Dave & Julie's Alaska Adventure

[davebennington]

Dean & Terri yes we are going to Alaska we will be there in about 5 to 6 days. Maybe we can get together sometime when you have off send me an email or PM with your phone number and we will call you.

Thanks to the rest of you for your interest in our great adventure,

Dave & Julie

 

[lcdrdean]

We thought about do the ferry but heard it was pretty expensive. Is this true?

It is expensive. The cost for us is $5,100, which includes our Bighorn 3670, F350 dually, two dogs and a cabin from Juneau to Bellingham. We figure we will only do it once in our lifetime.

 

[2psnapod2]

But with the cost of fuel and all, the really high number is not as bad as it looks. At least we are hoping since we are thinking to do the same.

 

[porthole]

Just looked on a map. You would probably spend at least $1000 on fuel to make that trip, looks like 1500 miles driving.
Although expensive, if you pre-plan and just add it into the cost of the vacation it isn't so bad.

Actually seems like a neat addition to the trip.

 

[davebennington]

Saturday 6-25-2011

Well we are now in Canada, the city Calgary, the Campground Symon’s Valley RV Park, this place is a Passport America Campground. It may have been good in its day however that day has long gone. There are a lot of workers here and the place is a mess, ruts every where. They have some 30 Amp service, some water sites, and very few sewer sites. There are 15 Amp sites, some with water some without. We got lucky the site they gave us is a 30 Amp with water & electric, and not too many ruts. They told me one of the semi permanent workers just left.
I understand they have been annexed into the town and they are not sure how much longer they will be in business.

On to other things. The crossing into Canada was event free, they ask you for your passports, what you are going to do in Canada, and what is your destination is going to be, and if you have any firearms with you, or pepper spray, mace, or bear repellant. That is it move on and have a good time in Canada.

Once you arrive in Canada you encounter winds that make Camp Hatteras feel like a gentle summer breeze, I had to constantly make corrections with the steering wheel just to stay in our lane. A quick visit to the Welcome center eased the tension when I asked the attendant does the wind blow like this all the time, to which she replied most of the time it is worse. (picture of the attendant follows, cute as a button).

Now for a question if you have to use binoculars to see your neighbor is it a local or long distance telephone call? Just the thoughts of someone driving and looking out at an area so vast with very few buildings, and even less people.

Now for todays pictures, Julie has taken pictures at the border crossing, the information center, and the modern city of Calgary.

 

[davebennington]

Hi All,

You are not going to believe this, I am here and living it and I don't. We are going to stay in this mess another night, for several reasons: first we need supplies, and it is raining hard and I don't want to take down in the mud. Besides we do have 30 Amps, water and sewer as well what appears to be pretty good WIFI.

If it clears up some I will go out later to get a few pictures to show just how bad this is. I do not know how these folks make it on 15 Amp service.

Dave

 

[porthole]

Honda 3000i in your future Dave?

 

[davebennington]

porthole,

We have a genney that I carry in the truck bed in front of the hitch.

Here are the shots of this campground.

 

[2psnapod2]

Nothing like knowing your neighbors there.

 

[Randy]

Dave, Santha said not in this lifetime would she stay there. It has to get better. We hope the rain lets up.
Randy, Santha and the Poodles.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Lets see, lumberjacks, prospectors, pioneers, ... you know, those hearty folk that thrive in harsh conditions. You city folk need an attitude adjustment. Wait until you get into the heart of Alaska!
Oh by the way, have to agree with Santha, no way we would stay there either. Hope your conditions improve quickly. Keep the thread going, we (almost) feel like we are there with you. Dorothy wants to know if you've seen "bigfoot" yet?

 

[davebennington]

The campground conditions may not be up to what we in the US are accustomed to but the folks are doing the best that they can. Most of the folks in the campground are workers who have come here for a job, (there is a lot of construction in this area as the economy is the best in Canada), so you have to give them a thumbs up for trying. Calgary has 1.5 million people living here and everything is rather pricey.

We are on the road again today.

 

[sharmulst]

Love following your travels. We are planning to go to Alaska next summer. Especially liked the picture of the Marias river in Montana. This is the first picture after you left Conrad, MT. We lived in that area for a few years during the consturction of the minuteman missiles. Safe travels.

 

[DougS]

Hi Dave and Julie,Mary and I are enjoying reading your log. Are you planning on going north through Baniff National Park? We went that way and loved the drive. Our first trip we drove straight through the parks, the second trip we stopped in the park for a overnight stay. After leaving Jasper National Park both times we stayed in the KOA in Hinton, not a bad campground. Good luck on your trip, don't rush along the Alaskan Highway, there are several things to see including wildlife. Doug and Mary Sloan

 

[davebennington]

We are north west of Edmonton,Ab. in a town called Whitecourt, AB. The campground is Sagitawah, sounds indian. This will be a short entry today as I have to be outside the office to get on the net and the bugs are eating me up.

I will not uload pictures today either. That can wait until another day also.

This is a nice park but the bugs are bad.

I had to go the local hardware store to get a piece of oipe to extend my direct TV dish up higher as we are running out of sky.

Later,

dave

 

[Randy]

Dave, The bugs are only going to get worse. Part of the fun of going north to Alaska. Randy, Santha & The Poodles

 

[lcdrdean]

Dave - we stayed at the same campground on the way up ... only there was snow on the ground (but no bugs). Get used to the bugs, especially the mosquitoes. With respect to DirecTV .... good luck. None of my fellow work campers here in Fairbanks were able to get there's to work. You need a bigger dish up here in AK to get any of the satellites.

 

[davebennington]

We have made it to Dawson Creek. The first order of business is to upload pictures from yesterday.

 

[floridarandy]

Dave/Julie - just a quick note to say thanks and we're really enjoying your posts. we hope to follow your trail of breadcrumbs before too many years go by.

Save Travels -

Randy and Karen

 

[davebennington]

6-28-2011 Tuesday

Yes, we made it to Dawson Creek and we did a bit of sight seeing. This is a very interesting place, with lots to see and do. The campground we are in is called Mile 0 RV Park.

We went to the Welcome Center and the Dawson Creek Gift shop just to help the economy here to stay alive and well. We utilized a 10% off coupon that we got from the Welcome Center and went to Mr. Mike’s Steak House for dinner. A great place that gets a big thumbs up. So when you come to Dawson Creek make the first stop the Welcome Center to get your discount coupons.

Another good stop is the Alaska Highway Museum. Great pictures and they play the PBS documentary on the building of the Alaska Hwy. Enjoyed that.

We will be back on the road tomorrow bright and early. At least, I think it's bright and early, you see it seems that it never gets dark here. It is light when we go to bed (11 PM) and the sun is way high in the sky when we get up (6 AM).

There were 2 Cyclones and 1 Big Horn in the campground last night. It seems that everybody up here has a camper of some kind and there is at least 1 dealer in every town sometime as many as 3 or 4. RVing is alive and well in Canada.

Something else I have noticed is the pickup truck that seems most popular is Dodge. Of course, I may be prejudiced. . .

For anyone on the fence about a washer/dryer in the trailer, I can definitely say that I'm glad we have one. A small load can be done daily (if you have sewer hookup) after stopping for the day and it's no hassle at all.


We took lots of pictures, so here we go.