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RE: Trip to Alaska
Can't speak to the Taylor, but I wouldn't take a big MH on either of the other two roads. Just wouldn't be any fun at all and (as mentioned above) size/weight/practicality limits will keep the MH off the Edgerton.
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PA12DRVR
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02/03/12 07:26am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: to Alaska, to carry or not to carry
Are you going to need your TV? Your microwave? Some other high draw appliance? If not, you shouldn't need a generator.....but there's no reason not to take one if you have room for it.
Those of us who live up here don't get out as often as we should and I will readily admit that I've only "camped" in an RV for about 20 days in Alaska, but the lack of a generator has never been a reason not to enjoy the multitude of 5-20 day camping trips that I've taken over much of the state in the 40+ years I've lived here...camping out of a pickup, the PA-12, or a backpack.
A power connection or a generator was an absolute necessity for camping during my late, unlamented sojourn through Texas.
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PA12DRVR
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02/03/12 07:16am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: States names
When I was living in Texas, I eventually came to have some sense of how town names were pronounced (see Mexia above) and it did make some sense.....
...but I could never get my head around how Anahuac (sp? can't recall exactly) was pronounced Anwac instead of An-a-who-ack
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PA12DRVR
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01/30/12 01:28pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Dangers in the Alaska Waters
I'd second everything that Joe b. said. Key points are;
- Hypothermia will get you quicker and more likely than anything else. One cannot, IMNSHO, be prepared for the cold temps of Alaska freshwater in the summer, much less saltwater; stay dry, stay near shore, stay safe
- The wind (particularly if one is wet, see above) can cause safety issues. More frequently, it can cause difficulty in going to where you want to be in the water, particularly on lakes. As Joe said, stay off Skilak, or at least stay near shore.
- WRT to bears, I've lived up here most of my life (other than that unfortunate stint in Texas) and have never seen a bear that I didn't want to see; of course, there's probably a 12' brownie with a sore tooth just waiting to see me next spring. :) Keep a clean camp and use common sense and bears won't be a problem.
- There are multiple lakes all along the road system where one can paddle for a few hours for enjoyment and if you want to cover some distance, there are canoe/kayak trails scattered throughout southcentral (probably elsewhere too, I just haven't paddled much elsewhere)
- I agree that one should watch out for tides and for sealife, but that can be handled; if you want to go in the saltwater, I'd stick to sheltered waters and would not take a trip "overwater" without getting some local input first. I was in my buddy's boat one time and we had to pick up some kayakers who got worn out paddling from Homer to Seldovia. They were so tired that we literally had to lift them into the boat. They hadn't planned properly.
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PA12DRVR
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01/26/12 01:32pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Choices
Have to admit a lot of it "depends": was he flying 1st/business class...and therefore could he sleep on the plane?
Everything else being equal and truly equal, I'd rather spend the 19 hours in Tokyo...if I could sleep on the plane, which ain't happening unless it was business or better class.
If one has only 19 hours, one won't have time to get a good nights sleep and explore anything unique about Houston anyway.....and last, and least, strictly in my opinion, one has to go to the Hill country to get good Texas BBQ.
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PA12DRVR
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01/16/12 10:12am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: The Alcan hwy bumps, bears etc
I haven't driven the southern portion of the Alcan since '98. Given the improvements in the road between '76 and '98, I can only imagine how nice it would seem now compared to nearly 40 years ago.
That being said, I suspect that your statement regarding "nothing worse than the back roads..." is spot on. Just maintain some level of awareness for the road conditions (both Alcan and within Alaska) and you'll be OK.
FWIW, a month (or so) ago I made the trip Los Anchorage -Squarebanks-Glenallen-Anchorage with a pickup hauling a 20' trailer..admittedly not a camper, but I was able to go well over 50 mph for the better part of that entire trip, with a few slower spots where appropriate. Same story on my trip to Valdez in May of this year. Again, be aware of the road conditions and drive accordingly. It is a matter of what one is used to.
Nothing to do with the road conditions, but the leg Glenallen - Copper Center is spectacular when it is -35. Don't want a breakdown though. :)
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PA12DRVR
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01/03/12 07:11am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: weather in summer
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth...in other words, when I was a kid growing up in Los Anchorage/Alaska, one could always tell when summer rolled around: it started raining.
