Customer Spotlight: The Solys Alaskan Adventure
I fell in love with an RV enthusiast. Peter and I met in 2012. We had very different backgrounds, coming from opposite ends of the world. I came from Bavaria, southern Germany and Peter from New Jersey. The one common thread in our lives is our wanderlust. We have crisscrossed the globe by plane, boat, train, motorcycle and on foot. Having said that, we concluded that the best and least stressful way to travel is by RV. Traveling by RV means no more rushing to an airport, dealing with lost luggage, cancelled or overbooked flights, airline strikes or other travel headaches. We have all the comforts of home in an RV. Even our two cats, Mr. Buttons and Miss Cutie Pie are happy to be with us. They can roam and hide and not be caged at the local Vet.
Once the engine starts, they each run to their “perch.” Mr. Buttons under the drivers seat and Cutie Pie on the dash in the left corner window. Prior to RVing, Peter and his friends toured New England and Eastern Canada for several years on motorcycles. It was lots of fun, however, living out of a backpack and sleeping in bags on hard ground in inclement weather can get old. In 1999 Peter got the bug to travel more comfortably. He saw a 40-foot fifth wheel toy house, where motorcycles could be hauled in the rear of the travel trailer. He decided to purchase one to make his cross country trips more enjoyable. While traveling through Canada in his fifth wheel, he caught a glimpse of a Foretravel in an RV park in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. It was just a glimpse but it was love at first sight. There was one small problem, he still had the fifth wheel and was not yet ready to let it go. Shortly after he saw the Foretravel, the fifth wheel started to come apart at the seams.
The idea of coach living versus fifth wheel living started to look pretty good. After several issues with the fifth wheel, he decided to purchase a new Foretravel U320. What a welcome change: a more comfortable ride. Over the years, several Foretravels were bought and sold, with many trips in between. Then I entered the picture. We crisscrossed the country several times, and in the summer of 2017 we decided to head for Alaska. I had been to Alaska years before but I always flew. Driving there is a total different story. None of our plans were set in stone. As long as we headed in the general direction, we were on course. Coming from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, heading west and north, we eventually got to Alaska, traveling 5,000 miles. We have good friends who live close to us who were also eager to make this trip in their new RV. We planned to meet in certain cities along the way.
Our first destination out of the country was Osoyoos, British Columbia, in the Okanagan Valley. This area is known for its wineries, fruit trees and sheer beauty. It’s a beautiful part of Canada not familiar to most people. We visited an old RV friend who retired there. After our visit, we headed north to Dawson Creek, the start of the Alcan Highway. The Alcan Highway was the engineering marvel of World War II and stretching 1382 miles from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction Alaska. Our next stop was Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, home to some of the most spectacular scenery in Canada. We stayed in a very nice RV park run and owned by a Swiss and German couple. It felt like I was back home for the week seeing old friends and speaking in German.
They had the best European washers and dryers that did not cost an arm to operate. I was a happy camper! On a side note: the German airline, Lufthansa, runs a subsidiary charter airline, Condor Air, that flies into Whitehorse during the summer months. Europeans love this part of the world. They either fly into Whitehorse and rent an RV or ship their RV from Europe to Halifax and drive across the country to Alaska. After some rest and relaxation in Whitehorse, we headed to Dawson City, the end of the Alcan Highway. Then into Alaska via Chicken. Yes, that is the correct name of the town and it was our entry point to Alaska. We got very excited to see a newly paved road, a nice immigration station and a very nice officer who promptly made me relinquish my fresh apples from Osoyoos.
The newly paved road soon disappeared and a dirt road greeted us for the rest of the trip. Heading south to Tok, Alaska we had a flat tire on our tow Jeep. Imagine, we are in the middle of nowhere, no cell phone, no station, no car or truck traffic, just us for as far as the eye can see. A couple on a motorcycle did stop and offer their help. Peter had everything under control in no time for us to head into Tok and then onto Fairbanks. What a charming town with a fine university and very impressive museum. From there, we headed to the Arctic circle. Again, no paved roads which got worse as we traveled north along the Alaska pipeline. What an engineering marvel! Because of the permafrost, most of pipe is above ground. You can walk around and under the pipeline in Fairbanks.
We did not get to Prudhoe Bay because the roads became impassable. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop built for the pipeliners for some coffee. The rooms were built from old storage containers that came off ships. The lady who runs the rest stop is a retired university professor living alone in the wilderness. I think she enjoyed our visit and interesting conversation. After a brief photo shoot at the Arctic Circle, we headed back to Fairbanks and then on to Denali. On the way, we saw Mt. McKinley in the distance. What an imposing sight! By the time we arrived at Denali National Park, a few days later, the mountain was shrouded in fog. We spent some time at the park museum before heading to the big city of Anchorage. I was there more than 20 years ago when it was a small town.
Now, it is a bustling city with interstate highways, traffic jams, shopping centers and a new international airport. We met our friends from Maryland, Dave and Tracy, in Palmer, a very small town outside of Anchorage. A group of high school students was having a car wash to raise money for their school. They volunteered to wash Dave’s RV not realizing what a job it would be. They earned their money that day! From Anchorage, the four of us headed south to Kenai and Homer. We saw an unusual sight along the river bank. Hundreds of people lined up along the bank of the river to “Dip Net Fish.” They would hold their big nets vertically in the water hoping a fish would run into it. It’s a big exciting event in Homer. No self respecting traveler goes south without stopping in Hyder, Alaska to get “Hyderized.” And we did.
Hyderizing is the process of drinking a shot of 151 proof Everclear grain alcohol. After our initiation, we headed back to Alberta, Canada to see Lake Louise. Canada had its share of forest fires last year. Some of these fires were pretty serious. The smoke got worse each day and on the third day, we decided to leave. We drove to Regina, Saskatchewan, 600 miles away and the smoke was still pretty evident. I would like to think that the fires were caused by lightning and not man’s carelessness. Our friends parted and went to Montana while we headed back to Maryland. Three months and 16,000 miles later we arrived home.
Our observations from our adventure: The United States is beautiful and very large. One can drive through Montana and the Dakotas for a hundred miles and not see a soul. Alaska is an entity of its own. It is immense, you can fit several European countries in the state, and the wildlife is beautiful. Traveling in an RV is the way to go as you can stop at a roadside lake and spend the night if you like. There are so many places in Alaska where small planes, boats and dog sleds are the only mode of transportation. The people who live there are strong. You have to be to survive in this wilderness. Look at the pioneers who went there under the worst conditions, some made it and others did not. It is truly an amazing place. After traveling cross country in an RV, I can now say that I am an RV enthusiast too.