RVing to Alaska with Stacey & Gary Quimby of RVing to Alaska LLC & The Milepost

Stacey and Gary Quimby from RVing to Alaska join Jennie to talk about myths and realities of driving your RV to Alaska as along with their favorite stops along the way.

RVIng to AK with Stacey and Gary

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Music credits:  Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.

Transcript

Jennie Flaming: 0:00

welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska, travel and life in Alaska, before we start the show, we'd like to take a moment to thank our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible. You can join them at the link in the show notes. Thank you so much for your support and for listening.

Unknown: 0:44

Are you thinking about driving your RV up to Alaska? Well, if you are, this is the episode for you. That's what we're talking about today. My guests today are Stacey and Gary Quimby, Stacey and Gary are the founders of RVing to Alaska, which is a YouTube channel and a Facebook group for independent travelers who are driving their own RVs up to Alaska. In addition to that, Stacy and Gary recently accepted the role of managing editor for the mile post, and so they will also be expanding their reach that way, even more to help even more people drive up to Alaska. They live in Houston, which is not in Texas. Well, it is also in Texas, but the Houston we're talking about today is in Alaska, and it's between Wasilla and Denali National Park. So Stacey and Gary, welcome to Alaska Uncovered. Thank you for being here. Well, thank you for having us. It's great to be here. It is. It's really fun having you so listeners. Just to let you know, back in June of 2023 we had two episodes that are also pretty relevant to what we're talking about today. One of them was with great Alaskan holidays, and that episode is about how to rent an RV in Alaska. And then we also had an episode just the following week with Serena Reeves, who is the outgoing managing editor at the mile post, and that was about road trips in Alaska. We talked a lot about doing that with families. So today we're really going to focus on driving your own RV up to Alaska. So before we dive into that, Stacy and Gary, I would love to hear how you got to Alaska. Stacy, do you want to start?

Stacey: 2:43

Well, yes, my history with Alaska goes all the way back to my junior high years and my grandparents, I came to Alaska a very different way, on their personal pleasure boat, and they would fly me up as soon as school got out, and I would enjoy spending my entire summers in southeast boating around the inland passage, and my heart fell in love with it. And in 2012

Unknown: 3:19

shortly right before Gary and I got married, we took our first cruise to Alaska, and I kind of re fell in love with it, and I got to introduce Gary to all the places that I fell in love as a kid fun. Then in 15 after, I think, our third Alaskan cruise, we took a trip from Skagway up to car cross on one of the cruise ship excursions, and we fell in love with the land, and we're like, we need to RV up to Alaska. We had just started getting seriously into RVing, and so we set our sights to go up by 2017 and basically give it a try. I love it. Such a great story. And clearly it worked out. It did. I would never imagine that a few short years later, we actually moved to Alaska and make it our permanent home. Well, that wasn't just a few short years later. We did actually come back up in 2019 because we didn't see enough, we wanted to experience more, so we planned another trip and and did even more adventures in 2019 and I think that's kind of when it really locked our hearts into, uh, maybe wanting to be up here more full time, but took a little bit longer after that to get here. But, yeah, but you did it, yeah, yeah. Love it. Okay, so Gary, is there anything you want to add to that story? Had you ever been to Alaska before Stacy brought you the first time? Yeah.

Gary: 5:00

Uh, no, I have not been to Alaska, or had not been to Alaska prior to our cruising adventures. And it was actually eye opening seeing Southeast Alaska from the water. You have these mountains that tower up over you, and most of them are snow capped, and there's ice fields that are everywhere. And then the train trip we took up to car cross

