This is the fourth in a continuing series about our trip through Canada to Alaska
Saturday’s leg of the trip north to “Seward’s Folly” was another eight hours of being swaddled in beauty. The entire route from Oliver to Canyon Hot Springs borders lakes, including Lake Kalamalaka, “The Lake of Many Colors.” Above us for most of the way were 8,000-foot snow-capped mountains, and along the road were a myriad of different colors of green, in an endless variety of textures.
Lake Kalamalaka, “The Lake of Many Colors.”
Did we enjoy the ride? You bet-cha! Except for a nightmare of trailer maneuvering driving around the City of Vernon, British Columbia, trying to find a sporting goods store with someone competent enough to sell me the right rod and reel for future attempts at landing salmon. More on that in a later chapter.
Monique and I traveled alone today, playing leapfrog with many other members of the caravan, as we each chose different stops on the route. We could all go where we wanted as long as we arrived at the night’s campground by 4:30 p.m.
Members of the group reported seeing eagles landing in their nest, deer, a bear next to the highway, and not-too-wild life at attractions en route.
Beautiful Scenes Along the Road
I’ll take this opportunity to respond to a few questions. First of all, our own question before signing up: Did we really want to be part of a group for 58 days? Our answer is that there is no one in the caravan with whom we wouldn’t enjoy having dinner. It’s a fun-loving, adventurous group. We consider ourselves lucky to be on this trip.
How do we communicate on the road? Each night Ken Adams, our Wagonmaster, previews the next day’s trip, supplemented by our tailgunner, Spence Schaaf’s input, so we hit the road with a good idea of what to do and how to get there. We each have a CB radio to let Spence’s wife Madi know that we are leaving. Throughout the day, we can, but don’t have to let Spence know of delays on the road, but we try to tell him if we will be in camp late. In these mountains and curvy roads, the CB transmission rarely works, so we do the best we can.
We all have cellphones, but Monique and I have ours turned off. As we understand it, every time it searches for the network, it runs up the bill. We called AT&T, our provider, and paid for a reduced per-minute rate when we use the phone in Canada, but it’s still expensive since we are paying a roaming charge. Several other members of the crew I talked with aren’t sure what their arrangement is.
In addition, Monique and I bought 100 minutes per month of air time through OnStar in our truck. It apparently picks up signals from any cell tower around, not from a satellite as I was expecting. There are no additional fees for calls in Canada. And once we get into Alaska, we’re back on our regular plan, same as in the lower 48.
WiFi is available most places: however, my connection last night faded away, so this is being posted 12 hours later.
This is the view from the back of our trailer in Canyon Hot Springs
Should you make the trip on your own or with a group? We’re enjoying the experience, but I suggest that you keep asking others about their trip to Alaska and continue reading about our experiences.
Can you get fuel and services in Canada and Alaska? From what we hear, a drop in tourism has taken a toll on service stations along the way, but we don’t expect to have any real problems filling up or getting repairs.
Bad roads destroy RVs. Many of the people we talked with had some kind of damage, usually nothing more than a rock in the windshield, but nobody had any real, lasting problems. There are bad roads and hazards, but most of the roads are fine in spring and summer.
And as for specific questions about things we’ve seen, in order to keep these blogs to a minimum, I leave out much of the detail. You are invited to search the web for more information.
And, as I intimated in the previous article, we spend lots of hours on the road, then have a travel briefing followed by a social get-together. That doesn’t leave lots of time for writing and processing photos, but I appreciate the opportunity to share the trip with people of like minds.
From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
Stan Zawrotny
On our trip, we had no problem with fuel, but once when I needed a quart of oil, there was none to be found for 200 miles. So you might want to carry some with you or check your oil levels at stops that do have oil. One or two of the out-of-the-way gas stations only accept cash, so be prepared for that.
Stan Zawrotny
Good luck with OnStar. Last summer we weren’t able to connect in Canada very often after we reached the Alaska Highway. In Alaska, we seldom had coverage. The satellites just don’t reach that far north. In the mountainous areas, in the southern parts of Canada, OnStar was hit-or-miss. We really didn’t have reliable coverage until we got back to the lower 48. We ended up with a lot of unused minutes.
Bill
This is a trip I wouldn’t mind taking some day. I would be bringing my dog with me since we are joined at the hip. Do you know anything about what is required to enter Canada with your pet and then to enter the United States again and return home with your buddy?
Ken
We are following your trip with envy. We would like to go next year. Can you send us some info such as itinerary, and with what caravan you are traveling with?
Thanks,
Ken
RV.net Blog Admin
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Ronald Schneider
Thanks for writing look forward to yhe next one every day. Been wanting to make the same trip for years maybe this will get us going, Thank you again
Dave in MN
Appreciate the pics as we may never make the trip but enjoy your points of interest and above all keep the pic’s coming. Wre love hearing the day by day trip log.
Question why when we click on the blogs doesthe site ask us to sign up again and again and again?
We already get the site so this is getting irritating to have to keep going back to re-click the blog.
Jim & Glenna Penny
My wife and I are new to all of this but we plan on Alaska next summer. We very much appreciate your posts and look forward every day to read what you have to say. Again, thank-you for your efforts.
Steve & Mary Margaret
Thank you for the time you take posting your pictures and travels. I look forward every evening reading your adventures. Good Luck with the Salmon
Jane
Enjoy hearing all your adventures on your trip to Alaska…Look forward everyday to reading your blog…We are planning a caravan trip to Alaska next year, but not sure which company to use…am researching them all…we travel 4 months a year in our RV…Do you unhook your truck for your side trips and then meet back at the campsite at 4:30PM? Have fun!!! Keep writing!!! We will probably do a 34 or 45 day trip…we have a long way to travel just to get to Dawson Creek…
Din Milem
Am enjoying your trip with you. Actually I’m reliving the trip we took two years ago. We were three small B plus RVs wandering with no real time restraint or schedule. I think a caravan is great for most folks but would have never worked for us.
Shaine
Its seems that we’re just a few days ahead of you. But we turned east at Golden, not north…