holder that I built - in addition to all of the other doo-dads that I had up on my roof, the top would just barely go up. Once up, the loads on the top made it unstable and it groaned profusely in even the lightest cross wind. As such, I took this fuel apparatus down off the roof (80 lbs) and installed it in the front hitch receiver (where it was designed to go once we started up the Dalton Hwy). I figured I would catch some flack by having this hanging off of the front end while in the cities of Anchorage or Fairbanks... but it never raised as much as an eyebrow. As such, the fuel cans remained out front for the remainder of our trip. With all of the other junk I have on my top (Pull-Pal, 2 x Kyocera solar panels, the roof rack, the lights, and a 60" High-Lift jack) the top still resists a little… but it is now far less wobbly with the Jerry Can holder removed.



On the way up Hwy 2 (Klondike Hwy) toward Dawson City, YT.

Entering Dawson City, YT

Our motel for the evening. Spent some time cleaning up our van here as well.

Front Street, Dawson City, YT. We ate a picnic lunch on the bank of the Yukon River.

View of Yukon River from the lookout at the top of ‘Dome Road’.

Heading back down a reasonably steep fire lookout tower access road. No tour busses up here.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 04 (Day 7)

Source: Dawson City (Bonanza Gold Motel)

Destination: Tok Alaska (Tok RV Village, RV Park)

Travel Miles: 185

Bug Activity: minimal.

Deviation from plan: None. We were up and out of our room before 5:00am and were the first vehicle in-line waiting for the ferry to shuttle us across the Yukon River (to the 'Top Of The World Highway' side). We had to wait less than 30 minutes before the ferry came over from the far side of the river bank (empty) and picked us up - just us. We were informed that we were being given the early bird award today. With nobody on our tail, we had the Top Of The World Highway to ourselves - Perfect!! We encountered zero other moving vehicles up until the border crossing with the US (and even then, there was only one fuel truck in front of us - temporarily).

Moment(s): We had stopped in the town of Chicken Alaska to eat a picnic lunch and check out some of the old machinery (dredge, carts, etc...) that were scattered about the town. Not two miles down the road (after leaving the town), another vehicle showed up behind me going much faster. I spotted what seemed to be a wide spot in the road (extra half a car width) at the bottom of small grade so I put my right turn signal on and started to drift over to the side of the road to let them by. As I got closer and closer to the far outside edge of the road (slowing down moderately from 40 mph), the more the right side of the van would sink into the progressively softer and softer soil. I turned the wheel hard to the left, but the van had a mind of its own. Coming to a stop was soft and uneventful. Problem was that half of the van was now up past the fender wells in swamp mud and the other half was still on the hard packed roadway. I jumped out, locked the hubs (I had to dig out the hub on the low side), threw every 4x4 trick I had at it, and we did not move an inch. Mud was packed up above the front axle and the swamp had us in a death grip. I thought about using my Pul-Pal and winch, but I would have had to string the winch cable across the road in order for it to be of any real use (super dangerous). Even though there was very little traffic, I did not want to turn my small problem into someone else's big problem. As luck would have it, two fuel haulers showed up 10 minutes later. One pulled in at an angle in front of me and the other pulled in at an angle behind (blocking any potential oncoming traffic in either direction). The truck in front hooked up a chain to the d-ring on the front left side of our Aluminess bumper and with very little effort - set us free. At least we now know that the bumper is good for more than a table top. The driver said that this happens all of the time and that we were the fifth vehicle to get stuck in this same spot this past week, nice rig, and have a great vacation. Huge thanks go out to the guys in the trucks that helped us out here. And for the record, lesson learned. I did not get us stuck at any time for the remainder of our trip.

Takeaway(s): Slow down (way down) on the main road surface before attempting to use the side of the road as a pull over spot. Also, my tow strap was located in my rear outside box. Unfortunately, this tow strap had fallen back down behind a box of tools that I had in there as well - which made accessing it in a pinch like this a real job. Tow strap is now inside the van behind the drivers seat, where I can get quick, guaranteed, and unhindered access to it when I need it. Lastly, the bolts that go through my d-rings had not been lubricated/coated with anti-seize since I purchased the van. As such, they were each frozen solid due to oxidation and there was no way for me to spin them loose out in the bush. Being able to actually remove a d-ring bolts now goes on my list of things to check before starting any new adventure.

Sportsmobile Note(s): I was certain that hooking a chain up to one d-ring on the front bumper of our stuck van was going to result in my bumper being dragged behind the fuel truck - while the van remained - stuck. To my surprise, everything held together. The bumper itself was not damaged in any way nor did not come out of alignment with the rest of the vehicle. This accessory really worked when we needed it.



