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Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:16 pm

Guest

Hi Guys and Gals,
My wife and I are planning a loooooong trip next year to Alaska and
need some info that y'all probably can provide.

We are planning on driving from Austin, TX to either Seattle, WA or
Vancouver, BC and then hop on a ferry with our RV and Jeep and ferry
to Alaska, then drive back via Canada to Austin, TX.

We have no problems planning the ground transportation routes because
we are going to use several resources for that (AAA, Good Sams, GPS
navigation device, and other stuff), the problem I am encountering now
is finding a good ferry service from either Seattle or Vancouver that
will allow us to load the RV and Jeep on board and take us to Alaska.
I checked on Google but did not get anything useful.

Any and all advice, tips, hi-lo-lites will be more than greatly
appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,

Ray
Austin, TX
===

George Schroeder

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:04 pm

Guest

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:16:41 GMT, Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman <rsknk@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
: Hi Guys and Gals,
: My wife and I are planning a loooooong trip next year to Alaska and
: need some info that y'all probably can provide.
:
: We are planning on driving from Austin, TX to either Seattle, WA or
: Vancouver, BC and then hop on a ferry with our RV and Jeep and ferry
: to Alaska, then drive back via Canada to Austin, TX.
:
: We have no problems planning the ground transportation routes because
: we are going to use several resources for that (AAA, Good Sams, GPS
: navigation device, and other stuff), the problem I am encountering now
: is finding a good ferry service from either Seattle or Vancouver that
: will allow us to load the RV and Jeep on board and take us to Alaska.
: I checked on Google but did not get anything useful.
:
: Any and all advice, tips, hi-lo-lites will be more than greatly
: appreciated.
:
: Many thanks in advance,
:
: Ray
: Austin, TX
:===
:
The Alaska Marine Highway (Alaska State Ferry) has a ship that leaves from Bellingham, WA each
Friday. Their web site is http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/. They used to have another trip
that left on Tuesday, but it no longer is run. If you want a cabin, then you might want to
make your reservations soon.

George

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Craig

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:44 pm

Guest

"Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman" <rsknk@sbcglobal.net> wrote...

Quote:

Ray,

First off, buy now and study a copy of The Milepost:

http://www.themilepost.com/

Please note that having and studying The Milepost will likely be 100X more
helpful than AAA, Good Sam, GPS, etc. combined!

Second, try Googling between Seattle and Vancouver. Bellingham, WA is the
southern terminus of the AK Ferry:

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/index.html

Craig

Bruce in alaska

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:13 pm

Guest

In article <47B6479C.D2AA238C@sbcglobal.net>,
"Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman" <rsknk@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Quote:

Ray, better get your reservation in to the Alaska State Ferry System,
REAL Soon, or you will not get space on the boat. The BC Ferry System
does NOT come to Alaska, so that will only get you around BC. You can
transfer between systems, at Prince Rupert, BC, but like I said, above,
you best get your reservation in NOW, or you will be driving the Alcan,
both ways.

Bruce in alaska who actually lives up here, and out in the alaskan bush

--
Bruce in alaska
add <path> after <fast> to reply

Craig

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:33 pm

Guest

"Bruce in alaska" wrote...

Quote:

"Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman" wrote:

Hi Guys and Gals,
My wife and I are planning a loooooong trip next year to Alaska and
need some info that y'all probably can provide.

We are planning on driving from Austin, TX to either Seattle, WA or
Vancouver, BC and then hop on a ferry with our RV and Jeep and ferry
to Alaska, then drive back via Canada to Austin, TX.

We have no problems planning the ground transportation routes because
we are going to use several resources for that (AAA, Good Sams, GPS
navigation device, and other stuff), the problem I am encountering now
is finding a good ferry service from either Seattle or Vancouver that
will allow us to load the RV and Jeep on board and take us to Alaska.
I checked on Google but did not get anything useful.

Any and all advice, tips, hi-lo-lites will be more than greatly
appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,

Ray
Austin, TX
===

Ray, better get your reservation in to the Alaska State Ferry System,
REAL Soon, or you will not get space on the boat. The BC Ferry System
does NOT come to Alaska, so that will only get you around BC. You can
transfer between systems, at Prince Rupert, BC, but like I said, above,
you best get your reservation in NOW, or you will be driving the Alcan,
both ways.

Bruce in alaska who actually lives up here, and out in the alaskan bush

--
Bruce in alaska
add <path> after <fast> to reply

Excellent warnings and info, Bruce. I was waiting for Ray to respond to
our replies before adding additional info, but will add a tad now.

A lot of folks do as you propose, Ray, ferrying one way and driving the
other. Personally, for my first long vacation (absolute minimum of 4 weeks
and more likely, 6-12 weeks in length) to AK from the Lower 48, I'd prefer
driving both ways--that way you can experience the entire Alaska Highway as
well as the Cassiar, Taylor, Top Of The World, Klondike, etc. Highways. Even
driving both ways, you can still experience the Alaska ferry by dropping
down to Skagway for a short trip to Haines (or even leave the RV in Skag and
do a ferry ride with the Jeep to Juneau or Sitka, then back to Skag) on you
way to or from Alaska's Interior. I'm too lazy to check right now, but
assume that the ferry from Valdez to Seward still runs, and that'd give you
another option to experience the ferry without going all the way from
Bellingham to Skagway or Haines--and it'd work well into the vacation you
propose.

Sidetracking from the Alaska Hwy, Ray, really will offer you a better
taste of The North, especially driving the Cassiar, and detouring off the
Alaska Hwy to spend a few-several days in Dawson, YT.

The only other tips I'll offer right now is to make sure that the Jeep and
RV are in a very good state or repair, especially regarding both the tires
on the ground and mounted spares. You may return to TX without experiencing
a flat or a broken windshield, but don't count on it, especially if you
travel any of the Dalton or Dempster Hwys. or run through an especially
lengthy construction zone on one of the "paved" highways.

I hope you've already ordered your Milepost. If not, Amazon.com may be the
easiest source to obtain the book. The 2008 edition is not essential--a used
copy of the Milepost up to 5 years old will work nearly as well as the
newest edition. Have fun planning and experiencing your trip.

Craig

Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:56 pm

Guest

Many thanks to those of you who answered and gave advice and pointers for
this trip.

Ray
===

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