Unknown: 5:22

to see the interior portion of Alaska, really, like Stacey said before, is what kind of solidified us on this wanting to travel up here in our army. It's just amazing interior lakes and tundra and wildlife. And the draw was definitely there, and I'm sure glad we did experience it in the cruise first, and then that gave us the opportunity to take the next step and drive our own personal RV up there. Yeah, you know, I'm glad that you both talked about that a little bit in the intro, because I feel like the coastal experience in Alaska and the land experience are just so different, right? It's such a diverse state, and so is Canada, which, of course, we'll be talking a lot about Canada today as well. Yeah, it's just yeah, being able to do it all is just so cool, yeah, yeah. I would say one of our mottos we always say to our group when we're educating is mentioning Canada is we always we say the best part of RVing to Alaska is Canada. Because when we first started our journey up here in 17 we thought we'd just fly through Canada and buzz right on up to Alaska, but we had to slow our roll and really enjoy Canada. Yeah, Yep, absolutely. I often tell people that when you're driving to Alaska from the lower 48 you're really doing a Canadian road trip. It's what you're really doing. Um, and so, yeah, I agree. Like, you don't want to rush through there, because it's so fascinating and beautiful. It is. It's absolutely worth the time. Yeah, for sure, at least a couple of weeks, although it seemed like we always took about three weeks to get through Canada. Yes, right? Yeah. Okay, so listeners, I'm going to put Stacy and Gary's YouTube channel in the show notes, as well as a link to their Facebook group. So if you're planning this trip, I want to really encourage you to subscribe to their channel to join this group. It's super helpful getting information and advice, not only from them, but from other travelers. So I just really want to encourage folks to to do that. Okay, so you both talk to you, probably 1000s. That's probably not an exaggeration, of people doing this trip every year. Is that? Is that a fair number to say that is fair, yeah, yeah, okay. Over the over the years, we've been running our group pages now since 2017 Yup. And in 2023, we finally kept our group and just kept rolling with it. Yeah? Prior to that, every year we started a new group, uh huh, even though our group only has 14,000 people in it right now, if you add in all our past groups, we're well over the 40,000 mark of people that have joined our groups and have learned from everyone sharing what We share on the page. Yeah, so yes, it's a fair assumption to say 1000s of travelers every year. We help, we share, and we love to follow their adventures as well. Yes. So I'd love to know, since you get to interact with so many travelers, what are some of the biggest fears or concerns that people have about this trip? And then I'd love to talk about like, our I mean, of course, any fear is valid, like, how we're feeling is how we're feeling. But what are things that people are worrying about, and they really don't need to be and maybe, what are things people are worrying about? They do need to be and then, how do they address those? Right? So let's start with the things, like myths people, things people are worried about they don't need to worry about. What are the things that come to mind? The road, the road is horrible. Oh, my, oh my. Yeah, I could expand on that a little bit too. And myth, yeah, the road is, you know, people have no idea what to expect. You know, this is a long journey, 2000 miles from the Canadian border to get into or to get to Anchorage, basically. And they're not your typical us, highway, roads or you. US freeways, they're more like your state state roads, your state interstate, not your state but your state highways, yeah, and even some of those are maintained less than that so, but there's a small section that is fairly full of Frosties and such. But once you start driving, you'll see the road, you'll learn what the what the wiggles and road mean, and you'll be able to adjust your speed appropriately to to route yourself through the different Frosties that might be there. But it's not really that difficult. It's not really that bad. I should say things have improved so much in the last, yeah, you know, 10 years, 20 years, so it it's it's not. It shouldn't be a worry. It shouldn't be a worry at all well. And like you said, Just to add, as you continue up the road, you will learn how to read the road and know when those bumps are coming. Yep. Another big myth is I need to carry spare So, like multiple spare tires and extra windshields, because they're going to break and they're going to fall off. Yeah, well, you know, if you drive the road appropriately, you know at appropriate speeds, you're not going to have a problem. If you maintain your equipment, you shouldn't have a problem. You get a rock chip, you should have a maintenance