Florida to Alaska (Anchorage, Tok: credit, prices, places to eat)

[Glacierx]

BC in general is beautiful no matter where you cross the border. In my opinion the Kootenay area is more beautiful than the Okanagan. One of my favo[u]rite spots to cross is to leave out of Idaho heading up toward Creston, BC. You continue north on hwy 3A, and then take the ferry across Kootenay Lake. From there you have options again. Nelson is a beautiful town, but for a more direct route take the highway up to Kaslo and over to the 1000 ft deep Slocan Lake. Heading North again, you hit Nakusp where you have options again. Either route is nice, but the slower less travelled highway 6 through Needles takes you past my house and into the Okanagan at Vernon.

Another spectacular drive into BC is hwy 99 (starts at I-5). hwy 99 north of Vancouver and Whistler is amazing as you go from rainforest to a desert-like environment in a very short period of time.

[Dakster]

Assuming my health improves, I have at least one more drive up to contemplate whether to do that and drive the rest of my stuff up or just ship it. This will be the time to do your above route Glacierx.

I like driving, which is why we did it 3x last year. (That and making sure my wife actually GOT the job and making sure that we actually like the idea of living here, rather than visiting).

[Depot Bob]

Originally Posted by Dakster

Last year drove up from Florida to Alaska three times...

Last time was in the end of October to the beginning of November.

Milepost should almost be required reading... It is handy to have, some of the cell phone gaps have been closed (but not all) so you can almost call ahead to make sure there is a Hotel room down the road. Milepost keeps up with the openings and closings of things along the way - and that happens often.

What do you want to know so I can narrow down a response?

I wanted to take the shortest route but a friend recommended going through Coutes? Montana.
I also love driving and am going alone... fairly NEW CAR and have questions re: sleeping, money conversion and general day to day stuff.
I live in the Venice area (Sarasota) and am taking my four weeks vac for trip.

[Dakster]

I like driving and driving alone as well. I have done the trip alone as well as just with my wife and also with my kids too.

I have no idea of your budget - a long driving trip no matter how you slice it is expensive. BUT you get to see things you miss flying from A to B.

Sleeping - I like Hotels, but I have also gotten some Zs at various rest areas too so I could skip a night at one.

Money conversion - Check with your credit card companies as some won't charge a foreign transaction fee and give you the 5PM NY Close conversion rate plus a small spread. You are lucky if go now because you get around (it changes often) $1.25 CDN per $1 US. When I went it was barely above a 1 to 1 conversion. I've used my bank to have some cash on hand, but now Wells Fargo quit doing that. I like it because I gave them $1000 US and they gave me $1050 CDN - now it would be even better or probably around $1200+ for my $1000. I asked EVERY single place in Canada I stopped at if they would take US Currency. NOT one of them said NO... Worse case, use US dollars, but you are now losing out on the exchange rate. One year it was worse than 1 to 1...

I don't understand the general day to day stuff? We had specific places we wanted to see/stay at - otherwise it was driving... Sometimes I stopped when we saw something interesting. For example, driving back to Florida a couple of years ago we decided to see the actual town of Banff... We don't like to lock down our plans to the minute.

Coutts, AB is the main Border crossing from MT into Canada. Not very scenic IMHO. I've done that route several times trying to make time thru Canada to get to Alaska. I would go thru Glacier Park and then up thru Rooseville - Radium, BC (Radium Hot springs is OK, but more importantly the Park around it is AMAZING). And then drive the Canadian Ice Fields Parkway and thru BANFF National Park. I guarantee you that you will NOT be sorry you did this. Going through Coutts is flat interstate...

Touring & Sightseeing | British Columbia | Destination BC - Official Site

Just so you are aware, you are going to drive past several really amazing US National Parks in the Lower 48 too. Even if all you did was drive through them. We drove through Yellowstone as an example last year. Previous we stopped at the badlands and Mount Rushmore, Glacier National Park. If you take a more southern route you could potentially hook up through Utah as well... A ton of options...

