Dave & Julie's Alaska Adventure

[loafer]

Dave and Julie
Thanks sooooo much for sharing your adventure just like being there> Is there a book deal in the works after your trip?
Enjoying every day along with you
thanks again
Bill

 

[davebennington]

7-13-2011 Wednesday

Today was a travel day, we are now in Wasilla, AK, the campground is Alaskan Trails it is a Good Sam park and a Camp Club USA also. I will have to say the price is OK for full hookups. The WIFI is almost non-existent, signal is weak and it is slow.

It rained again today and the views were not the best that we have seen. Julie did get a few pictures. If I can get the WIFI to stay up long enough I will post them.

We are going to Anchorage tomorrow and on to Seward the next day, we will be in Seward for about 4 days fishing and sightseeing.

We also have to find a RV outlet as I broke the latch on the refrigerator door and now it will not stay shut. Temporary fix exchange the freezer latch with the refrigerator latch and duct tape the freezer door shut (you don’t use the freezer as much).

Dave

 

[DougS]

Dave and Julie,We are enjoying reading about your trip, it's like reliving our last years trip. Seward was our favorite place to stay in the city park even though we had a dry site. Hope you can get to Homer and then Valdez. There is an RV dealer near or accross from the airport as you enter town. Hope you can find your parts.

 

[davebennington]

Dougs,

Thanks for the info. We stopped at a RV dealer (He sells Heartlands too) he had a handle in stock and I brought it got back to the trailer wrong one looks the same but still wrong. I tried to make it work and broke it. OH well, thats life. Looked on the internet and found several, I will have to order one if I cannot locate one locally.

Just an update we are on the road again tomorrow. I did find a spot for the WIFI to work and really strong, the laundry room.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

7-15-2011 Friday

Well we are in Seward, AK. The campground is called Stoney Creek. Great place full hookups cable, WIFI and the view is just great out the front as well as the back.(see pictures)

After we arrived we went into town and booked a tour via boat for tomorrow, and for Monday I have a fishing expedition scheduled starting at 6 AM!!!!

The train runs right beside the road and Julie snap a picture of the observation car as we pass them.

Took a bunch of pictures and I had to leave out some, this area is amazing great views and everywhere you look it is awesome.
A cruise ship was in port when we were in town lots of people everywhere.

I hope to get some more pictures tomorrow. I will post then, but for now here is today’s selection.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

7-16-2011 Saturday

OMG!!!! where to begin the tour we went on today was GREAT, what a fantastic time, We saw Puffins, Humpback Whales, Orcas, Otters, all kinds of birds, and best of all Glaciers that were calving not more and ¼ mile away.

I don’t know what pictures to include and what ones to leave out.

The only thing I will say if you ever come to Seward take the boat tour of the glaciers. All of these were taken with the digital camera I have about 8 to 10 rolls of film that I must get developed.

Tomorrow is a rest day, have to do some maintenance on the trailer and general cleanup.

Dave

 

[clubmgr]

looking at the continuing flow of beauty from dave and julie i can only imagine it must have been simliar emotions in an earlier day that resulted in:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

It is beyond belief and absolutely the most magnificent, incredible visual experience. Just when you think you could not see anything more beautiful, there it is, yet another sight that takes your breath away.

 

[davebennington]

Hi All,

I forgot a few things yesterday when I posted. For some folks this is old news but I think for the most it would be of interest.

The boat we where on was 85 feet long.

The pictures of the glacier that was in the pictures was 1 mile across the face.

The port of Seward does not freeze.

Seward is home of the first train to the interior of Alaska and has sight seeing trains that run everyday.

Seward snow fall averages about 10 feet per year.

The temperatures here get as low as 20 below.

The mountains that you see in the pictures that we posted drop straight down into the water so that means that you can pull right up to them and have plenty of water under the boat

The water depth in Resurrection bay is greater than 900 feet.

Interesting facts about Seward, Alaska

Dave

 

[Willym]

Hi All,

I forgot a few things yesterday when I posted. For some folks this is old news but I think for the most it would be of interest.

The boat we where on was 85 feet long.

The pictures of the glacier that was in the pictures was 1 mile across the face.

The port of Seward does not freeze.

Seward is home of the first train to the interior of Alaska and has sight seeing trains that run everyday.

Seward snow fall averages about 10 feet per year.

The temperatures here get as low as 20 below.

The mountains that you see in the pictures that we posted drop straight down into the water so that means that you can pull right up to them and have plenty of water under the boat

The water depth in Resurrection bay is greater than 900 feet.

Interesting facts about Seward, Alaska

Dave

Seward is also famous as being the home of Benny Benson. Alaskans will know what he was famous for!

 

[davebennington]

Willym,

Thank you for reminding me

For everyone who does not know who Benny Benson was, the young man who grew up in Seward, Alaska, aand at 13 he submitted the design for the Alaskan state flag 30 years before Alaska became a state.

Benny was awarded $1,000, an engraved watch and a trip to Washington, D.C.

