Moving from Houston to Anchorage in July (Tok, Beaver: 2013, hotels)

[Dakster]

Originally Posted by dragracing57

Just came from Houston 3 weeks ago driving and was not that bad as long as you rest every night at sunset. The Alaskan Highway was the worst since you have to deal with long steep hills and the tractor trailers drivers are simply crazy. We are driving carefully at 60 since we were pulling a Dodge Caliber with my Dodge Durango and going down hill they were passing us at 70 and 90 mph and here we are scary at 60. No side rails in skinny road is not fun plus you have mooses and bears coming across your way. we drove 4300 miles and if i have to do it again, yes, i'll do it again but with no pulling, just one car. From Winnepeg to Alberta the road was bad, bumpy and bad view which surprised me about Canada. The places we stop to spend the night were awesome. the road in general was very scary. Also take in consideration that your insurance has to be bump up to cover 200k liability for Canada driving and your insurance has to give you a Canada card. The Milepost did not gave me a great help but in Alaska and every single map we pick up in every hotel/motel and the simple Atlas we got in Nebraska gave us better info that the Milepost. Any questions call me....281-701-0012.

note: We were in oklahoma the day before the big tornado. we past under a tornado, hail and high winds and caught on tape......

I had a completely different experience than you did with none of the drama you are describing. Also, you are the only person I know of that didn't find the milepost helpful in rural Canada as well, myself included. But as they say your results may vary and you give a good insight into potential issues/problems/fears that others may encounter.

One suggestion, stay in the US longer - enter Canada thru Alberta or British Colombia. Milepost will explain a few different routes. (East/Central/West route) There are many reasons to delay entry into Canada, some are fuel, hotel,and food prices are generally much lower. Services are usually closer together. Your US based cell phone will work in more places.

I have 100/300/50 coverage - I didn't have to change anything. I wasn't even asked for my insurance card either. (That was about the ONLY thing that wasn't scrutinized though) I did verify I had coverage in Canada before I left though.

[stiffnecked]

I always cross over in Sumas, Washington. Head north once you get to Hope. Good scenery from there on.

[Gonorth9]

Originally Posted by drvasek

After my wife and I visited in May and after weeks of thinking it over we decided to take the job offer and move to Anchorage.

Good luck! We're 11 months behind you!

[drvasek]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Everything you wanted to know about the Alaska Marine Highway System.

Alaska Marine Highway System :: Official Site :: Alaska DOT&PF


If you're wealthy and money is no object then by all means you should just hire a moving company and let them do it all.

https://www.dot.state.ak.us/oars/res...?action=search


Departing: BELLINGHAM Arriving: WHITTIER Vessel
Sat, Jul 20 at 6:00 PM Thu, Jul 25 at 6:00 AM M/V Kennicott
Passengers: available Vehicles: Not Available Cabins: Not Available



I see that the ferry is no longer an option since there aren't any vehicle spots and no more Cabins available. I guess that eliminates that option now.


1) Fly out of Houston direct to Anchorage and ship the vehicle and everything else.


2) Drive to Seattle and transport the vehicle from Seattle to Anchorage, fly from Seattle to Anchorage and ship all of our stuff in a POD type from Houston to Anchorage.


3) Drive from Houston all the way to Anchorage pulling a U-haul type trailer with our stuff in it (if it can all fit).


Any other options I we haven't discussed?

[AKStafford]

You could drive to Bellingham and do the ferry to Haines and then drive from Haines to Anchorage.

[drvasek]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

You could drive to Bellingham and do the ferry to Haines and then drive from Haines to Anchorage.

I will look into that, thanks. We really wanted to avoid going through Canada looks like you have to reserve the ferry tickets way in advance.

[Danadane]

We just made the drive last week - we were to fly until we read statistics on flying pets (we have 5 dogs and a cat). So we hopped in the (rental) SUV on Thursday at 2pm, drove up through Denver/Billings/Calgary/Edmonton and then over to Anchorage via Hwy 1/Alaska Hwy. We made it to Anchorage by Sunday 4:30pm Alaska time. The drive took us almost exactly 76hours. We only stopped over night once, in Whitehorse. But we made several pit stops - see above about the 5 dogs and 1 cat ;-)

The drive was great! I wish we had more time to stop and enjoy, but I started my new job on Monday morning and didn't have that luxury. The roads are a bit rough for that last stretch between Canada and Alaska, but nothing a regular vehicle can't handle.

[JasonAndJulie]

Hope your animals settle in nicely What did you end up doing about housing with the animals?

[Metlakatla]

You can't just drive to Bellingham this time of year with a vehicle and expect to get on the ferry.

[drvasek]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

You can't just drive to Bellingham this time of year with a vehicle and expect to get on the ferry.

Oh, I hear you, at too well! Weren't sure we were going. Knew for sure less than 2 weeks ago.

We snooze we lose. We will figure it out though. Thanks for everyone's help, ya'll have shed lots of light on the matter.