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Trip Summary; Minnesota to Alaska

Wow. WTF was I thinking? Driving from Minnesota to Alaska. Moving a household meant flying was out and taking the ferry from Seattle won’t work either due to the pets, so the only option left was a road trip from Minnesota to Juneau, AK via Skagway, AK. After a rough start the trip turned out to be a blast, but draining with long hours behind the wheel. Towing the trailer meant it was difficult to stop on a dime and there are many places in western Canada I would love to revisit. My apologies to central Canada, but you’re as flat as a 6th grader and quite boring. So, anyways a quick overview of the trip; 7/22/2007 - 7/31/2007:

Day 1 and 1.5: Minneapolis, MN -> Winnipeg, MB
Day 2: Minnedosa rest stop -> Saskatoon, SK
Day 3: Saskatoon, SK -> Whitecourt, AB
Day 4: Whitecourt, AB -> Ft. Nelson, BC
Day 5: Ft. Nelson, BC -> Watson Lake, YT (Woot, I’m in the Yukon!)
Day 6: Watson Lake, YT -> Teslin, YT
Day 7: Teslin, YT -> Skagway, AK
Day 8-9: Skagway, AK
Day 10: Skagway, AK -> Juneau, AK; via the ferry

Total Miles: 2,900 miles
Total Days on the Road: 10 days

Check out the individual “Day” posts for details on each day as well as links to pics, etc….

(editor’s note: the “Day” posts have artificial timestamps; antedated to correlate to my trip)

Tagged alaska, driving, minnesota, trips

2007 11 11 rhavenn Trips and Travels Comments (0) Permalink

Yes folks! The blog is back!

It’s new! It’s improved! It doesn’t have the nasty green grass headline picture anymore! The blog is back.

2007 11 08 rhavenn General News Comments (1) Permalink

Day 4: Whitecourt to Fort Nelson

My back surprisingly doesn’t hurt. Hurray for the small things. I bid adieu to Whitecourt and headed towards Fort St. John.

I had all intention of stopping in Fort St. John for the night, but after driving around and not really finding any decent campgrounds, the hotels were all full that I could find and being full of energy I decided to press onward to Fort Nelson. A quick topping of the tank just north of Fort St. John and I was off into the middle of nowhere. Cell reception stopped here until Skagway.

The driving and the scenery is gorgeous now. Hills, valleys and trees abound and the road curves up and down and around. It’s now down to one lane in each direction for the most part with passing sections now and again, mostly on hills. The traffic is mostly truckers with a spattering of trucks and cars thrown in.

I pull into Fort Nelson in the later evening, but the sun is still up. I check into the local motel and hit the hay. Another day of driving has passed.

Total Miles for Day 4: 550 miles

2007 07 25 rhavenn Trips and Travels Comments (0) Permalink

Day 3: Saskatoon to Whitecourt

Aggh, a good nights sleep and I woke up refreshed. I took Z for a quick walk, fed him his breakfast and piled everyone back into the truck. I think Spike is getting used to this, but I’m not so sure he’s all that happy about it. I picked up some sandwiches at the gas station on the way out of town and headed for Whitecourt. Westward ho on Canadian Highway 16!

I pulled through Edmonton in the early afternoon and waved good-bye to my last big city for the next 5 days. Seriously!

I pulled into Whitecourt about 16:00 or so in the afternoon and decided to find my campground right away after tanking up. I drove out into the woods, said good-bye to cellphone reception and found the campsite. The lady was nice and got me situated about 20 yards from the lake. You couldn’t see much through the woods, but you were able to hear the water. I went back into town to find some camping accoutrements and found that Whitecourt is a pretty small town. The local “Target” like store had some stuff, but by the time I drove around and made it back to my campsite the ranger had gone home, so I wasn’t able to buy any firewood. Granola bar for dinner.

On a side note it only took me 30 minutes or so to set up my tent. Not bad for a first time! The tent in question:

The toilets were glorified outhouses, but other then that it was pretty nice. I did end up using the Dux top pad for sleeping on. Probably not what the Swedes had intended it for.