In the past 20 years, at least in Southcentral, there's been a change where the weather is probably just as likely to be nice as it is to be rainy. As others have mentioned, it's a bit of a crapshoot, but in the July/August timeframe, in my view, if you're around Anchorage/Fairbanks or the railbelt (and not on the mountains), it may rain, but it won't be "cold". I prefer a cool/wet summer to a dry and smoky one; my son (who makes his living fighting forest fires) has a strange preference for dry and hot summers.
Cold of course is relative: several days ago it was "almost hot" for December in Anchorage when it was in the upper 30's: My Houston colleagues think that is terribly cold.
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PA12DRVR
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12/24/11 01:10pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Strange RV weather in Anchorage
It was pretty ugly windwise the last couple of nights (not so bad Sunday night). Will wander outside later (circa 10 a.m. ) when it gets light and see what damage the wind has wrought.
Fortunately, we have no big trees in the yard...several folks nearby lost fences and greenhouses (no house damage in our area yet) to blown-over trees.
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PA12DRVR
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12/19/11 07:50am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Please help us choose RV size and floor plan for 1st RVer
I would think (since you've driven a 30' UHaul) that a bit of careful practice will get you up to speed on any of the sizes that GAH rents as far as parking and turning.
I would hope that you spend a fair amount of time outside of the RV when you're up here for your 2 -1/2 weeks...so make sure it's big enough to sleep in and store your stuff, but I wouldn't base your size decision on "living" in the RV for the time you're up here. Along those same lines, I'd pick whichever seems most suitable for driving: you'll probably cover a fair amount of ground in your time up here. Personally, I can't imagine that any of the rental sizes would be significantly more or less convenient to deal with in towns and I don't think even the largest will be a problem in the campgrounds.
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PA12DRVR
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12/15/11 11:13am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Which movies do you like to watch more than once ?
Tombstone
LOTR trilogy
Josie Wales
A Man for All Seasons
Shawshank Redemption
The Mountain Men
Deliverance
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PA12DRVR
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12/12/11 10:15am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Question for pilots.
As the proud owner of a (now thrice) restored/rebuilt PA-12 (a tube-and-rag vs. aluminum) plane, a few thoughts....I agree the lower speed is more likely than the book speed
- While I'm not familiar with the available engine mods for the Cherokee, on many Pipers, STC's are available for bigger engines
- Engine accessories (carbs, magnetos, etc) wear just as does the iron on an engine and even a small dip in performance of the accessories can impact the overall power output of the engine
- Older a/c pick up an amazing amount of "invisible" weight due to dirt, moisture, pebbles, pencils, lost shotgun shells, etc; this weight will impact flying speed
- "modern" instrument panels are more cluttered and therefore heavier than original factory panels. On mine, although no one instrument is very large, I have a GPS, xponder, comm, VSI, intercom, and variety of instrument/external light controls that were not on the original. I'd guess that my panel weighs maybe 50#'s more than did the original.
I'm still tweaking my -12 after the rebuild and have about determined that either the tubing going too the airspeed indicator or the airspeed indicator itself is messed up: done enough flying to believe that (even in still air) the airspeed indicator is about 10 - 12 mph below the GPS. Fortunately, (it's a -12 after all!), I've had enough time now to know when it will start flying as well as stop flying....both well short of when the airspeed indicator comes alive.
Finally, I'm not sure, but I believe that the published cruise speed was primarily designed/driven by the manufacturer while the "maximum" speed was based (at least) on the FAA's concurrence with teh manufacturer's engineering review of the speed at which damage might occur (plus a safety margin).
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PA12DRVR
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12/09/11 01:06pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Best ways to protect tow vehicle and trailer from gravel?
Would suggest headlight protectors and common sense speeds/tailing distance. Won't need much else unless, as noted previously, you want some screening to assist in blocking bugs.
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PA12DRVR
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11/03/11 12:07pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Alaske 2012
Just a quick note to pick up on a previous comment about flightseeing....folks, if there's any way you can set a bit aside to take a flight seeing trip, please do so.
