Visaliaipa
Visalia, CA
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Have a question for all the Alaska trip people. I have never been there and have thought it would be a great trip. Wouldn't be going next year, more than likely in 2010.
I'd be driving from Central California with a Dodge 3500 and 32 foot travel trailer. I am in the very beginning of planning to see if its even feasible with my time frame.
How long of a drive is it approximately. Was thinking about doing it during a 3 week vacation. Would that allow enough time for driving, sight seeing etc? Would be going with the wife, 2 boys (5 and 7 now).....
Any advice or suggestioins would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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kknowlton
Wisconsin Border Country, IL
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3 weeks, driving? Not enough time. If you really want to visit Alaska in a 3-week time frame and actually SEE it, I recommend flying there & renting an RV, or taking a cruise there (one way), touring around for a week or so, and flying home.
Remember, Alaska is WAY bigger than Texas - or California.
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dhamblet
Olympia, WA
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Its around 3500 miles from where you are to Fairbanks. From Seattle it took me 4 days up (2700 mi) and I was moving right along on a motorcycle. It would take you at least a week just to get there, a week to get home leaving you a week to explore and thats not much time.
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luvglass
Milwaukee
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It's not feasible. It's over 2000 miles each way just to get there and if you only did 1500 while up there you would need to drive an average of 261 miles every day, Not much time for sightseeing.
Good luck,
Fred Wishnie
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HarryWM
Wherever we are parked this time.
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Having been up there last year, driving a total of around 8,000 miles in BC, the Yukon, and Alaska over a 4 month trip, I have to agree with all of the above comments; just not enough time. But, fearing that others reading this thread will decide that Alaska is the only place of interest up North, I need to mention that there is nothing less than spectacular in British Columbia and in the Yukon Territory.
Harry
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RRUGG
Newaygo, MI,USA
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First time we went from west Michigan it took 19 days to reach the AK border. Of course, we did stuff on the way. That trip was 13,500 miles. Three weeks? No way!
RRUGG
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johnna
Southwest, Utah
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Consider a trip to Banff and Jasper and return via Prince George, Hope, Vancouver.
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sirdrakejr
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Sure you can do it in that short a time. Here is how:
1 - Buy a camcorder and lot of discs/tapes.
2 - Set the camera up on the dash.
3 - When you get close to what you think you want to see, start the camera.
4 - Slow down as you drive by so the camera gets it all.
5 - After you pass there, turn the camera off.
6 - Do that each time you come near a spot you like.
At no time during the daytime drive do you stop!
You may stop at night to fuel up, eat and sleep but the camera will do all the recording of the spots you like.
At the end of three weeks you will be home and you can watch all the spots you drove by at to your leisure.
Option B: Take a lot more than three weeks to either drive up or fly up and rent. See it all as you want and record ONLY the spots you really want to remember. There will be many! 
Frank
RV.net blog
For those of you looking for expert advice, here ya go!
Frank
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Tee Jay
Port Angeles, WA
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Visalia is about 900 miles south, the Kenai peninsula is 2700 miles north.
Met some guys from Texas who just had to have a Moose hunt back in the '70's. They drove a truck camper 24hrs a day for 5 days so they could hunt for 3 days and drive back. They got a moose.
The roads are better but still more like county roads and the average speed is likely to be about 50 mph after taking account of rest stops and road conditions.
Three weeks might really mean 23 to 25 days. Allow 14 days for travel to and from and you still get some time to spend.
Might just be the greatest adventure the kids ever have. And if the company allows a bit of carry-over you might make that 5 weeks in another year.
Hope you have a great time.
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Visaliaipa
Visalia, CA
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I do appreciate the info. I figured that 3 weeks probably wasn't enough. But I do like the camcorder idea......
Will have to wait awhile until me and the DW can get more time off together......dang I wish i could retire now. But I do like the Jasper Bamph (spelling I know) idea. We looked at those when we were thinking about a possible rail trip. That would be fun too or just hitch it up and go to Yellowstone....LOL
But again thanks for the info.........
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