Alaska RV Camping Journal- Day 22

RV Camping Home	RV Products/Supplies	Discount Camping	Boondocking	FAQ	Contact
RV Rentals	Public Lands	RV Clubs	RV Parks	Camping Tips	RV News

Alaska Recreational Vehicle Camping Journal

An RV camping trip to Alaska is a dream most RVers will never get to experience. We are fortunate to have been able to spend the time to take this amazing RV camping trip. Follow our daily RV camping travels as we cover over 6000 miles of the most incredible scenery in North America. We'll share a few pictures of the trip along the way, but pictures can not do justice to this beautiful landscape.

The Campers

Passengers on our RV camping trip were Brian, Margie, Helen (Brian's Mom is 87), Casey our 4 ½ year old Golden Retriever, and Sox, a 10 year old gray house cat with an attitude. Brian and Margie have been living full time in their 36' Class A motor home over 3 years, and boondock (remote dispersed camping) almost always. Mom has RV camping experience since she and Brian's Dad owned both a pickup camper, and Class C motor home.

Mileposts

You will notice that we often refer to the Mileposts book throughout the journal entries. We feel that if you drive to Alaska, you MUST have this book! Alaska, and Canada's British Columbia and Yukon are rich in History. Jack London wrote popular novels such as White Fang, and Call of the Wild, and the contemporary poet Robert Service helped make knowledge of life in the north country wilderness well known. The Mileposts book will help you learn about the history as you go, with descriptions of what happened in the past, as well as what to expect on the road ahead.

We recommend that you only use the most current issue of Mileposts as it contains the most up-to-date road and service availability information.

Full Campground

It’s Father’s Day! Did have a signal and was able to call my Dad for a quick visit and to see how he’ll spend the day! A cloudy morning with 53 degrees. I made popcorn with our Hot Air Popper as we had the electricity, and Brian dumped our tanks and refilled with fresh water.

The drive to breakfast was uneventful except for seeing the fisherman on the Kenai River. They call this “combat” fishing and for good reason! The people fishing are only about 10 feet apart along the river! You need protective eye wear to keep from getting a hook in the eye, ear or somewhere else!

We stopped at Gwin’s Lodge at Cooper Landing again and no crowds this morning, they’re all out fishing! This place was hand built with native logs back in 1952 and it really is a good looking log building. Brian has 2 eggs, bacon, home fries & toast, Mom has the biscuits and gravy, and I choose the Mexican scramble….YUMMY, and the service is excellent!!! Mom has had her eye on a large Cinnamon roll so we get one to go.

We are back on the road to Hope and we have plenty of clouds and RAIN! Also more “combat” fishing on the Russian River, which meets up with the Kenai River. Took the Hope turnoff from the Seward Highway, and our “hope” is to find a good camp spot and pan for gold! It’s 17 miles to our campground and we are very disappointed to find that all of the campsites are already reserved and the place is full. We drive around twice just to be sure, and go back out the way we came. The only place to boondock along the road would have been the rest area on the Seward Highway, and that’s too far away. We decide we’ll go back to Wasilla and stay at Mom’s friends RV Park.

We stopped at two different places for fuel along the way--once at Girdwood to make sure we could get to Anchorage--and then again in Anchorage. Better price at the Safeway with our card, but it’s a little difficult
to get into. Mileage at our fill-up was 77265, which means we put on 831miles since we last filled at Anchorage, used 79.414 gallons for a fuel economy of 10.46 mpg. The weather cleared up once we arrived in Anchorage, and it’s windy but we have a partly sunny day for a change!

We arrive at the Big Bear RV Park and get a space for the night. We also fill up with Propane here. $15 for a dry camping space, but the Laundromat there is in good shape and very clean. We get all our bedding washed and get caught up on our laundry.

Mom’s friends come over for a visit and we have Brownies, Ice Cream, and coffee. They used to live in Bellingham, but their kids were here in Alaska so they eventually moved up here rather than make those long trips up to visit.

Brian and I find a phone jack to plug our laptop into, but the price is 10 cents a minute! Yikes! We sure miss our dish……

We grill out and decide to call it a day.

Miles on Gozer 77302 - miles today 238

Road Notes: The road to Hope is winding through thick forest and offers several good views of the Turnagain arm and the mountains surrounding it. Traffic was heavy all the way from the Hope Highway to Anchorage, probably because it’s Sunday and working folks are out recreating.

Tomorrow - Richardson Highway to Valdez

Yesterday - The End Of The Road - Homer