Yukon River Ferry ride over to the Top Of The World Highway.

Alone, fourth of July, great weather, Top Of The World Highway.

USA/CAN Border outpost, Top Of The World Highway.

Now back on US soil, Top Of The World Highway.

Chicken, Alaska

Checked out the "Pedro Gold Dredge" here in Chicken, Alaska.

Our van, shortly after it got pulled out of the boggy swamp.

Camping destination for the evening, Tok RV Village, Tok Alaska.

 

[Ed in Montana]

Wonderful trip report Twolost! Brings back memories of our first Yukon expedition in 1997, especially the bugs!

How was the RV traffic this summer on the routes you took? In 1997, our Dodge Dakota pickup was probably the smallest camping vehicle we saw on the entire trip. My personal favorites were the ultra large Empress Class As and the appropriately named INTRUDERS. Both resembled cruise ships more than road vehicles.

 

[EMrider]

Thanks for putting the time into such a well done trip report. I've enjoyed it quite a bit.
Rob

 

[bitburger]

Fantastic trip report

Great job of the report and pictures.

Congratulations on the trip.

bitburger

 

[adventureduo]

Awesome report! Thanks for sharing and including so many details.

 

[twolost]

Thanks for all of the reports you folks have put together as well... I learn something from every one of them.


Reply to Ed: The traffic was 'very low' in most of the places we visited. We purposely planned routes, days of the week, and even hours in the day where we could avoid quantities of people on purpose... so some of this solitude was expected. However, in the cases where there was not much choice, we still did not encounter hoards of people or RV traffic anywhere. In more than 8500 miles, the largest line-up of vehicles we had in front of us - was four (and that was just as we were about to exit the Dalton highway on our way back to Fairbanks). I am guessing that Teklanika campground in Denali Park was full or close to it one of the days we were there, as were the smallest parks in Haines & Skagway. Most of the other RV parks we stayed in or passed by were not even at 40% capacity and many looked more vacant than that. Potential boonedocking spots were everywhere (and very few were actually occupied).


Thanks
---TWOLOST---

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 05 (Day

Source: Tok Alaska (Tok RV Village, RV Park)

Destination: Anchorage Alaska (Mangy Moose B&

Travel Miles: 328 (turned out to be much more than that)

Bug Activity: Low.

Deviation from plan: We had originally planned to go from Tok to Anchorage (and not make any side trips). However, as we were getting closer and closer to Anchorage with plenty of time left in the day and we currently had good weather with us, we decided to include a few points of interest today that we had originally schedule for tomorrow. This had the added benefit of clearing our schedule for tomorrow as well. One of the advanced stops we made was in Palmer, AK to visit a private musk ox farm. After visiting the musk ox farm we drove the Hatchers Pass loop before we finally dropped south on the Parks Hwy (A3) and down into Anchorage. It was a lot to take in for one day... but weather was pretty good and we were determined to make the best of these clear conditions.

Moment(s): Other than several hundred snowshoe hares lining the roads, we had not seen or encountered much in the way of wildlife today - which was somewhat surprising based on the time of day and the terrain we were driving through. I would have to say that for our trip overall, we had seen much less wildlife then I had expected - certainly far less than when we came up here on motorcycles in 2006. One of the encounters that I wanted to have on this trip was to just sit and watch a moose for a while - just to see what it was up to. My moment came after we had checked into our B&B for the evening (which was located in a fairly high residential district in Anchorage). I heard crackling in the bushes outside of our second story room and I thought it was just someone walking around outside. The more I listened, the more this crunching noise did not make sense. I went out onto our deck and discovered that the source of the noise was a moose browsing on shrubs. I stood on the deck not more than 40 feet away and watched this moose for 20+ minutes. It was exactly what I wanted see... a moose living its life, figuring out how to survive in its current environment, and doing so totally oblivious to me... (I just never expected it to happen in a residential neighborhood while in the comfort of an upscale B&.

Takeaway(s): I never saw more quads in all my life then just off of the A1 (Glenn Hwy) as well as parts of Hatchers Pass. Where I live in Washington State, there are nearly zero trails dedicated to the off-road quad user community and other than use on a farm, I don't even know what you would do with one. Where would you ride it? However, somewhere around Chikaloon (Glenn Hwy), we came across hundreds of quads out trail riding. We also found that in Alaska, there are quad trails seemingly everywhere. In fact, I would bet that you could navigate most of the state of Alaska (paralleling any main road) on a quad and never have to actually ride on the main road for more than 20% of your trip. Ha, I might just try this someday.