kit, a windshield repair maintenance kit in your vehicle, repair the rock chip so it doesn't become larger later on. Yep, it's just, it's simple stuff. Be prepared for those incidentals. And you know if, for some reason, you do have a large crack in your windshield once you get to a large town, White Horse Anchorage or something like that, you can have it replaced if you need to. Yep, yeah, I would add to that list you just gave Gary fuel like I think people sometimes are worried that they need lots of extra fuel. Yep. Do you want to address that one? Well, there are, there are some stretches up to about 250 miles. It's probably about the longest distance, yep. So some of those smaller RVs that you know don't have the capacity, the fuel capacity, maybe a good idea to carry some fuel. Or even a large RV, if you just want to skip that next fuel station you know, have have a reserve tank or something like that with you. You know if you're going to be remote, it's always nice to have the those extra preparedness items, the windshield repair kit, a tire puncture tire pug kit, in case you get a punctured tire. Yeah, always good things to have to be a little more accurate. There's actually fuel about every 100 miles, right? But the point is, do you want to pay a roadhouse price, which might be well over $5 a gallon, or even higher, versus the more established stations that's more economical? Yeah? Yeah, you can. You can find fuel all over the place if you want to pay for it. Yeah, I think that that these things that we're all these things that you meant just mentioned Gary, are like things that, if people are operating on information from when their grandparents drove to Alaska in the 70s, like you did need lots of extra tires and many apples, so fuel back that. So I think the point that you made, that I just want to re emphasize Gary, is that it is much different now than it was even 30 years ago, when the first time that I did it 25 you know, so some of those things aren't, you know, yeah, you need to. It is much different. It is greatly improved and improving in the near future as well. Yeah, however, it is still always a great idea to be prepared. Have that, have that tire repair kit, have the windshield repair kit, carry extra fuel. It's just better to be prepared with those items you may not need as much, or the full extra spare tire, or, you know, this and that, but it's always great to be prepared for any situation as much as possible. Yes, and I think especially if you're driving an RV, especially a trailer, then you gotta make sure the tires on the are on the trailer, also in good shape, not just the not just the truck, general maintenance on both vehicles. Yep. Are important. Yeah. And, you know, my husband, who was a diesel mechanic for many years, um, you know he's he also is always talking about how much better tires are now than they were even 20 years ago. So yeah, I agree, still being prepared is good. Yeah. And the other thing too, a lot of people think they have to take an extra tire when really all they truly need is a patch repair kit to get them to the next. Next town where it can be addressed at a tire shop. Because, let's be honest, some of the rigs that are coming up the highway now are huge, and they have no place to carry a spare tire, yeah? So you just another thing we always say is you have to pay pack your patients when you're car being to Alaska, yeah, because you might have a breakdown, and you might be sitting on the side of the road for several hours, maybe even up to a day, while you figure it out. Yep, yeah, yeah, okay. Is there anything else that you want to talk about that's kind of a myth or something people are really worried about that isn't actually that big of a deal, besides what we already said, the the remoteness is kind of a myth, but that's also kind of why you're going there. Yeah, you know, yeah, get up there, and especially the northern, northern tiers of British Columbia and in the Yukon Territory. And it's just unbelievably stunningly beautiful, yep, but there's nothing there, yep, which makes it that much more stunning. And it is. It is very remote, but on the road system, like Stacy said, every 100 miles or so, there's, there's a service of some sort Yep, where you could get some sort of, some sort of emergency situation or something like that, taken care of. Yep, absolutely, it is remote, but it's not so far remote that you're not going to see anybody for days. Yes, absolutely, okay. What are some things that people are not worrying about, that they should be they worry about everything that is so true. Maybe that's a good point. Maybe this isn't the right question. I don't know. I feel like there's a few like, I feel like people should be thinking about stuff like, Well, go ahead, I'm curious what you'll say. And then I have one thing about this, I think one thing that people don't maybe worry too much, or they don't worry enough about, is knowing the rules for crossing