Benny died of a heart attack at the age of 58, this is your Alaska history lesson for today.

I almost forgot I might not post tomorrow, going on a fishing charter trying to catch Salmon, or anything else that wants to bite a hook.

I will let you know how it turns out.

Dave

 

[TXBobcat]

Dave
I have heard a lot of talk about the roads and that we should carry spare's, that you will damage your trailer by taking it to Alaska, that some bought a truck camper or small travel trailer and sold it up there so they would not distroy their trailer.

Have you had any tire problems? Did you take your trailer any place that you would recommend not to go there (ie Top of the world. Said a MH slide off the road). Are the roads as bad as a lot of folks are saying? Any suggestions about where not to take your trailer or even drive the TV

In this thread you started on 6/19/2011. You have been gone about a month at this time. It seems you are moving pretty fast. Are you traveling every day until you find a place to visit? Have you had to dry camp. Are you making reservations? When do you plan to be back into the US?

You are using local WiFi's if I am correct, what are you doing about Cell phone and Television? Do you use Skype on the WiFi's?

Are you using Canadian money or American. Are you using a credit card? If so is the credit card company converting between the different monitary values. (Our Capital One converted for us when we went to the Maritimes with no fee. Not sure if they are doing that now.) Did you get a supplemental Medical to cover any possible medical problems in Canada?

How are you getting your mail? Are you getting any Meds?

I hope you don't mind all the questions but these have been in my mind ever since we have been planning to go to Alaska.

We are enjoying your trip. Thanks for all the posts and photos.

BC

 

[jmgratz]

Dave
I have heard a lot of talk about the roads and that we should carry spare's, that you will damage your trailer by taking it to Alaska, that some bought a truck camper or small travel trailer and sold it up there so they would not distroy their trailer.

Have you had any tire problems? Did you take your trailer any place that you would recommend not to go there (ie Top of the world. Said a MH slide off the road). Are the roads as bad as a lot of folks are saying? Any suggestions about where not to take your trailer or even drive the TV

In this thread you started on 6/19/2011. You have been gone about a month at this time. It seems you are moving pretty fast. Are you traveling every day until you find a place to visit? Have you had to dry camp. Are you making reservations? When do you plan to be back into the US?

You are using local WiFi's if I am correct, what are you doing about Cell phone and Television? Do you use Skype on the WiFi's?

Are you using Canadian money or American. Are you using a credit card? If so is the credit card company converting between the different monitary values. (Our Capital One converted for us when we went to the Maritimes with no fee. Not sure if they are doing that now.) Did you get a supplemental Medical to cover any possible medical problems in Canada?

How are you getting your mail? Are you getting any Meds?

I hope you don't mind all the questions but these have been in my mind ever since we have been planning to go to Alaska.

We are enjoying your trip. Thanks for all the posts and photos.

BC

Hey Bob, Yall to go to a Travel to Alaska seminar ... I believe they are having one at the Escapade in Gillette, Wy in Aug of this year.

 

[davebennington]

Bob,

Bob, all good questions that is one of the reasons we started this thread. We had all kinds of questions too.


I have heard a lot of talk about the roads and that we should carry spare's, that you will damage your trailer by taking it to Alaska, that some bought a truck camper or small travel trailer and sold it up there so they would not distroy their trailer.

The roads are bad in spots, I had 4 G614 put on the trailer just before we left and we carry 3 of the old unmounted G614 as backups as well as a new spare under the trailer. The one thing you have to keep telling your self when traveling in Canada or Alaska go slow they both have been there a long time and will be there when you get here.

Have you had any tire problems?

So far we have had NO tire problems, and I lube the spring shackles once a week as well as checking the springs. Now you do have to think about your truck also, oil changes, filters (oil,air and fuel). Oil changes are expensive up here I went to NAPA and purchased oil and filters, then went to a local garage and had to pay them for the change. They want $150.00 to $175.00 US for an oil change with filter at Jiffy Lube

Did you take your trailer any place that you would recommend not to go there (ie Top of the world. Said a MH slide off the road). Are the roads as bad as a lot of folks are saying? Any suggestions about where not to take your trailer or even drive the TV

The only place I would not take the trailer again is the Top Of The World Highway, you don;t have too many choices it is that or the Alaskan Highway or the ferry and that is $$$$$.

In this thread you started on 6/19/2011. You have been gone about a month at this time. It seems you are moving pretty fast. Are you traveling every day until you find a place to visit? Have you had to dry camp. Are you making reservations? When do you plan to be back into the US?

We do travel during the week a lot and rest on Friday through Sunday. that gives us a break for rest and supplies. We make reservations when necessary, ie.... when we went to Seward because that is a place that folks from Anchorage go to on weekends. We have not dry camped nor have we had to. We should be back in the lower 48 sometime late September or October

You are using local WiFi's if I am correct, what are you doing about Cell phone and Television? Do you use Skype on the WiFi's?

