Road Trip in Alaska: Potentially Stupid Questions from a Tourist (Anchorage: military, landscaping)

[murlough23]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

The drive times are alright for good road conditions or even fair conditions. The one thing Google can't take into account is the predisposal of Alaska DOT to do ALL road maintenance in summer. Many good reasons for this. But they close down one lane and alternate in the remaining lane. Depending on how long the road shutdown is, you can wait up to 45 minutes (rare, but possible) for your set of cars to get waved through. Average is 10 - 15 minutes, but you will then be limited to 10-15 miles an hour until you have passed through the construction area. 2 years ago, there were three sections like this between Anchorage and Glennallen. Weather can also affect your time.

I've run into conditions like this due to California slowly falling off into the ocean (particularly when driving through Big Sur a few months back), so I'm ready for it and that's why I'm trying not to have to have set times that I have to be in any particular town. I'll plan on calling B&Bs/hotels ahead and estimating a later arrival time than I actually expect, to avoid losing my room.

[murlough23]

Originally Posted by viking2001

Don't bother with Glenallen, there is nothing to see or do, & the drive isn't that long.

It's a stop-over on the way, not a town where I expect to do a ton of things. Seeing as there's not much else along the Glenn & Richardson highways when going that route other than Delta Junction, it seemed like as good a place as any to rest for the night. It's important to me that I take that leg of the journey because I've heard that the Richardson Highway is one of Alaska's most scenic drives.

Originally Posted by viking2001

Personally I'd skip fairbanks alltogether & drive from Anchorage to Denali on the Parks hwy. in one day, about a 3 1/2 hr drive. A good hike with an excellent view is flattop mountain hike in Anchorage. View of city & ocean mountains , etc. 1hr to top of mountain. Really the best scenic driving time you will have would be the kenia peninsula. You should try to spend a night in Homer & maybe go halibut fishing on a charter. Even if you don't do the charter, this route of travel has the most beauty for the driving buck.

Things to consider for my next trip, and I appreciate the tips, but I'll boldface it just so future responders are clear when trying to give me advice: I've already decided where to stay each night on this trip, and that's set in stone, and that makes Homer effectively out of reach. Changing the trip to go there would mean cancelling not just one, but several existing reservations, and being that it's already late May, that's a headache that I simply don't want to deal with.

[murlough23]

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Most motels have pretty heavy curtains, but you could always carry some insurance.....a roll of aluminum foil and some tape. Lots of houses have a window or two plastered over with foil in the summertime, you're not the only one that has a hard time sleeping in the long hours of sunlight.

Clever. I'll have to remember that one.

Originally Posted by rotorhead

As far as banks and ATMs go, Wells Fargo and the credit unions were the ones that I remember seeing in the Anchorage area. Outside the major urban areas expect some pretty high fees if an ATM is available at all. Many seasonal places along the road take Visa and Mastercard, but cash always works.

I have Wells Fargo, so I'll just withdraw the max limit while in Anchorage and use my Visa everywhere that will take it. I've survived weeklong trips to Hawaii that way, where my bank doesn't exist at all.

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Biggest mistake tourists make? Hard to lump everything together under one roof here, but trying to pack too many road miles into too short a time has got to be near the top. How do you know if its too much? When you can't remember where you were last thats a caution, when you're nodding off at the wheel thats a warning. Too many single vehicle accidents in the summer are the result of just plain falling asleep at the wheel, and it'll get you bent or broken just as fast as any drunk driver could. If in doubt, find some place and pull over for a nap. Chances are it'll still be light out when you're ready to go again.

Yeah, this is why I'm trying to plan to leave early enough on the "packed" driving days (there are really only two of those where the schedule is somewhat tight) so that I don't have to rush or pray for no construction or whatever. I chose to do a road trip because for me, it's more about the exploration and what's along the road than just getting to the end of it as quickly as possible. If I just wanted to sightsee at specific destinations and not leave room for come whatever may in between, I'd have gone on a cruise or taken some charter flights or something. I like to drive because of that ability to stop wherever I want and look at something that I had no idea would be there.

I've never had a problem with falling asleep at the wheel because I have a hard enough time falling asleep anywhere but my bed anyway, especially in broad daylight. But when I sense that I'm getting a little weary-eyed while driving, I do make sure to take a break. It would be easier if my wife actually had a driver's license so we could trade off, but we've managed longer single-days hauls before and we'll pretty much have all the time in the world; I won't push myself because I'm too paranoid about every little thing that could cause a car accident to be that careless.