Sportsmobile Note(s): After driving over Hatchers Pass (which was all unpaved) and encountering sizable sections of road strewn with braking bumps I was getting pretty concerned with how the swing-outs on the rear bumper were holding up in their current impaired state. I stopped off at an auto parts store in Anchorage to see if I could find something to jam between the rear bumper and the swing-out arms in order to reduce the load at the hinges. What I found was a set of four rubber spring spacers that would normally be inserted between the coils of an automobile spring. One of them just happened to fit perfectly between the top of the bumper and the bottom of the rear tire swing-out arm (right at the centerline of the van). This all but prevented the weakest swing-out from drooping... potentially causing even more significant rear bumper damage. All I had to do was zip tie one of these rubber blocks in place so that it was fixed in position. Whole job took less than ten minutes and this one hack probably saved me from totally ruining the swing-outs on my rear bumper.



The road out of Tok toward Anchorage was as smooth as glass (for 50 or so miles). It then degraded into a frost heaved mess that would test both the van as well as the passengers for more than a hundred miles. Here is what the smooth road looked like.

Musk Ox. Knowing next to zero about this animal, we stopped off at the Palmer Musk Ox Farm to learn more about what we might see up in the Arctic Circle. The tour was very informative and well worth the stop.

Hatchers Pass.

Are we having fun yet?

Hatchers Pass flowers

Anchorage B&B accommodations (we are really roughing it now).

 

[BC]

great stuff twolost, I love the two-tone dirt/paint job on that shot from the top of the Dome Road. Nice to see the Van doing what it was made to do.

Good idea on putting some recovery gear, at least one tow strap maybe, closer and more accessible to drivers seat.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 06 (Day 9)

Source: Anchorage Alaska (Mangy Moose B&

Destination: Same (layover day)

Travel Miles: 0

Bug Activity: None.

Deviation from plan: We freed up our day today by hitting all of our key points of interest the day before. Today was a day where we were going to re-stock our food supplies and clean up the van (inside and out).

Moment(s): We stopped at a Sportsmans Warehouse store in Anchorage in order to re-stock our Jerky supply as well as pick-up some bear spray. The total bill came to $100.00 or something close to it. I approved the $100.00 transaction. The teenage gal behind the counter rang us up... and then got a puzzled look on her face. She said that she had pushed a 7 instead of a 1 and that she needed a manager to help her fix the problem. We had no idea what she was talking about. The manager came over to assist and she was obviously a bit more concerned. After a few minutes of pushing this and clearing that, the manager said that the problem was resolved but it would take three to five business days to go through. What would take three to five business days, I asked? Well the clerk entered a 7 instead of a 1 (meaning I was charged $700.00 instead of $100.00). I still don't really understand how this could happen as I never approved $700.00 (and I triple check everything). In any case, as the transaction already went through and the money had been successfully deducted from my account, it was a little more complex to just 'put it back'. Realizing I was not going to get anything other than blank stares had I tried to negotiate a better fix... I thought to myself as we left the store in shock... uhmmm, ok?! So I don't grow money and I have a definite budget for this trip... which does not include having a random $600.00 buffer today. As long as nothing else came up, we were going to be ok but this was just one more thing in a long list of things we had to pay close attention to... and do so while our connectivity to the rest of the world was not guaranteed.

Takeaway(s): The above moment is just one more example of some random incident where the resources you think you have in a bank account may not be accessible when you really need it. Connectivity while on 'remote' trips complicates matters. I need to make sure that in the future where I 'require' access to funds I am not carrying on me... that I always give myself more than one way out. This goes double for those times when we travel to locations that are 'off the grid'.

Sportsmobile Note(s): While high pressure washing our van in Anchorage, we found that the van seemed to leak around three spots now where it did not leak before. The driver's door seal, the RV window above our gaucho seat, and around the double side doors. Now that the van is back home in my shop I can look into the door seal leaks a little more thoroughly. The RV window may need to be pulled out and re-sealed. Additionally, the shelf that goes inside of the fridge will no longer fit. It looks like the fridge came out of square (something I still have to really look into). In any case, the shelf is useless right now. To hack a temporary solution while on the road, we strategically placed pop cans on the base of the fridge to prop up the shelf.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 07 (Day 10)

Source: Anchorage Alaska (Mangy Moose B&

Destination: Homer Alaska (Alaskan Suites cabin)