I woke up in the morning, got packed up and headed back in to Whitecourt. I purchased a car charger for my phone and found the one hotel in town with wireless internet. The concierge was nice enough to let me use it for free. I did offer her some money, but she wouldn’t take it. Thanks hotel concierge lady!

Total Miles for Day 3: 440 miles

2007 07 24 rhavenn Trips and Travels Comments (0) Permalink

Day 2: Minnedosa rest stop to Saskatoon

After a restful 4 hours of sleep I rolled out of the truck, brushed my teeth at the picnic table while Z sniffed the local message boards. Spike wasn’t too sure about all this and stayed in the truck.

I hopped back on Highway 16 and headed west. The country out here is flat farmland and extremely boring. No offense to the locals. A couple of gas stops and sandwiches later we pulled into Saskatoon. Now, yours truly forgot to write down the address and phone number for the Motel 6 he was staying at since he thought he was going to have internet at his last stop. So, Saskatoon isn’t a huge town, but it’s big enough. I think I did the city loop about twice before I made some random turns heading out of town and was pulling into a Husky gas station to ask directions when I noticed the Motel 6 sign behind it. Excellent!!! It was even the right road out of town, so I wouldn’t have to drive back through downtown the next day!

Motel 6 in Saskatoon was very nice. Sure, it’s a little cheaper then a Holiday Inn, but the water was warm, the sheets clean and the staff friendly. Parking was great with plenty of room. I got Z and Spike unpacked into the room, took a shower, checked my email and hit the hay. I slept like the dead and didn’t wake up until the next morning.

Total Miles: 375 miles

2007 07 23 rhavenn Trips and Travels Comments (0) Permalink

Day 1: Minneapolis to Winnipeg and beyond

The drive begins. My last day in Minnesota for the foreseeable future was spent sweating, packing, a bit of swearing and the emptying of a few years of “stuff” from my house. It took quite a few hours more then I thought it would, but in the end we got it all cleaned out. Kudos to my parents for helping out!

I got on the road at about 13:00 or so and with a full tank of gas, a last wave to the parents and the apprehension that my Tundra’s suspension wouldn’t be able to handle the trip I headed north on I-94. I noticed right away that hauling a fully loaded trailer was going to absolutely murder my gas mileage. I didn’t exactly take scientific notes on this, but I think I was lucky to push 10miles per gallon on the flats. $$$$

I stopped for a quick late lunch with C on my way up and after some tearful hugs and good-byes I was back on the road loaded up with some extra goodies. Thanks C!

The hours rolled by and I ended up making a detour into Grafton, ND after almost running out of gas. Did I mention my gas mileage sucks? Note to self, start looking for gas stops at half-empty!

I made it through the Canadian customs at about 23:30 and it was a piece of cake. They didn’t even ask for the pet paperwork I had gotten all ready for them Oh well, better to be prepared I guess.

I pulled into the Best Western in Winnipeg at about 01:00.

Some words of advice: Never stay here! They had some ricer dick wads road racing in their Civics around the local highway loop, they didn’t have parking for my trailer so I had to park 4 blocks away and to top it all off they stuck me in a smoking room. Now, when I make a reservation a week in advance and pay with a CC I damn well better get the room I asked for even if I’m the last one to check in. You’re going to bill me anyway. So yeah, never stay at the Best Western on the west end of town. Sucks with a capital S!!!!

After a shower and a shitty nap I pulled out of the Best Western in Winnipeg, stinking like day old cigarettes, at about 03:30, tanked up on some Mountain Dew and unleaded and kept driving. The bugs were so think it was almost like it was raining. Thank god I wasn’t on a motorcycle! I headed West on the Canadian Highway 1 (the Trans Continental Highway). I took a right on Highway 16 and headed towards Saskatoon. I pulled in behind some truckers and tailed them all the way to Minnedosa. I pulled into the truck stop / rest stop, fed the dog and went to sleep in the truck. Uncomfortable, but I slept better then the Shit Western Winnipeg West.

Total Mileage for Day 1 and 1.5: 600 miles