[Employable]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

You are dealing with a close to 5,000 mile trip (10,000 mile round-trip) and eight to ten days of non-stop driving each direction.

I have my own rule-of-thumb for road trips:
Your time out of the car should be at least 3x the hours driven.

Examples: Atlanta to Charlotte is about 8 hours round trip... stay in Charlotte 24 hours and head back home. Orlando to Key West is about 13 hours round trip... that's a minimum 3-day weekend.

Using KaaBoom's non-stop scenario, we'd have to stay in Alaska around 3 weeks. But then there's the out-of-the-car hotel time. Not sure if I need to rethink my concept for really long drives. Either way, I'd need a calculator.

[Glacierx]

I drove the Icefields highway last year for the first time. Totally worth the drive! I wasn't that impressed the SkyWalk, but the glacier tour is pretty cool. The scenery is amazing! Once you get to Jasper you have two options. 1) hwy 40 through Alberta up to the beginning of the Alaska hwy or 2) hwy 5 over to Prince George, BC... you then have another option at that point. I think the scenery over to Prince George is nicer.

[Depot Bob]

Originally Posted by HannahTravels

What specific questions do you have? I think a lot of people in this forum have done the drive (including me) and could probably offer great advice. Are you wanting to drive the the whole way or would you consider taking the ferry system to some SE towns that are otherwise inaccessible? What are some of the places you are hoping to see? I'll reiterate the Milepost suggestion. It's a great resource if you are planning on driving the ALCAN. Let us know your specific questions about the drive and I am sure that you will get some decent responses and ideas.

Howdy-
Yes, driving from North Port Fl. to Anchorage. July(taking 4 weeks vacation) 2015
I'm taking my time but wanted to know about resting in my car eats and the every day junk I need to know. I'm goin' it alone and love to drive.
Shortest path is ideal but am open.

[Employable]

Originally Posted by Depot Bob

I'm taking my time but wanted to know about resting in my car eats and the every day junk I need to know. I'm goin' it alone and love to drive.

Resting in car seats:
--It's up to the person. For long-haul drives, I stop about every 100 miles and physically get out of the car. It's the only thing that clears my head. I can't sleep in car seats.

Everyday junk:
--CB radio. I have a decent hand-held that connects to an outside antenna.
--Food. Dried fruit and jerky. I like keeping a large cooler in the back with extra stuff. Water.
--Physical paper maps. I used to belong to AAA and got them for free.
--Portable battery jumper, spare tire and a few tools.
--Heavy utility blanket.
--Knife, first aid kit, flashlight and spare batteries.
--12-volt phone charger. I you're a little paranoid, an extra cell phone battery.

I don't know what everyone else thinks about this, but I go online and search for speed traps. You might find some infamous cities/counties/Virginia.

[Depot Bob]

Still learning this site- sorry

Going by car to Anchorage in July, from North Port Fl.
Allowing 4 weeks driving alone.
Car is fairly new and will be serviced before trip.
I love driving but will not push through the night.
Would take suggestions on shortest route but of course I don't like the Canadian fuel prices.
Are there places for short naps lots of places to eat and what is recommended $ for trav.checks?

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by Depot Bob

Still learning this site- sorry

Going by car to Anchorage in July, from North Port Fl.
Allowing 4 weeks driving alone.
Car is fairly new and will be serviced before trip.
I love driving but will not push through the night.
Would take suggestions on shortest route but of course I don't like the Canadian fuel prices.
Are there places for short naps lots of places to eat and what is recommended $ for trav.checks?

I've always done the drive from the Pacific Northwest, so I can't suggest a route... But I would suggest having a copy of The MILEPOST: Alaska Travel Guide and Trip Planner . In my opinion, it's the best guide to the drive.

Places to eat & fuel stops: as you get further north into Canada food & fuel stops can be a couple of hundred miles apart or more.