Travel Miles: 222

Bug Activity:None.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): We were rolling down the Seward Highway just south of Anchorage and we had just passed a sign indicating that we were passing a bird sanctuary, when... I saw this little guy out of the corner of my eye, flying kind of low and slow as he approached the van perpendicular to our direction of travel. He crossed from right to left just in front of the van and disappeared out in front of the hood. I had a bad feeling about it but there was no instantaneous moment of flying feathers or loud thud, so I started to think that he made it. A few seconds later, this poor little guy comes rolling up over the hood, right over the passenger wiper blade, and flopped over and over right up the windshield in semi-slow motion. Now, since the trip began, my wife had been complaining about all of the big gross bugs that seem to collide on her side of the window... and she would jump every time a large bug made windshield impact (scared me to death every time). Well, this time there was no jump. I looked over at my wife as the bird disappeared over the top of the cab to see if she had just seen what had happened. My wife was frozen solid and white as a bleached sheet. No matter how big the bugs got, this incident took the grand prize for shock value. Thankfully, this was the only van/wildlife impact we had the whole trip. FYI - the bird did not make it.

Takeaway(s): We both had wished that we had opted to stay more than one day in Homer. It was not so much because of the town or the spit... it was more because we had such great accommodations with the cabin on the bluff.

Sportsmobile Note(s): As had happened once before... the alarm we had installed in our van had stopped working. Pushing the remote button that locks the van and enables the alarm failed to actually set the alarm. The doors all auto lock fine, but after attempting to set the alarm the van chirps back a minute later with four short beeps. The key fob also beeps four times and shows that the vehicle is 'unlocked'. Physically, all of the doors are locked. What seems to happen is that the door locks get out of sequence with the alarm. This can happen when using a key to unlock a door or pulling up on the lock from inside the van, etc. I was able to narrow the scope of permutations before and we were able to set everything back so that it worked. This time, however, I was unable to find the right combination. Without a solution, we just locked the van manually (no alarm set) throughout the remainder of our trip.



Heading south on Seward Hwy (A1) looking out over Turnagain Arm and Cook Inlet.

Goat feeding near the roadside, Chugach State Park.

Chugach National Forest.

Just some of the animals at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

Homer Alaska.

Here is the rental cabin we stayed at while in Homer (excellent accommodations and spectacular views).

View from cabin deck overlooking Kachemak Bay.

View of Augustine Volcano (from cabin).

View of Iliamna Volcano (from cabin).

Homer Spit in the distance.

Down on Homer Spit itself (comprising of fishing tours, restaurants, gift shops, and vessel storage/maintenance facilities).

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 08 (Day 11)

Source: Homer Alaska (Alaskan Suites cabin)

Destination: Seward Alaska (Stoney Creek RV Park)

Travel Miles: 170

Bug Activity: None.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): Pulling into Seward, we just happened to run across PJPVI and family in their Sportsmobile. They were just pulling out of the road to Exit Glacier and appeared to be heading the opposite direction and out of town. Their SMB was only the second SMB we had come across up to this point on our trip.

Takeaway(s): The Stoney Creek RV Park advertised itself as Seward's only luxury RV park. The truth was that it was more of a (luxury RV) park than luxury (RV park). This RV park is located outside of town and is accessed via a residential neighborhood. For SMB owners, a far more scenic place to stay - in town and right on the water - would be at the Resurrection Bay Campground - run through the city of Seward. We now know better for next time.

Sportsmobile Note(s): One of the options we added to our Sportsmobile build was to get removable bug screens for the side doors. The screens attach to the van around the door seals via Velcro tape and these screens would (in theory) allow us to have both side doors open while still offering some indoor protection from invading insects. We had not used these screens up to this point and we very rarely open both side doors at the same time. Unfortunately, at this stage of the trip the Velcro tape that was fixed to the van had started to peel off at the edges and was now more than 50% unstuck along the top edge and about 10% unstuck at the bottom of the door pillars. We opted not to try out this screen feature at this time - at least, until I could get more surface area to fix the screens to.



Kenai Lake

Along the Seward Hwy (AK-9)

Seward

Luxury RV Park = (Luxury RV), park

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 09 (Day 12)

Source: Seward Alaska (Stoney Creek RV Park)

Destination: Just outside of Whittier Alaska (Wittiwaw Campground)

Travel Miles: 90

Bug Activity: High (Wittiwaw Campground).

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): Today was a day full of great moments. The walk up to Exit Glacier in the early morning. Seeing the blue ice from Portage Glacier up close and personal. Going through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to get to the town of Whittier. Exploring portions of the inside of the Buckner Building. Wow, this was one of those days were it was hard for me to keep up.