international borders. Oh yeah, yeah, it's very it's very important to be up to date on what Canada is regulating, as well as the United States, yes. And then on top of that, I think one thing that is missed a lot, and I make sure I educate on it very well, is Alaska's laws about bringing in animals, and they have an additional requirement above and beyond what Canada and the United States offers, yep, but the Border Patrol will never ask about it, because it's not a federal issue, and that is having a health certificate and I am an animal lover. And our dog population here in Alaska is huge. We have so many working dogs, you know, lots of mushing dogs. And it's important to protect our local pet population from diseases that can come from other parts of North America. So that is why, you know, a lot of people think, Oh, I don't worry about that, but they should, because if they come to Alaska and need vet services, that vet may require that paperwork that you did back a couple months ago just to prove that you followed the rules and you knew what you were supposed to do. Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah, yeah. You know, the thing that comes to my mind, I'm curious if you've encountered this, um, is, like, Gary, you talked about remote roads and, like, how, yes, it is remote. And I and one thing that I've encountered quite often is people who like they assume that they'll have cell service like on the highway, and even maybe they're okay with that. But don't think about this happens on my tour right where we're on a motor coach and we're on the Alaska Highway, or we're on top of the world highway or whatever, and people don't remember or think that they need to tell their family that they're not going to have cell service during the day or for this certain period of time. And then, you know, will be many hours from a phone signal in any direction, and they'll be like, Oh, my daughter might be trying to reach me. And I'm like, There's nothing I could do about that. No, sorry, I've actually seen people do like missing person posts on the northern Facebook groups. And it's like, please understand. It could take them two to three days to get through that section, depending on how much fun they are having. That's exactly right time. Yeah, they might have forgotten all about you. So I think, yeah, that's, I think it's really important to communicate with folks back home about, you know, when it is an emergency and you need to do something, versus when this is just kind of normal and how it's going to be. Yeah, I think another thing people don't really understand is it's just the vastness of Alaska itself and how long it takes to get from one place to another. Yes, on our road system that is actually quite a bit slower than the lower 48 interstate system. Yeah, yeah. It takes, it takes six hours to go 300 miles. Yeah, easy or long? Yes, oh yeah. Like when I was also thinking that, you know, for these people coming up, you come to Alaska, quite often, people go fishing, and they don't realize, oh, I caught the fish. Now, what do I do? Yes, do I eat all this, or do I send it home? Or do I buy a freezer and pack it with me? Yeah, how do you, how do you manage that? And you know, those are great options, either sending it home or buying a freezer or bringing a freezer up. Yep, we've been across several people who have had that situation. Yeah, yeah, that's another good one. Yep. Okay, anything else that either because they should or shouldn't, that people are worrying about, that we should address before we move on. How much food do I have to bring? Because I don't, I have a special diet, and I don't think there's going to be food available in Alaska. Ah, okay, what do you say about that Gary, that isn't really awesome. We have Costco, we have Fred Meyer, we have cars, Safeway. Yes, all the local conveniences of what you would find in most lower 48 states you can find up here. Yes, it's not a big it's pretty easy to find almost anything you need up here. Yeah, I have another one. Okay, bring it. Everyone is worried about the bears? Yes, and I'll be honest, the bears usually, especially in the summertime, they're up in the mountains. They're not down on the roads. You'll have a better chance of seeing bears as you're driving up the highway than you are in your campsites. Now, there are a few hot spots around where the bears are, but a lot of people feel like they're going to be eaten by the bears. And it's just you're going to be lucky if you see a bear up close, yeah, if you're not in a conservatory or on a tour. I'd like to add to that too, a little bit though, during during the salmon runs, the bears do come down to the streams and the creeks and all that that they run out and even the sides of the the ocean area and Prince William Sound and all the inlets. So bears are are near the waterway quite a bit when the salmon are running. And that's that's just should be a commonly known thing. And if you don't like