I live in Alaska, have for the better part of my life and, with a few small exceptions, have driven every road in the state....but there's nothing to compare to seeing Alaska from the air. Skip a few meals out, or something, but if you can free up a few hundred $$ for a flightseeing trip, it will really make your Alaska experience something else.
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PA12DRVR
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10/20/11 09:22pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: What is the best place you've ever eaten at on the road?
Travelbugger,
Hang in there....I left AK for what I thought would be 18 - 24 months. Turned into 8.5 years. I reached the point where I told my employer that I was leaving (had job in hand etc), and they said "You want to live in Alaska? You've got a computer don't you".....and so I'm back in Alaska; 5 years later than I thought, but oh, well.
FGC is in Dallas and Austin as well if you don't want to come all the way to Ewe-stun.
Another good restaurant in Ewe-Stun (in the area actually, there's 3 or 4 of them) is Perry's. Their grilled pork chop is very mouth-watering.
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PA12DRVR
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10/10/11 04:09pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: What is the best place you've ever eaten at on the road?
"If any of you ever end up in Anchorage, Alaska- I know of some great places to eat there as well. Some fancier than others. Lots of great food up there! Unless you're into BBQ, which it seems a few of you on here are. =)"
Anchorage is definitely light on good BBQ. A couple of adequate places, but nothing to write home about.
Alaska/Anchorage places: Crows Nest, Seven Glaciers, Noisy Goose (Palmer, for Breakfast) Eureka Roadhouse (for breakfast), Club Paris (although not what it used to be) and Kincade (sp?) Grille; LaVelle's Bistro in Fairbanks;
On the road places: Kruez Smokehouse, Lockhart Texas; Lamberts, Foley Alabama (home of the Throwed Rolls, notable for ambience moreso then food); Wolf Lodge, just outside of Couer d'Alene, Idaho, great steaks cooked over a wood fired grill;
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PA12DRVR
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10/07/11 08:03am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: potential 2012 Alaska trip - advice please
One place to visit that often (IMHO) gets overlooked is Talkeetna. It is a great way to break up a drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage on the Parks that can (Alors!) become somewhat boring south of McKinley.
Talkeetna is a funky little town that is a great jumping off spot for rafting, fishing, and flightseeing. During the summer, when I visit there, I raise the average age by 10 years and I swing the political inclinometer far to the right.
In the winter I fit right in. :)
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PA12DRVR
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10/06/11 11:10am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Selling an RV in AK
No direct personal experience, but would agree with teh others....probably not going to pay for your trip.
If you want to turn a few bucks, if you can drag a utility trailer (empty) behind your Class A or Class C, you'll probably be able to sell it for at least a bit more than you paid for it. Not a way to get rich, but pays for a bit of gas. I've turned 3 trailers this way (ranging from a kit trailer from Lowes to a Trail-king 40K trailer) and was always able to make a bit of profit. Pretty sure that it more than covered the extra fuel, but wasn't always able to calculate that precisely.
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PA12DRVR
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10/06/11 11:01am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Fall Pictures, Alaska - Yukon
Just one....let's see if it works.
http://tinypic.com?ref=105xgqw" target="_blank">
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PA12DRVR
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10/06/11 10:47am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Diesel fuel in Alaska
Over the span of the past two weeks saw diesel prices range from 4.68 (Glitter Gulch as they were turning out the lights and locking the doors) to 4.15 (Los Anchorage, just yesterday).
There's diesel available in Alaska just like anywhere else.
Have been up here long enough now to dislike "rush hour" in Los Anchorage. Thank goodness ( :( ) for routine trips to Ewe-stun to remind me what traffic is.
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PA12DRVR
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10/06/11 10:29am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Kenai salmon
Keep in mind that (IIRC) the 230K fish are red salmon. While it is always fun to fish, reds are pretty hard to catch on anything except a fly (although I've heard, or my friend says, or something like that that one can just snag them in the mouth :) ) and the bulk of the 230K fish that are caught will be caught in the residents-only personal use dipnet fishery.
Still, wish I was up there rather than in Ewe-Stun this week.
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PA12DRVR
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07/21/11 03:00pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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