Takeaway(s): While researching places to go (way back when we started planning for this trip), Whittier was added to our list because it sounded like an interesting place to experience and explore. Overall, it was well beyond my expectations and a little below my wife's expectations. My wife was a little creeped out by the Buckner Building and I was fascinated by it. I only wish I had more time to go through more of it.

Sportsmobile Note(s): We did not add any bathroom facilities to our Sportsmobile build. We did get one of the portable potti's added for vehicle insurance reasons... but I left that at home on the shop floor because I just did not want this kind of waste in the same tightly enclosed space as we where living. We almost always found bathroom related facilities everywhere on our route and a little pre-planning went a long way. Some of these public facilities - at some campgrounds and some roadside stops were... well, a bit smelly. The facilities at the Wittiwaw Campground were no exception. These facilities really tested our ability to hold our breath for long periods of time. Getting to the bathroom was also a challenge as the mosquitoes were thick and thirsty. Using public facilities was uncomfortable at most 20% of the time. For me, this trade off was still much better than the alternative. My wife was a real trooper and put up with it as well.




Exit Glacier (a short walk will take you right up to the edge)

Blue ice from Portage Glacier

Alaska Railroad passenger train, just before it entered the 2.5 mile long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel.

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (entrance from the Whittier side). This is the longest combined rail and highway use tunnel in North America.

The town of Whittier.

Hodge Building (now called the Begich Towers). This was once an Army building built in the late 40's / ealry 50's. This building is now a condominium and is home to nearly all of Whittier's current residence.

This restaurant is now out of business... but the sign on the side of the building creatively shows just how long they were able to make a go of it.

This large grey building is the abandoned Buckner Building (once the largest building in Alaska). Construction of this Army building was completed in 1953. After the earthquake of 1964, this building was not repaired and remains unoccupied to this day.

View(s) from the top floor of the Buckner Building.

Random off-shoot along Portage Glacier Road

Wittiwaw Campground. Bug activity was extreme.

 

[twolost]

Date (day): July, 10 (Day 13)

Source: Just outside of Whittier Alaska (Wittiwaw Campground)

Destination: Valdez, Alaska (Best Western, Valdez Harbor Inn)

Travel Miles: 360 (driving)

Bug Activity: None.

Deviation from plan: None.

Moment(s): I vote for the amazing scenery up and over Thompson Pass. There were glaciers that looked like they came down and touched the road, there were fields of Arctic Lupine among dense green vegetation, there were 200 foot waterfalls, there was geology that looked as if it had been thrust up from middle earth just last night, etc... it was all amazing.

Takeaway(s): This was another place that both my wife and I had wished that we spent more time (at least two more days). I would have loved to have boonedocked in and around the area and spent some time doing full day hikes there too. The town was nice enough... but it was the surroundings that really captured me. Speaking of the town of Valdez itself, we found a common theme at both of the restaurants we tried (exceptionally expensive, low quality food, miniscule portions). The service was fine but the price of a simple meal was at least 3 x fold over the top ($24.00 per plate for simple fish and chips as an example - and there was not enough fish to feed an anemic sparrow sporting a fully cinched Lap-Band). Really, it was beyond insulting. So much so, that at both places we ate there were numerous people (more than three distinct groups) complaining about price vrs portion size. One lady even took the time to go across the street to argue the bill with the restaurant owner (who was in the bar of his second restaurant). In both cases we just paid our bill and left... so maybe this small warning is our retribution. Truthfully, our recommendation would be to save your hard earned $$ for a Stan Stephens glacier tour instead (more on that amazing tour next) and skip the culinary rip-off artists.

Sportsmobile Note(s): As noted above, we stayed in a hotel for the evening. At various times during the day the hotel parking lot would fill up. In our specific case, with all of the extra stuff hanging off of the van, we are longer than a typical parking space by about four feet. What we ended up doing was parking in the center of the parking lot - fully taking up one space as well as partially taking up the space directly behind us. Neither of us is the type of person to willingly impinge on other people space so this obvious overflow was a worry. I looked all over for suitable alternatives and did not find any (at least none that did not raise other concerns). However, things turned out differently. During our two day stay, we had at least four different cars park directly behind us and all of the people we met were very friendly. They were more interested in talking about what the van actually was as opposed to being stressed out about not getting a 'full' parking space. I think that we were pretty lucky here and I would just like to say special thanks to all of those who accommodated for oversize vehicle.



Construction on the Glenn Hwy.

Glaciers along Thompson Pass

Thompson Pass