Summer adventure - Alaska and San Juan's

Now boondocking in Haines, AK along the ocean. Tomorrow will begin the 'boating' portion of our trip. We'll take the ferry with the RV over to Juneau where my wife and son will fly home. I'll then take the Alaska Marine highway ferry (with motorhome) to Sitka, Wrangell, Ketchikan, and Prince Rupert over the next week. Then I'll drive to Vancouver to pick up my wife at the airport and down to Blaine to get our CD22 from storage. Then a couple weeks cruising the San Juan's.

Can't wait for the 'boating' portion!!!


https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=a07a538ddea1dca24
 
We are now in Juneau after the ferry ride from Haines. The ferry ride was great with many glaciers, goats, and Whales along the way. We had mostly sunny skies so the mountains were completely visible. Sunny and nice so far in Juneau. We'll hang out in Juneau today and tomorrow morning take the ferry to Sitka.

We have traveled 7000 miles so far on this trip (50k in last two years) and have about 3000 to go. We average about 18mpg compared to a gentlemen I spoke to that has done 17k miles on his current trip at 7mpg. A bit of a difference but we have learned to 'forget' the fuel prices at the pump and just enjoy the trip.
 
I did some of that trip you are doing, but in a 31' Winnebago Brave with the V10 some time ago. I remember those days of 7mpg.... But money well spent considering the scenery, education and experience for my family. Enjoy your time as you are Robert, life is short and many regret not doing what they could have done earlier! I have many happy memories as I follow your path here. Colby
 
My current RV gets around 12 mpg or sometimes a shade more (V-10). Then either the same or a bit less when towing the C-Dory (10+ mpg).

I liked the idea of 18 mpg (who doesn't!) when RV shopping, but when I did the math it didn't pencil out for me. Couple of reasons:

1) Of the RV's on the Sprinter chassis, only the ones after 2008 (as I remember it) could tow 5,000#. Rigs that new were very expensive compared to mine.

2) The service costs looked like they would be higher for the Sprinter than for my Ford chassis. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I put it in my calculator.

So for me, it would be many more than 17,000 miles of the "extra" fuel before I would even touch the cost of the Sprinter. I was actually surprised at how much "extra" fuel one could buy before things "evened out." It was a lot. The funny thing is, there IS some psychological benefit to getting great mileage and buying less fuel at the pump, even if it costs more ultimately (purchase/maintenance cost). So I have to remember that when I'm only getting 12 mpg.

But of course cost isn't the only reason to choose one RV over another, or we would all be driving 1979 Dodge Tradesman based rigs (or the like). Preferences play a big part. I just mention this since the topic came up and on first blush it would sound like the person getting 7 mpg was way behind financially.

One other factor for me was the likelihood of finding service/shops/parts for my rig in the boonies (Ford is pretty common). On the other hand, I suspect I might prefer the driving experience/ergonomics of the Sprinter and could see myself owning one someday. Right now the ones that will tow my C-Dory are a little bit "too new," and also there isn't really a layout I like for my current travel style. That last part rules it out regardless of cost (i.e. I wouldn't always buy the rig that penciled out the cheapest if that wasn't what I also wanted).

Choosing RV's.... you can talk about it nearly as long as you can about choosing a boat (maybe not quite as fun though).
 
Yep, I agree - so many personal choices. We LOVE seeing folks in big, small, old, new, beat up RV's, boats, tents, sleeping bags, etc.

Like the Nike ad - Just do it ... and now!
 
BRAZO":29f34grx said:
Yep, I agree - so many personal choices. We LOVE seeing folks in big, small, old, new, beat up RV's, boats, tents, sleeping bags, etc.
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Me too! You'd think I'd get tired of it, but no, any time I see another RV coming toward me (on the opposite side), I have to look to see. And of course in fuel stations, parking lots, etc. Even more fun if it is a quirky one :D Of course the same goes for boats, but I'm less surprised at my endless interest in those.
 
Stayed in Sitka last night and today headed to Wrangell. Beautiful cruising area on the way into Sitka via the ferry. Certainly will be on my to-do list. Rained most of the time but stayed in the Forest Service campground which really had the rain forest feel - which I loved. Only problem was that I was not able to get my run done today because there were reports of grizzly in the campground.

