RVing – Page 30 – Wandering Dawgs

Favorite Alaska Memories

September 5, 2013June 17, 2026Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Road Trip, RVing, WildlifeTagged Arctic Circle, Bald Eagle, Denali, Haines, Ninilchik, Talkeetna12 Comments

Although we left Tok, Alaska almost a month ago, our memories of Alaska will never leave us. Here, in no particular order, are a few photos of some of our favorite places and adventures.

Our favorite place was Oceanside RV Park in Haines, Alaska where we could sit and watch for whales, watch eagles fly by, and watch the ferries and cruise ships sail by.

Cocktail hour whale watching with Ted and Ruthy

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

The most exciting and most memorable experience of the entire trip was the South Face McKinley flight-seeing tour and landing on Ruth Glacier with Talkeetna Air Taxi.

Loving every minute of our time on Ruth glacier

We loved all of the boat trips we took.

Whale Pectoral Fin on day trip to Juneau

Seeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from Seward

A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Driving to the Coldfoot, sixty miles north of the Artic Circle was a drive to remember.

Catching Halibut and watching the sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska.

Denali National Park.

Moose beside the road on the way out of the park

Beautiful green valley at Polychrome Overlook

Driving the Top of the World Highway, panning for gold, going for a train ride on the Alaska Railroad, watching for wildlife on the side of the road, seeing the Fireweed blooming everywhere, seeing glaciers off in the distance and up close are all highlights of the trip we will never forget.

Every day was memorable, every day was special, every day we saw something spectacular.

Day 27: First day on the Alaska Highway

June 15, 2013June 17, 2026Posted in British Columbia, RV Parks, RVingTagged Alaska Highway, Ft. Nelson, Triple G Hideaway

Day 27: Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Triple G Hideaway site 87, Ft. Nelson, BC. 290 miles traveled.

I read this book as we go along to warn Henry of steep grades and to see what is up ahead

Our journey on the Alaska Highway has finally begun! The Milepost is a must have book when you are making a driving trip to Alaska. It warns of steep grades, shows where places of interest are located, and tells where to look for wildlife! It also has the campground phone numbers which makes it useful to call ahead when we have cell service. We haven’t had cell service since we left Dawson Creek.

We drove along looking for moose and bears all day. No luck today.

The only bad part of the drive was a couple of areas with 10% grades. The worst one was a downhill grade on a winding part of the road as we approached the town of Taylor. I could look down into a gorge as we drove.

We arrived at the campground about 3:00, got fuel and spent the afternoon watching the RV’s arrive.

One of the most fun things about RVing is meeting people in the campgrounds. Everyone we met was going to Alaska. We were parked between a couple returning to their home in Anchorage from Seattle and a family with two boys who have been traveling the country since February, 2012. We also ran into some people from Savannah we met in Dawson Creek. So far on our journey we have met people from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, California, and various other states.

Days 2, 3, 4 and 5 – Rainy Days in Southwestern Virginia

May 21, 2013June 17, 2026Posted in Rainy Days, RVing, State Parks, VirginiaTagged Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Claytor Lake, Dublin VA, Floyd Country Store, Southwest Virginia11 Comments

Day 2, Friday May 17: We traveled 113 miles from Statesville, NC to Claytor Lake State Park in Dublin, VA. Claytor Lake is a great state park and an easy drive to our daughter’s house. Her family came to the park on Friday night for burgers, hot dogs and s’mores. We started having sprinkles in the afternoon but the weather cooperated and didn’t start raining until after dinner.

Day 3, Saturday, May 18: We watched the rain come down all day, hoping it would stop in time for our grandson’s soccer game. The game was canceled but they were still able to spend the night with us. I picked up a brick oven pizza from MK’s Gourmet Pizzeria – it was delicious! We watched DVD’s, ate pizza, and made s’mores in a drizzle. What a great night!

Day 4, Sunday, May 19: We woke up to more rain so we decided to take the kids to meet their parents in Floyd, VA. We were hoping to take a hike on the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway but again, the weather didn’t cooperate. As it turned out, I’m glad it rained. We really enjoyed the Sunday Jam Session at the Floyd Country Store.

Listening to a jam session at the Floyd Country Store is a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon in Southwestern Virginia. You can read about our experience on our daughter’s blog entry Indoor Appalachian entertainment at the Floyd Country Store.

Day 5, Monday, May 20: A day of housekeeping, grocery shopping, and a final visit with family. We said our goodbyes after our granddaughter’s swim team practice. We’re going to miss them!

We didn’t let a little rain spoil our fun!

Day 1 – First Day on the Road to Alaska

May 17, 2013June 17, 2026Posted in North Carolina, RV Parks, RVing, WildflowersTagged traveling with dogs5 Comments

Leaving Lil Tybee — Hitched up and ready to go!

Our first day on the road started out great. We got everything packed up, hooked up the the RV and were on our way at 9:04 am. Our hopes for an easy, relaxing day were soon squashed.

Shortly after we turned east onto I-20 I tried to call the park where we wanted to spend the night. A guy named Steve answered the phone. No, this wasn’t the number for the park. I Googled the park on my phone and every web site listed the phone number that I had called. Very strange. We decided to go somewhere else.

We were getting ready to pull off the interstate for lunch when Henry saw that one of his sensors indicated there was water in the diesel. Luckily there was a GMC dealer at the exit and they were able to work on it. We unhitched the RV on the side of the road by the dealer and Henry drove the truck into the service department. After about an hour and a half and about $400 dollars we were on our way again.

Our unexpected stop at the dealer caused us to travel through Charlotte, NC right in the middle of rush hour. Most of you know how much we try to avoid going through cities when traffic is bad.

All ended well. We arrived at the KOA in Statesville, NC around 5:00. We were able to relax for a little while before dinner. Blondie is happy – there is a fenced in doggie play area so she can run off leash!

Day 1: 278 miles traveled

2013 Journey to Alaska

March 19, 2013June 17, 2026Posted in RVing6 Comments

We’ve had our fifth wheel for 7 years. Although we’ve traveled thousands of miles in it, and camped in 40 states and 3 Canadian provinces, we’ve never made the ultimate RV trip – Alaska!

This is the year we are going. After planning for over a year, we hope to leave from Georgia around May 15, 2013.

Once we hit the road we will be posting updates when we have WIFI.

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