bears, stay away from the salmon runs. Yeah, so, but yeah, bears aren't everywhere. We don't see them every day. You know, the last time we saw bears was when we were in Valdez, because the salmon were running up the rivers. Yeah, bears were there, yeah. So, yeah, that was a good one. Stacy, yeah, yeah, definitely. And, you know, of course, hopefully everyone listening who is an RV, or interested in being an RV, or, you know, knows how to practice good animal hygiene around things like food, you know, in any situation, not just in Alaska, but yeah, and I think that's a really good point, too, about the salmon runs. Yeah, that, like, especially if you're fishing right, like, well, you're probably fishing for the same sort of way, yes, yeah. And just being bear aware, yeah, that's, that's the term we use up here a lot, being bear aware, yeah, whether that's carrying bear spray or an alternate form of defense. And knowing, okay, I'm gonna be in a campground near a river during the salmon run, I'm gonna barbecue chicken, maybe I should clean it up after I'm done and put it away, just so that smells not getting out to the bear and attracting them to my campsite. And I'm going to clean up the garbage that we left outside. I'm going to bring it inside So, yep, it doesn't attract other animals, not just bears, but other animals. Yeah, you know, we want to try to keep everything as clean as possible, keep everything as close to nature as possible. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, well, before we take a break and then get into some cool places, I would love to know Stacy and Gary, based on everything we've talked about, just thinking about your vehicle, your RV itself, what are some things that you recommend people check or. Or deal with or replace or anything like that before their trip. You want to go on that one? Stacy? Well, you're the you're the maintenance man, so I'll let you take that. Oh, okay. Well, you know it depends on the type of RV you have, your fifth wheels and your bumper pulls. You're going to want to make sure that your suspension system, your axles and your tires are in good shape. If you got a rig that's 578, years old, maybe consider replacing the tires before you make this run. Yeah. Get, get the new you bolt, get, get and carry some extra uvules, some extra shackles, just in case. You know, that's another thing about being just being prepared for everything. You never know what's going to happen. It's a lot easier to replace it yourself than to wait for somebody, for who knows how long to come and help you replace it. Well, even if they have the part, when you're in the Yukon, it's tough to find part sometimes, yep. And then, you know, as I said before, general vehicle maintenance, whether it's RV or your tow vehicle, motor home, with the, you know, the last a motor home, fast C motor homes, whatever they may be, just general engine maintenance. And keep up on your oil changes and your services. We have those facilities available in Alaska. If you need oil change while you're up here, make sure you get that done. It's important to your RV for the life of it, inside your cabin, inside your living space, secure the cabinet. However you can, we put Velcro straps between the cabinet doors to hold them tight. Your refrigerator, you want to make sure that kind of secured closed. If you have a microwave, maybe take the glass microwave plate out and set it in a safe, soft place. How many have we lost? Three I have, yeah, I have a visual right now of a Frisbee microwave. Last plate, no. No, yeah, that's horrible. Secure your coffee pot down. You know it's sitting on a countertop. Make sure it can't just fly off the countertop. We have got very ingenious with bungee cords, little bungee cords and, yeah, Velcro bungees and velcro elastic tape things and, yeah, and let's see, Stacy, do you have anything else to add? I mean, I'm sure there's something else, museum putty, you know the little there's plastic rubber match you can put under things to keep from sliding, because these roads will it's going to be a bumpy ride, especially between Hanes junction and toke is Yeah, where the roads just deteriorate. Our last trip up in October, a cast iron skillet came flying out. It busted through our Velcro strap, the force and went flying on the floor. I mean, it just happens, yeah, get the tile too on that one. Yeah. Well, I'm glad it didn't hit you in the head that. Yeah, terrible. Yeah, big noise, yeah. I bet it was terrifying. And, yeah, sometimes you find yourself traveling on these dirt roads. Well, they're not just dirt road. They're improved roads that happen to be dirt that sometimes are called highways. They are top of Denali highway. You find yourself traveling on these roads and you have a lot of dust penetration into your RV. Oh, yeah. Um, one thing that I found that you can do is if you have one of the ceiling fans that reverses, you can put your fan on reverse and it'll blow air into your