Off to the ferry terminal for a 13hr ferry ride to Wrangell.
 
Something I learned from my Coast Guard time in Kodiak is, it's not about the weather, but the rain gear! :-) Sitka is an interesting place. I fondly remember of two stories. One of us flying in there in the CG C130 with the admiral. The women of the station had a dance team in the native tradition with beautiful costumes. We pulled in to the chocks, and the admiral got off to a demonstration. Our crew popped up an opening on top the cockpit and climbed out on the wings for a great view! The second memory is of one of our pilots that was a big guy and a big eater. There was a restaurant in Sitka with an all you could eat salad bar. He had ordered steak and after several trips to the salad bar, one of the employees said something to him about eating a bit too much salad for one meal....so he ordered and ate another steak. :-) Folks talk about the cost of food in Alaska. But one thing I remember was the proportions were always more also! Did you enjoy the totem poles of Sitka? Colby
 
Hey Colby

No, didn't get to see the totem poles. I did walk around downtown and read a bit of the history and the turnover of Alaska from Russia. That would be a great area to be stationed. I'm guessing you have many stories from that area as it is so unique.
 
Got into Wrangell last night around 3AM via the ferry. It was a 13hr ferry ride with many many breaching whale sightings along the way. Saw one whale come completely out of the water - that was spectacular!!

Will be in Wrangell until Friday morning then I'll take the ferry to Ketchikan for a few days.
 
Now in Ketchikan until Sunday when I go out on the ferry to Prince Rupert. I have to admit that it is temporarily nice to be in a tourist trap after driving the Alaska Hwy and touring Alaska for the last 5 weeks. Loved the entire trip and nothing better than being able to boondocks where ever you stop and having mountains, waterfalls, etch surrounding you.

Now back to the people watching for another day...
 
Patty and I had a nice - if brief - visit with Bob and Gaye on the guest dock at Blaine Marina this morning! Passed on some of our favorite spots in the San Juans for anchoring, we'll be waiting for their reports of their time here!
 
After spending part of the day on Wednesday in Vancouver we pulled the CD22 out of storage and launched in Blaine. Had the pleasure of visiting with Patty and Pat at the harbor - just as nice and kind as I had expected from the years reading their posts!

Decided to try and make it to the San Juan's before the forecasted small craft warning this evening. Put our nose out into the Strait of Georgia and found the water to be just lumpy. They are forecasting windy days for the weekend so we decided to head directly to Friday Harbor. A little lumpy but no big deal. Boat ran great and two hours later we had a slip in Friday Harbor. We met Don on Notty C and enjoyed talking with him.

Tomorrow we'll explore Friday Harbor...
 
After a couple days in Friday Harbor we cruised around the San Juan's just enjoying the day and avoiding the bigger waves. Now anchored in Parks Bay for the evening. Purchased our crab cage and licenses yesterday and this evening enjoyed 6 very good red rock crab!

Beautiful evening with a dozen sailboats anchored around us.
 
Spent the night on Monday in Stuart harbor after trawler cruising the area looking for whales and going for the hike to the one room school house on the island.

This morning we again trawler cruised looking for whales. Saw many many porpoises and seals, but no whales - yet. We are now in Roche Harbor where we got our run in, hiked to mausoleum, and enjoyed the day.

Today was again sunny and nice. Tomorrow our plan is to figure it out on the fly. When you cruise a trawler speeds you have plenty of time to figure it out.

Great time!
 
Pat Anderson":1qbydyb9 said:
Did you make it to the Turn Point LIghthouse?
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No, we decided to paddle board around the harbor instead. We did pass it on the water though. Looked like a great place for the lighthouse keeper to live!
 
Raining foggy day but a great day to look for whales. Nice and calm on Haro Straits this morning. Slowly cruised down the outside of San Juan island looking for whales. Saw a few whale watching boats cruise by but decided not to follow as they may be headed just about anywhere. We made our way down to the bottom tip and saw where all the whale boats had gone. Sat out amongst the whale boats watching a pod of Orcas. Thankfully we have the wallas because it was quite cold out there. We needed the windows opened to see the whales and I needed my Wisconsin winter gear on. Currently at the dock in Friday Harbor with the wallas stove keeping us warm.

Pizza and ice cream to end the day. Another great day as they always are away from 'home'...
 
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