I would do it all again in a heartbeat!
We spent 4 months in a Winnebago View class C motorhome driving from Wisconsin to Fairbanks, Alaska and back with our 80+ lb. dog, and 16 lb. cat. We specifically bought this motorhome to ensure easier travel and yet be roomy enough and comfortable for our large senior dog. He was very unsure in the beginning, but we kept making little changes to make him comfortable and he was so happy to be with us.
Our little motorhome worked out great. We were small enough to fit into most campsites so that campgrounds that had few sites left were usually able to accommodate us. And we were able to dry camp or boondock easily especially because we were outfitted with a propane refrigerator, two solar panels, a diesel generator and larger batteries.
We crossed from the US to Canada at Sweetgrass, Montana and traveled through the Canadian Rockies National Parks. We’ve been there several times before and they never disappoint. In a nutshell, EXTREME BEAUTY! Rugged and raw wilderness. And it never stopped after that as we followed the Alaskan Highway through British Columbia, the Yukon, and then Alaska.
We had joined a FaceBook group called RVing to Alaska 2018 and even purchased a sticker with that logo to put on to the motorhome. With that, we were able to follow up to the minute posts of road conditions and travel hints and see loads of beautiful photos. We also got to meet many members of the group, because we all looked for each others stickers. This was definitely one of the most social trips we had ever been on and didn’t have to pay the high prices of caravan tour groups. We cherish our new friends, keep up with them on FB, and even meet up with them again as we travel through the US.
We also used two books as our bibles; The MilePost and Traveler’s Guide to Alaskan Camping by Mike and Terri Church. These books were invaluable in guiding us to places that we wanted to see and stay at.
Hmmm. My favorite places:
- Valdez. And be sure to take a glacier and wildlife tour on the Lu Lu Belle.
- Haines. Really, it was all about the bears on the Chilkoot River. We came at a good time when the salmon were running and the bears were out a lot. We really got to know them and I could’ve watched them for weeks.
- Denali National Park. Although we never got to see Mt. McKinley in the park because of clouds (we saw it from nearby Talketna, though) the scenery, the abundant wildlife, the trails and raw everything was amazing. We stayed a week and wished we had stayed longer.
- The Kenai Peninsula. This includes camping on the beautiful Kenai Lake near Moose Pass, Seward, driving and camping along the Cook Inlet, and the Portage Glacier area. There were more special spots that we missed there and need to go back to explore.
Next time, I would like to leave earlier. Hopefully that would allow us to have more of the nicer weather in June andJuly and avoid some of the problems of fires on the way home.
It was a trip of a lifetime and I am so grateful that we were able to do it. Hopefully, we will get an opportunity to do it again. It was wonderful to be able to take our dog along, although as a senior canine with some serious problems, we weren’t sure he was going to hang in there for the entire trip. But he did and it was great! He loved all the new smells and new friends he made too!