Alaska Bound

[Ol_coot]

Greetings To All, well the time is finally here. We depart for Alaska Wednesday morning. New tires, New brakes, New wheel bearings. Now time to go. Have decided to close my eyes when time to fill-up. And since we will be driving on the top half of tank, will ONLY need half as much...LOL.
Planning to cross border the morning of the 22nd of May at Coutts (Sweetwater) Already logged into AriveCanda with everything. Just need to finalize the night before to cross to obtain our letter code. Planning about 18 days to cross Canada. Taking our time and enjoy that beautiful country.
If you are heading out, keep an eye out for this crazy Texan couple. Pulling a 2002 Cardinal with a 2015 Silverado 2500HD both white. Wave as you go by.
Be safe...Take the time to enjoy the view and meet some really nice people.

[PA12DRVR]

"My feeling is, if you have internet once a week or so to keep in touch that should be enough. Enjoy the trip and relax."

^^^ Ditto. My first trip L48 to Alaska was in either 74 or 76. Flew from Anchorage to Seattle; checked in with the boss via long distance phone. Picked up trucks in the Renton Area (IIRC) to drive back to Alaska...after a day or two of sorting out, checked in with the boss "It's Monday morning, we're leaving".
IIRC, the next places we checked in were Fort Nelson (just checking in) and Whitehorse ("umm, we need you to wire funds, the big truck blew out an axle seal")...all via teletype since for whatever reason we could not get phone service. Checked in twice on what turned out to be (with repairs, etc.) a 2 week + trip. For a then-kid truck driver, it was a great trip. Gravel roads, Rancheria, possibly being "volunteered" to help fight fire, 4-5 days in a motel in Whitehorse, great trip.

[Veebyes]

happycamper1942 wrote:
Why all the concern about having internet? Think back a few years ago when we traveled before the internet was available, now it seems people freak out if they go a day or two without it.
My feeling is, if you have internet once a week or so to keep in touch that should be enough. Enjoy the trip and relax.

My feelings exactly. We are boarding the ferry to Newfoundland tomorrow where phone service can be just as sketchy a the NW provinces & Alaska.

We touch base whenever we can but nobody panics when we disappear for a few days.

How did anyone survive a remote road trip before the cellphone?

[happycamper1942]

Why all the concern about having internet? Think back a few years ago when we traveled before the internet was available, now it seems people freak out if they go a day or two without it.
My feeling is, if you have internet once a week or so to keep in touch that should be enough. Enjoy the trip and relax.

[Ol_coot]

Excellent point to remember exchange rate. As of this morning,
1 US dollar equaled $1.26 Canadian.
Weather here in Copper Center just south of Glennallen has been warmer than years past and the river has risen about 3 feet. And of course to make it worse, fish have not arrived here YET..... but that's ok. We are here enjoying watching the eagles.

[StirCrazy]

sljohnson1938 wrote:
wow - 2.29 per liter = 8.70 per gallon.

glad to hear you are doing well .

stu

dont forget the conversion from the cdn buck to the US buck also in there. would probably be high 6 low 7's in US dollars.

[PA12DRVR]

".... We were surprised at how many lakes still had ice."

Can't speak for Canada, but for much of Alaska, spring has been nice, but slow; pretty cool-ish until recently and now (depending where one is at) cooling again.

Local lake that I boat at has lore that "Ice is always out by Mother's day"...except it was nearly two weeks later this year.

[Veebyes]

Yesterday diesel was $2.13lit. Today it is $2.22 in PEI. Should have bought yesterday. $300CDN today & that did not fill it. Newfoundland next week. Scary to think what it is going to be. Last time near $300 was put into the truck was Dawson City, YT. in 2018, & that was a fill of both almost flat empty tanks.

Must be tough on those who live in the areas where prices are high & distances are great. Little crossover SUVs must be looking awfully attractive. I figure near $1 per mile with my 3500.

[Johnny_G1]

Cheaper than most places in California.

[sljohnson1938]

wow - 2.29 per liter = 8.70 per gallon.

glad to hear you are doing well .

stu

[2g_s]

PA12DRVR wrote:
As I recall, we checked in from Edmonton, Watson Lake, and Whitehorse. In between, if the choice was taking a hike or chasing down internet, chasing down the internet lost that particular debate.

We gave a rough itinerary to the kids. We spent approx. one month in Canada & the Yukon before entering Alaska. That was one awesome month without the phone!

[Ol_coot]

Some of the diesel fuel prices we encountered on the way up. Canada is per liter and States per gallon. For Conversion 3.8 liters equals 1 gal.
Whitehorse..........2.29
Fort Nelson.........2.08
Valcan, Alberta.....1.89
Morley, Alberta.... 1.81
Whitecourt, AB......1.85
Dawson Creek, BC....2.01
Watson Lake, YT.....1.28
Haines Junction, YT....
States
Lubbuck, Tx.........5.09
Albuquerque, NM.....5.19
Gallup, NM..........5.35
TOK.....Alaska......5.35
Panguitch, UT.......5.35
Abilene, TX.........5.07
Butte, Mt...........5.44

[Ol_coot]

Greetings again...
Currently sitting just south of Glennallen. Limited to no cell or wi-fi. Comes and goes. Surprise... it's cold, raining and windy....Not really surprised. In Texas it's in the 90's+.
As mentioned, going through Canada after we learned the hard way in 2015. We turn off cell phone take the battery out store phone in a metal box to prevent any connections to system. Jokingly said.... but it was expensive..
As expected, fuel prices were shockers. Might think about selling everything and hitchhike home. DW says no...
Seen 3 mother bears with 3 clubs each. Couple of mountain goats and caribou. 2 rabbits and a bunch of prairie dogs. Not as much wildlife as expected.
Lake Louis was still iced over but still an awesome sight. Destruction bay, yep it too still iced over. We were surprised at how many lakes still had ice.
Haines was just as beautiful as always but you could see they were hit hard by lack of tourists.
Crossing the borders was quick and easy. We had our ArriveCan all prepared and less than 10 minutes were on our way.

[Veebyes]

sljohnson1938 wrote:
it has been two weeks since the OP. i hope all is well.

One of the beauties of a trip north is the enforced disconnect from the rest of the world, sometimes for days at a time.Sometimes no cell service, no OTA TV, no radio even. It's great! The world continues to spin without you being connected.

[sljohnson1938]

hey - olcoot - if you are still headed North, where are you now??

been a month since you posted.

if not - what happen ? hope all is ok.