On the Road to Alaska
06-01-2016
Author: in JeepandRV
So...How did the Boyds start their journey to Alaska this year? Read about their exciting start below!
While we are sad to be leaving eastern Wyoming as we really enjoyed our stay at Keyhole State Park and Devils Tower KOA the day has finally arrived…North to Alaska!
This is our second drive up so we are a bit better prepared this year. I have chatted with some friends who have already made the trip up so know that the roads are clear but that it is going to be slow going from Whitehorse to Glenallen. Our original route for today would have been to leave Devils Tower KOA and drive up to Billings, then cut across to Great Falls before finishing out the day crossing the border at Sweet Grass and finding a good pull off spot just over the border. After looking over our notes from last year though we realized that it made more sense to detour a little to Butte in order to ship our handguns directly from Three Bears Butte to Three Bears Wasilla. Last year we shipped from the Gillette UPS center to Three Bears Tok but the cost was quite high. Going to Butte added two hours of drive time but saves some money and is a easier drive since it stays on the interstate. Will reserve judgment yet on if it is as scenic since we just went through Billings. You could not ask for better weather with blue skies and minimal winds, the views of the snow capped Absaroke-Beartooth Wilderness are a great preview of what we will have for the next three months. Hopefully we can get the guns dropped off for shipment and make it another 100 miles down the road. That will put us crossing into Canada early morning Friday.
Last year we went up a few weeks later and were able to stay a day and a half at Lake Louise in Banff but since we are heading out earlier this year the campgrounds are not open yet so we have decided to stay on the way back. We have promised each other that we will not try to do marathon days, we have a bad habit of driving from dawn to dusk but with 2682 miles to get to Tok that will just leave us exhausted and cranky. Our goal is to push a bit harder (500-700 miles) the first three days as experience shows that section of road to be quite nice but not very scenic, then slow down and find at least one short hike (2-3 miles) a day to explore and keep the joints loose the rest of the way.
To get ready for the trip up this time, Jim has been busy. He changed the windshield wipers out, took the RV to have it’s yearly oil change, put gear oil in the front axles, lubed the trailer axles, tightened up everything that might need it, made sure the basement was snug, and got the jeep up on the trailer and tied down. We do still need to attach the rock guard but will wait until a few days in as the first section of the road is standard highways. I worked on moving food items around to make it easy to get to quick healthy snacks, cleaned out all of the fruits & vegetables for the border crossing, double checked for any changes on what you can take across the border, used up the last eggs and bananas making banana bread (can take it across and a tasty snack), made sure everything was ready for the bumpy roads, and then cleaned the house. I also ordered our Advocare Sparks to be delivered to Homer as I know from last year that mail to and from Alaska is very very slow.
I love the RV lifestyle. Tuesday night we met a family from Alaska who took a year off, packed up their two boys, and came down to the lower 48 to travel around showing their kids the country while homeschooling. The same night another couple pulled into the park who had retired from Alaska and who had lived just a couple of miles down the road from the family. Small world.
Read More about Alaska Here:
While we are sad to be leaving eastern Wyoming as we really enjoyed our stay at Keyhole State Park and Devils Tower KOA the day has finally arrived…North to Alaska!
This is our second drive up so we are a bit better prepared this year. I have chatted with some friends who have already made the trip up so know that the roads are clear but that it is going to be slow going from Whitehorse to Glenallen. Our original route for today would have been to leave Devils Tower KOA and drive up to Billings, then cut across to Great Falls before finishing out the day crossing the border at Sweet Grass and finding a good pull off spot just over the border. After looking over our notes from last year though we realized that it made more sense to detour a little to Butte in order to ship our handguns directly from Three Bears Butte to Three Bears Wasilla. Last year we shipped from the Gillette UPS center to Three Bears Tok but the cost was quite high. Going to Butte added two hours of drive time but saves some money and is a easier drive since it stays on the interstate. Will reserve judgment yet on if it is as scenic since we just went through Billings. You could not ask for better weather with blue skies and minimal winds, the views of the snow capped Absaroke-Beartooth Wilderness are a great preview of what we will have for the next three months. Hopefully we can get the guns dropped off for shipment and make it another 100 miles down the road. That will put us crossing into Canada early morning Friday.
Last year we went up a few weeks later and were able to stay a day and a half at Lake Louise in Banff but since we are heading out earlier this year the campgrounds are not open yet so we have decided to stay on the way back. We have promised each other that we will not try to do marathon days, we have a bad habit of driving from dawn to dusk but with 2682 miles to get to Tok that will just leave us exhausted and cranky. Our goal is to push a bit harder (500-700 miles) the first three days as experience shows that section of road to be quite nice but not very scenic, then slow down and find at least one short hike (2-3 miles) a day to explore and keep the joints loose the rest of the way.
To get ready for the trip up this time, Jim has been busy. He changed the windshield wipers out, took the RV to have it’s yearly oil change, put gear oil in the front axles, lubed the trailer axles, tightened up everything that might need it, made sure the basement was snug, and got the jeep up on the trailer and tied down. We do still need to attach the rock guard but will wait until a few days in as the first section of the road is standard highways. I worked on moving food items around to make it easy to get to quick healthy snacks, cleaned out all of the fruits & vegetables for the border crossing, double checked for any changes on what you can take across the border, used up the last eggs and bananas making banana bread (can take it across and a tasty snack), made sure everything was ready for the bumpy roads, and then cleaned the house. I also ordered our Advocare Sparks to be delivered to Homer as I know from last year that mail to and from Alaska is very very slow.
I love the RV lifestyle. Tuesday night we met a family from Alaska who took a year off, packed up their two boys, and came down to the lower 48 to travel around showing their kids the country while homeschooling. The same night another couple pulled into the park who had retired from Alaska and who had lived just a couple of miles down the road from the family. Small world.
Read More about Alaska Here:
Day Two: Crossing Canada to Alaska
Cassiar Highway in the Spring
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Author: Cindy & Jim Boyd-Snethen
