Last summer's RV Trip in Alaska with kids

[sdfamily]

It sounds like people are starting to plan their '09 trips to Alaska. Here's my abbreviated trip report from '08.

 

We spent 9 nights in 2 RV's on land before our 7-day cruise. I'll just detail the RV portion here and do the cruise part in another thread. 'We' are a family of 5 with 3 boys (9, 7, and 2) traveling with my in-laws.

 

Day 1 - arrived in Anchorage early am after staying in Seattle the night before. Picked up RV#1 in anchorage and headed to Wasilla. Stopped at Thunderbird Falls for hike along the way. It was very beautiful and quick. Picked up RV#2 in Wasilla, hit Wal-Mart and Carrs. Stayed at Finger Lakes campground. It was raining during the day, but cleared up around 9 or 10 pm. It was clear and stunning. Finally, tossed the kids in bed around midnight after roasting marshmallows in the blazing midnight sun.

 

Day 2 - slept to the sound of rain and woke up with rain. Our plans had been to head to Denali first. But, given the weather we rescheduled our flightseeing trip and headed East on the Glenn Highway. Stopped, again, at Fred Meyer in Palmer. Visited the Matanuska Glacier and did a short hike in the rain. Stayed overnight at the Tolsona Wilderness campground. It was a great campground and the kids had a fun time running around. Had dinner 'early' this night around 10 pm:=)

 

Day 3 - headed towards Valdez in the morning. The weather looked not so good for the PWS boat cruise, so we adapted again and headed towards McCarthy. We dropped one RV at the Kenny Lake campground and motored on...This was really an adventure we were VERY fortunate that it was spectacular and not a disaster. The road is everything that is reported. Good in some sections and not so good in others. It was raining throughout the day and driving was slow. It took us about 4 hours from Kenny Lake. We saw a bald eagle and a bear along the road and stopped for a much needed coffee and ice cream. We arrived in McCarthy in time for the 3:30 mill tour with St. Elias guides. The tour was awesome and I highly recommend it. If you take the trouble to go all the way out there, you need to take the tour to get into the building. It was really fascinating, and my kids were riveted. We had dinner in McCarthy and headed back down the road. Arrived in Chitna, well after midnight....Again, not the smartest move, but we enjoyed every minute.

 

Day 4 - weather was clearing and we headed to Valdez for PWS tour with Stan Stephens. The drive was breathtaking. We arrived in Valdez and boarded the Valdez Spirit for the tour. I would have to say that this was one of the highlights of our trip. The weather was clear and the views were unbelievable. We saw sea lions, humpback whales, eagles and the magnificent Columbia Glacier. The 2YO did great on the boat! Surprise, Surprise!

 

Day 5 - we debated on spending another day in Valdez, but trekked on. Some of our party did the trek on the Worthington Glacier and really enjoyed it . Again, the weather cooperated and it was beautiful. We picked them up at the glacier and headed north on the Richardson. About 1 hour into the drive, BOOM, 2 flat tires on RV#2!!!! DH and FIL employed all their MacGyver techniques and fixed the flat on tire #1 and changed to the spare on tire #2. While they were using the generator to pump up the tires, we heated the pizza from the night before and had lunch:=) We were a bit delayed due to the tire 'issue' and stayed overnight at Sourdough River Campground after checking the tires in Glenallen. This campground was gorgeous and we again had dinner around 11pm and roasted marshmallows under the midnight sun.

 

Day 6 - went for a hike around the campground and explored the river. Packed up after lunch and headed for Fairbanks. Stopped at a pipeline display and Rika's Roadhouse before arriving in Fairbanks. Dropped of DH, FIL and DS (9) at the Goldpanners baseball game and stayed at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds Campground. Did laundry and had a quiet evening (so to speak).

 

Day 7 - Headed to 'used' tire store for 2 'new' tires. Tire store found a nail in RV#1 and pulled it and fixed THAT flat. Headed to U of AK Museum of the North then on to Hot Licks for ice cream an onto Denali (we move fast...). Internet site messed up our reservations for Riley Creek, so we drove to Savage River and back (saw a moose and baby) and then checked in at Carlo Creek Campground south of Denali. This was a fabulous place and just stunning. They gave us the group site and we camped by the river.

 

Day 8 - Went to Denali for the day, but did not take a shuttle bus. 2 Year-olds do not belong on a bus. Saw the sled dogs and took a hike or two. Stayed again at Carlo Creek.

 

Day 9 - got up early (for us) and headed south to Talkeetna for noon flightseeing. It was really rainy so they rescheduled us for 7 pm. We messed around Talkeetna. They have a really cool new kids playground that my kids spent hours at. Finally convinced the rest of the family to take the flight even though the weather was not clear (in fact, it was rainy and overcast). Well....they thanked me over and over! The trip was unbelievable! We saw Denali and flew under a rainbow. The scenery is indescribable. We had dinner in Talkeetna and headed south overnight near Willow.