RV, and then it causes a positive pressure situation inside your RV, so the dust is less likely. Not all fans will do that. And if you're in a caravan and you're a third, fourth back, don't try that, because you're going to be just you're going to be sucking more dust in. But you know, you have to be the lead guy or nobody else around you, yeah, because generally, the dust doesn't travel up over the top of your rig. It stays down along the side, so you're bringing fresh air in. Because no matter what you do to try to seal these things up, they're not airtight. No, that's just one practice. We've tried to keep some of the dust down. It has helped. It has helped have a good navigation system in your RV. Yeah, I know there's a lot of in Dash stuff that works well, but that's only as good as the program is. There's tons of resources available to the users for navigation, whether it be a handheld Garmin unit or dash mount Garmin or even an ON. X type thing, or Google Maps works pretty well, but with all that you do need, or you're better best used to have a internet connection. Yeah. So paper maps are always a great idea as well. We always suggest having paper where we're going, just in case something fails you have something to fall back to. And I have to say, the mile post has an amazing paper map. It does. I was kind of waiting for you to push that one there. Stacy Chuck, um, it is a map in a fantastic map. In fact, it's so good that I keep it above my desk, the mile post map, specifically because when I'm talking to clients and stuff, or even just thinking, sometimes it helps to be like, I mean, I kind of have it in my head, but I still find it super helpful and to glance at it, yeah, and I'll just add, since you Know, so so you don't have to, I will add that when you are in places without cell service, it's so helpful to have the mile post, because you can be like, Okay, where is that fuel station? Is there a place I can buy a soda coming up? Um, I always joke about, like, the trash cans. And now, like, every trash can. I was like, hey, it's three miles to the next trash can. Um, yeah, one no plug for that. One thing I've always enjoyed as the navigator is I will sit and read as we're going along, so Gary can enjoy what is in the book as well. Yeah. And then he also, Gary, do you want to talk about what you do the night before we set out? Yeah, normally we, once you're on your route, you kind of know where you're going. So it's kind of easy to read the mouth post at that point. But the night before, I'll go through and read 300 miles of upcoming and just kind of get a review of what is to come on our on our adventure. And that gives me an idea of where pull outs are, where fuel is, where lunch might be, and any other kind of cool things along the way. So I'll be, I'll be kind of familiar with it, and then Stacy, as a navigator the day of the drive is kind of reviewing it again and and helps bring those memories back that I read, yeah, so I love that familiar as you're driving down the road. And it helps. It just helps for for planning, and it helps for you know, everything. It tells you the miles tells you, okay, it gets a little narrow and windy through here, so yeah, it might take a little bit more time slow down, yeah, or nice straight stretch. Here you can go 75 Yeah. Well, I don't say that your editorial comment, yeah, you know, I love that you shared that story, because I do the same. And as you know, in 2023 I updated like the whole Klondike loop and the Dempster highway in the in the mile post. And it's funny, because the the year after that, I started doing because I've done tours for a long time, but I started doing one that goes through the Yukon and follows a lot of that route. And I use the mile post on my tour as well. And it's funny, because I would tell my guests like, Hey, I helped update this, and I am still reading it while I'm driving, or not I'm driving while our driver is driving. And you know, for even for those of us who've driven these highways, many, many, many times, it's not like you remember everything. And you know, as a tour director, we have a driver partner that we work with, and the drivers will say all the time, they'll be like, how far are we now from this thing? And it's like, we know, but we also don't. It's like, Oh, is that another half hour? Is that another hour? And it's just such I think the point I'm making is it's a fantastic resource, even for people who know the roads Well, like you both, or like me, we're still using it, you know, for hard for car drivers, it's very important to go find that very next, very important bathroom stop. Yes, absolutely, yeah, yeah. And, you know, the mile post is not just for our viewers, like Stacy's kind of hitting on right there, yep, for these people that are traveling in their own personal vehicles or cars and trucks, the mile post is great because it does tell you where the next restaurant is, but it also tells you where all the lodges are for