Larry-Jan-TVC.net

 

The plan is to leave Traverse City the 20^th of May and return around the 1^st of October.  The schedule is 80% open and we will determine for the most part what is next along the way. We do have some reservations where we expect to have competition for RV sites and related activities. Here is a rough plan of where we will be and when:

• The route will be through Ontario around the top of Lake Superior.
• The plan is a Northern Canadian route through Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  Travel will be through Winnipeg and Saskatoon ultimately arriving at Edmonton, Alberta.
• We are taking a side trip to the Northwest Territories going as far North as Great Slave Lake.  This will be a loop where we end up on the Alaskan Highway (AH).
• The AH will take us through the Yukon Territory to Alaska.  We will make another side trip on the Klondike Highway from Tok to Dawson City where we will experience “The Top of The World Highway”.  As this highway is not RV friendly will leave it behind for part of this adventure.
• The target date of June 14^th we will arrive in Fairbanks.  The next day we head north to Coldfoot, Deadhorse, and Prudhoe Bay via the Ice Highway.  Again the RV gets to stay behind for a few days.  We get to rough it by staying in Oil Field Camps at Coldfoot and Deadhorse.  The highlight of this journey will be traveling North of the Arctic Circle and getting to wade in the Arctic Ocean.
• Back to Fairbanks for a week before moving on to Denali for a few days.
• After Denali we head to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula for three weeks.
• We will hit Valdez on our way to Haines where we pick up the ferry (with the RV) to Juneau.  This will take us a couple of weeks.  The ferry reservations are for August 2 and August 11^th.
• We have reservations at Juneau for 10 days.  Three of which we will make a side trip to Sitka, again without the RV.
• Leaving Juneau we will take the ferry to Skagway for a few days before heading off to the Canadian Rockies (Jasper/Banff).  We will take a week or two to get there and staying a couple of week exploring that part of the world.
• After that we head home with a target date around the 1^st of October.

The route will cover over 11,000 pulling the RV plus many side trips.  We are really looking forward to this adventure.  The plan is to keep everyone posted along the way.  As usual we will take lots of pictures and plan to share them via the web site when we can.

Note the map at the beginning of this post which will give you an idea of where we are going.

Both Jan and I will keep our pictures and a dialog going on line.  Jan’s link is on the front page of this web site.

 

The Alaska trip has been in our sights for the last three years and for one reason or another it never became reality. Finally, this year is the right time.  The plan was to take on a Workamping job in Fairbanks which included a nice balance of work and play.  However as winter ended and health issues rose to the top of the priorities, it was determined it was in our best interest to let the gig go.  We had worked hard to find the right position so it was difficult to move past it.  However as time went on it was clear that was the right decision.

 

 

 

We got back to Michigan in April from a winter in Texas.  The original schedule was to be in Fairbanks by the 15^th of May.  The lesson learned was not to come back North so early next year.  The warm Texas weather seems much easier to take. The mid-west greeted us with a storm along the way with plenty of snow to remind us what winter is all about.  With so much snow in the driveway, heavy equipment had to be brought in to make way for the RV.  However, Mother Nature redeemed herself by showing off her grandeur as you can see from the “Kodak Moment” capturing the results of a late season snow/Ice storm.

 

Eventually all the snow went away.  With warmer spring weather (after the winter that would not end) made getting the RV ready for travel and sprucing up the yard to leave much more pleasurable.  Life is looking good as we come into the last week before hitting the road.  The trip which will be over four months covering over 11,000 miles requires very detailed planning at least from the “MBA” perspective side of the partnership.  The main route is in place and the key reservations are made.  You should see the list of things planned.  We wonder if we can work all of them in the next few months.

 

 

It was good being home catching up with folks and local activities.  The Traverse City region is doing a great job with the trail system (TART).  The downside is the call of trail can get in the way of the To Do List. Although not too sure we feel too guilty about the time spent walking and biking there.  The Sleeping Bear National Park (Sand Dunes) is always a pull.  We did manage to get out there for a day to enjoy the new bike trail and do one of our favorite spring hikes. Lots and lots of Trilliums and the views are spectacular.  We were hosts at the D.H. Day Campground last spring.  Going back stirs up a lot of good memories of meeting all the campers and working with the folks at the park. Of course there are pictures…

Our time here is counting down quickly as we plan to leave Monday (May 20^th).  We are anxious to get going to realize the dream of heading “North to Alaska” (I think there is a song and movie with that title).  The sunrises over Grand Traverse Bay which we enjoy with our morning coffee will always call us back to Traverse City.  Stay tuned as next I will post more about our planned summer adventure.  There will be updates along the way as well.

Larry and Jan