Casa Grande, AZ: Alaska Travel Planning

Most of our travel planning is done pretty informally. Actually, we may be at whatever level is below informal since we rarely make any travel plans more than a day or so in advance. When we are on the road we like to take our time, stay as long as we want, explore as much as we want and then move on.

Last year we were gone for 9 months and the only reservations we made in advance was to be at our son's wedding (seemed to be a good idea to put it on the calendar) and we made a reservation for a week in Key West three weeks in advance since the RV parks in Key West are frequently completely full. Other than that, we 'winged it'. 

Usually we stay at an RV park for at least a  week since you get a better price than the daily rate when you stay a week and an even better rate when you stay a month. On travel days we would make a call or two around 4 pm to see if the RV park we were near had any space for our rig. And I can't recall being turned down. There is almost always space available.

However, travel planning for our Alaska trip is taking a little more effort. We want to take the Alaskan Ferry System through the inland passage either on our way to Alaska or on our return from Alaska. The Ferry System in Alaska is quite robust and can handle almost any size truck/RV combination, including 18 wheelers. 

That said, you need a reservation to take the Alaska State Ferry system since it does fill up in the summer months. 

Taking the ferry on the way up to Alaska has the benefit of allowing you to use your reservation early in the trip; then you can stay as long as you want in Alaska and drive south at your leisure.

Taking the ferry on the way back means no matter what happens or how much longer you might want to stay, you have to get to Haines by a specific date or you'll miss your reservation. The knowledge that we have to be in a specific part of Alaska on a specific date will be hanging over us for the whole time we are travelling in Alaska. 

So that's one big decision although I think we are leaning towards taking the inland passage on the way up. 

Another big decision is when to 'enter' Canada and Alaska, which is really more of a weather related decision than anything else. We want at least 2 full months in Alaska or even a little more. However you pretty much need to be out of Alaska mid-September at the latest since RV's don't do well on snow and ice.

So we are balancing wet months Vs dry(er) months, lots of mosquito's Vs fewer mosquito's, temperatures, peak fishing periods etc. For instance, there are five varieties of salmon and when they run varies by type of salmon and by which river. So many decisions.

To top it off I am trying to decide exactly what we'll need while traveling through Canada & Alaska, so I can order anything that needs ordering, install anything that needs installing, etc.

I know I want a Toad Cover, which is a large piece of heavy duty fabric that protect the front of the toad from any rocks kicked up by passing trucks. 

So I'll leave you now and return to my Alaska books, guides, magazines, and maps, all of which purport to tell me the 'best way' to see Alaska. And of course, not all of them agree. Oh well.

See Ya!