your for your evening stay, totally all the motels or the, you know, the better restaurants. So it really is useful to a very, very wide audience, anybody, anybody traveling the road, can can make use of this at milepost. Yep. Well, I'd also like to say just kind of bring it back to arving to Alaska. If you have internet connection wherever you are while you're making the trip, you can also log in to the group page and see where everyone else is, because everyone is leaving their road reports. They're posting pictures of what they saw that day, what excursions they've gone to, what restaurants they had amazing poutine at. So between these resources, the traveler is so very connected. Unlike the past, where you really felt like you were by yourself, but now, with the resources that the mile post has, with our group page, you can truly feel like you're not alone on this giant journey. Yeah, I like the two. They compliment each other so very well, where the mile post is basically the Bible of the road system, and it tells you everything that's on the road. But then the users in the RVing to Alaska Facebook group are the real time. This is really what's happening on the road at this time. Yeah, we've built and it really, really is a great, great cohesive unity group. It's a collaboration, and it's amazing. We sell stickers that are our users can purchase from us, and they slap them on the back of their RV, and when they're driving up the road, they might see someone else with the same sticker from our group, and they go knock on each other's door and and it creates a community on the road, and that's what I love, especially in the summertime, when we're out and about and we're like, Oh, there's another sticker in the wild. And I actually, I actually have a little prize that I give someone when I actually see them out and about, they get a special sticker just from us that they were they were seen, so it's kind of neat, and just the community we've built over the years. This year is our fifth annual RVing to Alaska rendezvous. It's a camp out that our members can come together for a week and and celebrate fun, food and family or friendships, and we're really excited about that. This year we're taking over a lodge up in Denali State Park, and it's just going to be a lot of fun. So fun. I would love to go to one of your rallies. That would be so fun. I'm usually working at that time, but be really fun. Yeah, okay. Well, we're gonna take a short break, and when we come back, we are gonna ask, or I am gonna ask, Stacy and Gary about a few of their favorite places along the highway. Hi everyone. I hope you're enjoying this episode with Stacy and Gary so far, I wanted to let you know that I just have a few more days of my planning sessions, my 30 minute consults before I get ready to head north for the summer. So this is your last opportunity. This is the last time this spring. I'm going to be talking about it on the podcast. I am planning to bring them back in September, but if you want to get in now for summer or fall trips, book that today so you don't miss out. All right, let's get back to the show, and we are back with Stacy and Gary Quimby. They are the founders of RVing to Alaska, which is a YouTube channel and Facebook community all around driving your RV to Alaska. And they are also the editors, the managing editors of the mile post. So we've been talking about kind of preparing for your trip, and Stacy and Gary. I would, you know this is a tough question, because we could easily have an entire podcast about just this topic, but I would love to hear a couple of your favorite places to stop. It could either be a stop along the highway or a particular route that's one of your favorite parts, or a campsite. I'll kind of leave it to you, let's say top three for each of you. Man, that is tough. I know the whole journey is amazing, and to pull out three favorites, it's impossible, but we'll try, so I will say my top three for Canada, ice fields Parkway, which takes you through Banff and Jasper. A. Uh, it's absolutely stunning. The mountains, literally just the road cuts right through the mountains, and you have glaciers and ice fields, and it's just true ruggedness. I am a little sad, because Jasper caught on fire last fall, and, yeah, devastating as we drove through in October, but they're going to rebuild, and I want to encourage people to still go to the Jasper area absolutely and support that town and help them rebuild, because it's absolutely amazing. They're going to have a campground open this year too, at thumb bike. Awesome. I'm not I'm not 100% possible, but they're working on it. They are. And there's places to camp just outside of Jasper too. Yeah, it's not like the whole area burnt down, yeah. Second I would put up in northern Canada con and say white horse, even though it is a town, I think it's a town worth stopping and taking a gander around, miles Canyon, maybe go to one of the breweries in town. It's just It is