 

Day 10 - cleaned up our RVs, did laundry, returned RV#2, stopped at Wal-Mart, picked up rental minivan, picked up dry cleaning, returned RV#1, drove towards Whittier for cruise, realized that we left kids' backpacks in RV#1, drove back to Anchorage, drove back towards Whittier, went to liquor store :=), and boarded cruise ready to be taken care of for a week!

 

I'm happy to answer any questions about RVing or traveling in Alaska with children.

[melodyina]

Good morning, I read your post twice while drinking my coffee, the 2nd time outloud to my DH. You touched on so many points - Be flexible and also expect rain. :-). My question - did you have reservations at your RV campgrounds, or did you stop at the nearest to where you were at that time of day?

[sdfamily]

We initially had reservations at Denali. I put it at the beginning of our trip, so we wouldn't be pressured to arrive at other campgrounds at certain dates. All of the other campgrounds did not require reservations. We found that there was plenty of space at each of the campgrounds. On the way to Fairbanks, we did call the campgrounds to check for availability (I think the reason was that it was a Saturday night).

 

We used Mike and Terri Church's book: "The Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping". You will kind of have to plan ahead, although reservations are not required. The distances between sights and campgrounds are large. If we passed on one campground, sometimes it was another 100 miles before the next one. With their book, you could look at the map and decide if you wanted to stay at one place or continue on to the next.

 

When we started the only reservations we had were for Denali camping, Denali flightseeing, and the Valdez boat trip. We hung out in Wasilla waiting for the call from Talkeetna Air Taxi as to whether their flights were going up for that day. Once we found out they were not, we rescheduled for later in the week (weather was projected bad for the next few days) and headed in the other direction. Rescheduling the boat trip was not a big deal.

 

I would say that the flightseeing was one of the highlights of our trip and am glad we rerouted in order to give us another day for the flight.

[santamaria]

I'm curious about why you drove the McCarthy road but not the Denali Highway - did you just want to go to Fairbanks for a few hours? Also, is there no problem with the RV rental company on those roads? Thanks

[sdfamily]

santamaria - good questions...

 

We wanted to go to Fairbanks because my FIL was stationed there many years ago. In retrospect, could have probably skipped it and taken the Denali highway.

 

We rented our RVs from private parties. The McCarthy side trip was a last minute idea. Again, probably not the best one.....

[kenish]

We were there last July and can relate to the rain, rain, and more rain theme! You sound like us, we just rolled with the punches and accomodated what Mother Nature dished out instead of getting all bent out of shape! I have to admit we were disappointed when our Talkeetna Air Taxi flight was cancelled both chances. At least we saw the mountain from the shuttle bus.

 

BTW, last night there was a program called "Untouched America" on Travel Channel. It featured Alaska and Hawaii and showed a lot of the 9 hours of bad road between ANC and Mc Carthy. A lot of the focus was Wrangell-St. Elias NP and Kennecott.

[sdfamily]

kenish - You and I were planning (or over-planning;)) our trips at the same time last year. Thanks for the heads up on the Travel Channel program, I'll look for it. Too bad you missed the Talkeetna Air Taxi trip, it really was spectacular. Gives you a reason to return soon.....

 

In retrospect, the over-planning (think spreadsheet), enabled us to be flexible with the weather.

[kenish]

sdfamily- I remember!! Glad both our trips were great, I'm planning the next one. We realized we saw a lot but barely scratched the surface. Most of our trip went like clockwork and there were a lot of good, unexpected things that added to the planned things.

[tee_harbor]

Great read! How did you find private RV rentals? This is something I've really wanted to do--seems the best way to see Denali without worrying about getting a bed--but the rental agency prices make my eyebrows go up.

 

I have to think RV parks will continue to be easy to just drop into. The last couple of summers, the price of gas stopped people from coming, and now I'd think the worries about the economy will keep people from spending thousands to drive to AK.

[sdfamily]

craigslist! It's the best thing ever, need I say more. There were lots of choices from Class A's to Class C's.

[tee_harbor]

I realize, I think this is the first time I've asked a question, instead of sticking my nose into other people's questions! If I were to do this, it would just be with my Mom or one friend, so I wouldn't need the big ones that agencies have. That's a great lead; thanks!

 

How did you handle the insurance? Between the double-flat story, and the drive up to McCarthy, you certainly prove that it can be necessary.

[sdfamily]

Our primary auto insurance is USAA. We just called and asked about a 'binder' for renting an RV (which we were covered for). We blurred the lines between renting from a private party and a 'company' and they faxed the binder to our rentors.

 

Technically, we were probably covered renting from a private party, but it was just easier to make them think is was from a company.