Dave & Julie's Alaska Adventure

[SilverRhino]

Dave;

We really love following your adventures! I have a question......Did you have to plan out your travel schedule ahead of time to make reservations in the campgrounds? OR Are you able to just drop in and fine a space?

Thanks again for taking the time to share!

Randy

 

[davebennington]

8-2-2011 Tuesday - Update

Randy,

When we started the plan was no plan other than we are going to Alaska. It has held true through out the entire time we have been on the road, this way if we want to stay another day or 3 or 4 at a place we can without having to meet or stick to a schedule. We have from time to time make a reservation a day in advance, if we heard a caravan was going to be at the next place we were going to be. In most of the places along the road there are quite a few campgrounds and they all have been OK most have WIFI of some sort, that is you may have to go the to office to use the WIFI but it is available, TV is an another matter sometimes you are on antenna with very few channels others have cable and that has been OK.

Right now we are in Tok, Alaska and we will be on the road tomorrow on our way to Haines, Alaska.

Dave

 

[leftyf]

8-2-2011 Tuesday - Update

Randy,

Right now we are in Tok, Alaska and we will be on the road tomorrow on our way to Haines, Alaska.

Dave

Did you see HARP??. Tok used to be a wide space in the road with a modular motel and a truck stop.

 

[SouthernNights]

Continuing to follow your travels. Great job on the documentation!

Jim, Dave and Julie have done such a good job documenting this trip is it possible to make it a sticky for future reference and research?

 

[davebennington]

8-3-2011 Wednesday

We are now in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory; the campground is called Kluane RV Park. It is very much the same as other Canadian parks, however it does have full hookups, WIFI (slow) and cable (4 channels) but it works for an overnight stay.

We passed some great scenery along the way here Julie took a few pictures. I was looking over the pictures that we have taken and to be honest the pictures just don’t compare to the real thing.

Tomorrow we should be in Haines, Alaska we are going to try to meet up with Gary & Karen Buxton who have traveled almost the same routes and some of the same things that we have. They are traveling in a Landmark also.

Dave

 

[santafedave]

Hey Dave are you doing all of the driving? David.

 

[davebennington]

Hey Dave are you doing all of the driving? David.

David,

Yes I do the driving and Julie is the navigator, she shares this job with Jack in the box.

 

[davebennington]

8-4-2011 Thursday

We are now in Haines, Alaska, the campground is Haines Hitch-up RV Park. This is one of the nicest parks that we have stayed at in a long while. They are a Good Sam Park with good WIFI, Cable and full hookups. The trip to Haines from Haines Junction was not one that I would like to drive again as it was raining and the clouds were down at the road level and this made visibility about 20 feet in front of the truck.

We had to go to the store for food and supplies as we started to run low on just about everything. After that ordeal, a trip to the Haines Visitor Center was in order then we headed for the Haines Bear viewing area that just so happens to be the best spot for salmon fishing also. We got to see a Mother bear and her cubs fishing for dinner, everyone tells us that there are two mother bears one with two cubs and one with three.

If the weather is good tomorrow we are scheduled to go on a flight to the glaciers. We may be here awhile as there is a lot to do and see in Haines. We will have pictures for you tomorrow for sure.

Gary Buxton came over and introduced himself and we chatted for awhile, I believe he knows all the best fishing spots in Alaska.

Dave

 

[jjwink]

We are also doing an Alaska tour following the International Rally. We are doing ours with a caravan --pros and cons to that method. We are on a strict schedule so our 2 days in Seward were wasted since it was raining when we drove there and rained for 2 days straight. Our tour to see Kenai Fjords was cancelled and we had to move on the next day. It is nice to have all the arrangements -campgrounds and tours- taken care of and to have helpers when you run into trouble --our brake on the right rear locked up when we got to Homer Spit. When the guys got it all apart the pin holding the magnet broke. They pooled their knowledge and resources got us on the road the next day. We are now in Palmer heading to Valdez tomorrow. We have 10 more days on the road with this tour and then will head back to the lower 48 and TN. This is a great trip. We hope you all will make it some time.

 

[davebennington]

We are also doing an Alaska tour following the International Rally. We are doing ours with a caravan --pros and cons to that method. We are on a strict schedule so our 2 days in Seward were wasted since it was raining when we drove there and rained for 2 days straight. Our tour to see Kenai Fjords was cancelled and we had to move on the next day. It is nice to have all the arrangements -campgrounds and tours- taken care of and to have helpers when you run into trouble --our brake on the right rear locked up when we got to Homer Spit. When the guys got it all apart the pin holding the magnet broke. They pooled their knowledge and resources got us on the road the next day. We are now in Palmer heading to Valdez tomorrow. We have 10 more days on the road with this tour and then will head back to the lower 48 and TN. This is a great trip. We hope you all will make it some time.