We are using local campground WIFI most have it either at the site of in or near the office. As far as TV we have had TV at most all campgrounds either cable of off the antenna, very limited Tv up here with one exception Whitehorse they had 32 cable channels and they were not too bad. I will say they start and stop at strange times for example 5 minutes before the hour or 15 minutes after the hour. We do not use Skype.

Are you using Canadian money or American. Are you using a credit card? If so is the credit card company converting between the different monitary values. (Our Capital One converted for us when we went to the Maritimes with no fee. Not sure if they are doing that now.) Did you get a supplemental Medical to cover any possible medical problems in Canada?


When we are in Canada we use their money if they insist on cash and the same in Alaska. We use the credit card when we can for everything. We did not get any additional medical coverage of any kind, we are both are pretty healthy and barring accidents we feel we would not have any problem.

How are you getting your mail? Are you getting any Meds?

Our mail was put on 30 day hold and a neighbor picks it up once a month at the post office. We both have prescription needs and if you go to a Walmart, Wallgreens or another big chain for your prescription they will fill it for your while you are here.

I hope you don't mind all the questions but these have been in my mind ever since we have been planning to go to Alaska.

Bob, we donot mind at all I hope this will help, If any other questions let me know.


We are enjoying your trip. Thanks for all the posts and photos. BC

 

[davebennington]

7-18-2011 Monday

Today was a most interesting day. It started at 5 AM getting up and to the dock for a fishing charter that I booked. All went well for a half day charter, caught Salmon had a good time. However on the way back to the dock the boat ran out of gas, can you believe it !!!. This was suppose to be a professional Charter boat Capitan. So we bounced around the bay for about 3 hours while waiting for someone to come with gas meantime caught another fish while waiting. That is the bad news.

I was a little ticked off as Julie was back at the trailer waiting for me to return at noon, so we could go do something together. When we finally did get back to the dock I went to the office and complained stating that a boat captain should never run out of gas of all things they agreed and refunded all my money. So all in all I suppose it wasn't a real bed day after all.

Julie and I did get to a glacier called Exit Glacier, you can walk up to the face and get a real close up look and you can hike up to the ice field and go for a walk on it also.

Pictures tomorrow.

Dave

 

[caokgafamily]

Dave & Julie,

Thanks for all the great info and pics...
Have fun & be safe, nothing new in the South,just Hot...

Steve

 

[davebennington]

7-19-2011 Tuesday

Here are the pictures of Exit Glacier that I promised.

I forgot to mention a few things in response to the post Bob had asked about.

If you have not installed a water filter in your trailer you need to do so before going to Canada or Alaska, I am not saying all campgrounds pump bad water but a few do and you do not know until it is too late.

We filter all water that enters the trailer 2 times once with a carbon whole house filter and then a second for drinking, coffee making and water for the critters.

Julie told me that our credit card company does charge a fee for conversation We have a Visa card through AARP

Now about cell service, in Alaska it is really good however in Canada it is spotty and some areas non existent, our cell carrier is ATT.

One last thing "slow" means 5 miles per hour not dropping from 75 to 30. Some people will pass you that is OK let them go. That is their rig that is being punished.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

7-19-2011 Tuesday Update

Today we just played tourist and walked around Seward, checking out the sites getting groceries and generally goofing off. Food is really expense here example; bananas that cost 50 to 60 cents a pound in the lower 48, are $1.25 a pound here. If you are thinking about a trip to Alaska you will have to get groceries eventually be sure to get a store card it will save you big bucks.

Tomorrow is a travel day we are headed to Homer to see what they have in the way of interesting things to do, one thing, the salmon are running and that means good fishing. we will be in Homer for 7 days.

Dave

 

[santafedave]

Hey Dave. I caught a 175 lb halibut on a charter trip when I was in Homer. They have a lot of charter boats there. The captain took us all the way out to the Pacific Ocean. Lots of mountains to take pics of and the fishing was great! David.

 

[TXBobcat]

Now about cell service, in Alaska it is really good however in Canada it is spotty and some areas non existent, our cell carrier is ATT.

Dave
We also have ATT. When we went to the maritimes in Canada we had to get an addition to our service that would change the usage charge from about $2.00 per minute to about $0.50 per minute. I got a phone card and just used it to call the family and such. Do you know what your phone charges are for use in Canada?

I was thinking about getting a couple of trac phones from wal-mart when I got up there and used them until we returned to the 48.

BC

 

[davebennington]

Bob,

We changed our service with ATT to World Traveler from the ATT service that we had. BIG mistake they lied to us about keeping pur "A" list, then when we called them on it they said sorry you don't have an "A" list any more, but to make up for the misunderstanding we will give you 5000 minutes. OK I guess we can live with that, WRONG!!! I got a text message this morning that said I was over my $100.00 limit what ever that means. Called them again with out much success , we got the problem exculated to supervisor level and they are to call us back. We will see what lies they tell us this time.

We have a Trac phone for backup I will use it for awhile. Maybe Verizon is in our future.

Dave