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Plus...don't take chances with the moose. If you see one on the roadside slow way down (but please don't hold up traffic to take photos), if its already across keep in mind that if its a cow there may be a calf or two following closely behind. Never get between an adult cow moose and its calf, they're very protective and they can have hooves the size of dinner plates. Most people worry about the bears, but I'd bet the moose get the bigger share of tourists.

I tend to keep my distance from most animals that appear to be tall enough to goose me unless they're obviously domesticated pets. So I'll have no problem giving the mooses (meese?) their leeway.

[mal_flisk]

Wells Fargo is the main banking institution here. There are branches in Delta, Glennallen, Whittier, and there might be branches in Cantwell and Healy as well (not sure on this point). Half of the Tesoro's and the Holiday gas stations have a WF ATM. They are all over Anchorage, but personally, I only know of 2 WF branches in Fairbanks. Probably more, couldn't say from experience. ATM's are all over though.

[Horito10]

Hey, just wanted to let you know that your questions were great. We will be traveling to Alaska also this summer (July) from Las Vegas...with our 8 children. We are very free spirited when it comes to traveling, and you asked questions that I didn't even think about...thanks for helping plan our "adventure" also! Have a great time there!

[murlough23]

OK, so now we're a little more prepared. Went to REI yesterday and bought ourselves some hats with netting that folds down out of a compartment within the hat itself. So we'll look totally dorky for all of the mosquitos out there.

Our next step is figuring out whether we should book ourselves a spot on the Denali Bus. We're weighing the chance to see the interior of the park with the soreness our butts will feel after sitting for 8 hours straight.

[Rainy]

Yeah, the bus can be worth it. You can't get very deep into the park any other way. As far as Glenallen the town isn't much, as you said, but the drive over is one of the best. No Wells Fargo in Cantwell unless they built it last winter, not sure about Healy. Mal is right about ATMs being all over though.

[maggiemay]

I would skip Fbanks and spend an extra day at the coast. We lived in Fairbanks for 3 years and loved it, but I think it is the kind of place where the personality and quirkiness translates well over time, as opposed to eye-popping views and breathtaking vistas that you can immediately appreciate. ALL of our friends who visited us during our time in Fbanks commented on how much of a let down it was after seeing other parts of AK on the trip/cruise up. I'm not saying this to criticize Fbanks; we would go back there to live. I just don't think it is that awe-inspiring to visit.

Take toilet paper on the road. The Parks Highway is long and the restrooms have long hours between them. You never know when an emergency is going to crop up.

The mosquitos are as bad as have been reported. DEET.

I'm the kind of gal who would rather spend 3 days in Venice and 4 days in Florence rather than a "7 cities in 7 nights" so I'd recommend Seward. AK is immense, so travel less, relax more. IMHO. Good luck. Have fun.

[murlough23]

Originally Posted by maggiemay

I would skip Fbanks and spend an extra day at the coast. We lived in Fairbanks for 3 years and loved it, but I think it is the kind of place where the personality and quirkiness translates well over time, as opposed to eye-popping views and breathtaking vistas that you can immediately appreciate. ALL of our friends who visited us during our time in Fbanks commented on how much of a let down it was after seeing other parts of AK on the trip/cruise up. I'm not saying this to criticize Fbanks; we would go back there to live. I just don't think it is that awe-inspiring to visit.

Think about it logically, though. Driving the Richardson Highway was a must on this trip, and so was seeing Denali, and I wanted to do it without backtracking, so routing the trip through Fairbanks was the easiest way to do that, and to give us a larger city to spend the night in. Plus I thought it would be fun to do some sort of kayaking or other activity on the Chena River while we're there. I don't plan on spending that much time in the actual heart of Fairbanks.

Originally Posted by maggiemay

Take toilet paper on the road. The Parks Highway is long and the restrooms have long hours between them. You never know when an emergency is going to crop up.

That's good advice, though isn't a bit dangerous to be going to the bathroom out in the open when you're in bear country?

Originally Posted by maggiemay

I'm the kind of gal who would rather spend 3 days in Venice and 4 days in Florence rather than a "7 cities in 7 nights" so I'd recommend Seward. AK is immense, so travel less, relax more.

And I'm the kind of guy who likes the open road, and who likes to use bigger cities that generally have more amenities as places to spend the night and have my pick of things to ear, while putting myself within reach of several interesting places to drive to. If I go through an entire vacation day without having explored somewhere that is new to me, then that day is usually a bit of a letdown.

[maggiemay]

Don't worry about the bears. Use general awareness if you are out and about, but you will actually be lucky if you see them. During our three years I only saw bears twice: once from quite a distance at Denali and once a momma and 2 cubs--on our way out of AK.

You are totally right...you have to pick an itinerary that works for your goals and preferred style of travel. If you like the open road you should be very happy during your trip. Godspeed.