You have brought forth several good points. We did consider a caravan tour but found it expensive and too ridged as far as timing goes. Your example as to being some place and it rained thus cancelling you activities is a perfect reason to go it alone, when that happens to us and it did we just stay a couple of days longer. Now with that said you also bring up a good point as far as the trouble on the road goes, if you are not comfortable doing repairs on your truck and or trailer then going it alone is not for you. However there a lot of places along the way that will help you with a problem if one occurs.
Now after that long answer to what is a seems to be a simple question you have to do what ever you feel is the best for you.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-5-2011 Friday

Well today was a very interesting day, it did not look like a very nice day for flying but we did go on a plane ride through the east and west glacier mountains in a little puddle jumper. It was very exciting to see the mountain tops and glaciers from the sky and up close.

We also did the walking tour of Hanies, the harbor, Fort Seward and visited a totem pole creation place. It is a real art to making a totem and it also tells a story as well. I did not know that Haines was such a large totem place.There is a hammer museum here in Haines also. We saw a family of swans along the way.

I have tried to include shots of all the different things we did today. It is late I will post the rest of the pictures tomorrow morning.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-5-2011 Friday Update

This is a continuation of the Friday's post.

For all our friends who know us Friday night is always pizza night so we had to find a place that had good pizza, well we did find such a place in Haines it is called Fireweed restaurant. We asked Gary and Karen Buxton to go with us they are staying in the same campground as we are in a Landmark also, we had a good time and a excellent pizza with some new friends.

As I promised here are the rest of the pictures from the flight and the surrounding Haines area.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-6-2011 Saturday

Today we went to the "local appreciation day" at the fair grounds it was an interesting adventure, they had free rides and hot dogs for everyone. Disney made the film " White Fang" here in Haines and when they finished the film Disney was going to destroy the entire set. The towns leaders convinced Disney to let the town keep the set and move it to the fair grounds, and set it up like a little town, it is neat, from the street it looks real. I included the pictures of the movie set town.

We then booked a ferry ride to Juneau for tomorrow.

We did visit the museum in town. Then on to see the bears fish for their dinner. We got a few good pictures on the way and several of the bears fishing for dinner.

Dave

 

[Flying Dutchman]

What are the chances that the picture you took of the cruise ship was the ship that Cheryl, Jim, Nona, and Dave are on. So glad for you that you are having your trip of a lifetime, sure do wish that we were with you. Having a great time however with our Heartland family at the Tennessee inaugural rally in Townsend.

 

[davebennington]

What are the chances that the picture you took of the cruise ship was the ship that Cheryl, Jim, Nona, and Dave are on. So glad for you that you are having your trip of a lifetime, sure do wish that we were with you. Having a great time however with our Heartland family at the Tennessee inaugural rally in Townsend.

Eric,

I do not know it very well might be their ship. If they are scheduled in to anchorage today then we most likely saw their ship. I will post those pictures on the next update.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-7-2011 Sunday

Juneau is the state capital of Alaska and it is the only state capital that does not have a road to it, the only way the reach it is by boat or plane.

Today we went on a cruise to Juneau. It was one of those cruises that let you see a lot of different scenery, along with whales, sea lions, seals, eagles and lighthouses. Anchorage is a cruise ship port they can handle up to 7 at one time. In my opinion Anchorage is a tourist trap catering to the cruise ships. Anchorage does have the Mendenhall Glacier and that is a beautiful place, I have included pictures of the glacier also the falls and the ice burgs that have calved off.

The weather was nice today, warm 70 degrees and no rain. Tomorrow I think we will go and pan for gold then try to get some fishing time in.

Once again it is late I will upload more tomorrow morning.

Dave

 

[sgtbigb]

Dave and Julie,
Just wanted u to know that thur your eyes, I am in Alaska with you. Thank you very much for the photos and God Bless!

 

[davebennington]

8-7-2011 Update

As promised here are the rest of the pictures from the trip to Anchorage.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-8-2011 Monday

Today we went and panned for gold at the Porcupine Mine, Yes we did find gold but it was a little disappointing to say the least. After that we made a trip to the bear watching area saw the mother bear and three cubs, we took several pictures but I am not going to post them because I bet you are getting tired of bear pictures.

We made a final pass around Haines and we saw a Big Country with a Heartland Owners plaque on the back, checked but no one was around.

Tomorrow we will head for Whitehorse, YT.

Dave

 

[davebennington]

8-9-2011 Tuesday

We are now in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. This is just a stopover for a couple of days before continuing on to Skagway, Alaska. We just might make Skagway a day trip. We liked the Hi-Country RV Park so well we decided to stay here again. There are several things we want to do that we missed before.

On the way here we were able to see a lot more because it was bright and sunny, verses all the rain when we drove to Haines. Julie was able to get a few good pictures.

It feels like they are working on every road that we drive on, and the flaggers are so friendly!! When you come to a stop, they come up to your window and tell you what is happening and approximately how long a delay you will have. We had to wait for a pilot truck to lead us about 8 miles where they are working on the road (the pilot truck is really red not brown as pictured and they have a tag) . The road is dirt and they wet it down the best that they can to keep the dust down but it makes a mess of the truck and trailer. The spots that are not watered down it’s like you are in a dust storm (see one of the pictures).

I do not know which is better. The second road repair delay was manned by a stop light (cost cutting I guess).
Dave