a fun atmosphere. And to think you're that far north and the culture in Whitehorse is really encompassing. Yeah, I I enjoy it. I'm not one to really enjoy being in the city, but Whitehorse does a really good job, because you are still so rural, yes, and then taking it over to Alaska. Oh, my Lord, I know, I know this is really impossible. It is. That's a tough one. As an RVer, I would say I'm gonna pick Valdez. Valdez, everyone says Seward in the Kenai, but Valdez, you drive in through these towering waterfalls in Keystone Canyon, and then it opens up to the delta, and you're at the head of the bay, and the town is amazing, great food, wonderful little RV parks there, as well as some state ran campgrounds. It's more roadside parking. But you're going to find, and I say this a lot, you kind of have to step back in time and realize you're not going to have the big RV resorts that you have down in the lower 48 up here. Yes, there's a lot of parking lot camping, roadside camping, and it's just, again, you're stepping back in time. I don't want to say lower your expectations. Nope, but it's you're not going to find the resorts like you're What about you, Gary? So yeah, I've been thinking about this as you've been talking and you've only stole one of mine, but as you're driving up through Canada and BC off the cassiar, I like to go to first day at mezioden Lake. That's a beautiful lake right there at mezioden Junction, and then take the Stewart highway into Stewart and cross over into Hyder. And I'm leaving Gary. I want to interrupt to you for a second, just if you're listening, and you imagined that Gary said the Seward highway there. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about Stewart in British Columbia. Yes, I just could see people going, not that the Seward highway isn't great, but that's not what you were saying there. Okay, go ahead, exactly. Yeah. So we park at Lake messian, leave the RV there and take our tow vehicle or or our other a truck of some sort, and drive down the Stuart Highway to to Stewart BC, and jump over to Hyder, Alaska, get hydrized there in Hyder, and then take the drive up the mountains to the salmon glacier over overlook. And it is one of the most spectacular views you're going to ever see. And you have the ability to be above a glacier and look down onto it. It's amazing and outstanding. The surroundings are beautiful. Yeah, I would say, don't forget your passport if you Yeah, yeah, yes. Vehicles, because you come back into Canada, you have to go through customs coming back into Canada, and that is one of the toughest custom stations for yes, yeah, yeah. They're they're not having it with people not taking that crossing Seriously, no. And it's funny, it's a ghost town. I mean, 70 people live in Hyder, but, you know, they got to do their job. But it's a great though, a couple of days there, it's great. You can, you can, there's so many things to do. And as you're going down to Stuart, BC, you can, you can stop and see the bear glacier as well. So there's many opportunities for glacier viewing. And then you come back, and I'm, I'm going to go all the way up into Alaska. I. Off the Richardson in a huge valley that we call Isabel, Isabel path. And it's where there's a old pipeline work station or work camp station up there. And there's some concrete pads and an airstrip left up there. And we actually had a an RV rally up there in 2019 and it was just stunningly beautiful. In the background, in 22 there's two of them. 22 awesome, 8000 foot mountains in the in the in the background, with glaciers in the valley and rivers coming out of the mountains. Snow in August and July. It's just outstanding. It's beautiful. If you want to see just vastness in these valleys, that's where you want to go, yeah. And then I can't settle on my third too easily. I'm just going to say Prince William Sound. And I know you can't RV on Prince William Sound, but you can get to it via many Valdez Whittier and, well, actually, you can't take Alaska Whittier, that's right. So you gotta take that. You have to have a boat assist, yeah, yeah, the ferry assist to go from Valdez Whittier or any other water port. I just, I'm still drawn to the ocean and the mountains and such. I can't and I can't pick which is my favorite, whether it be velvety Whittier, Stuart Homer, or maybe even, I can go a little bit further and just say none of those. Let's bring it back to our the nil check time. Stacey, Deep Creek, oh, why are you telling them our secret? That is a pretty beautiful, nice area there too. Yes, yeah. I mean, I just it's really hard to come up with three, as you can see. I know it's hard, but those are some great suggestions of places to go until you visit. Yeah. Thank you, both of you, for so gamely narrowing it down, because it's so so hard. There are so many beautiful, beautiful places up there. I'm going to just add that I love the Richardson Highway in general, like I think it's so much more beautiful than the Parks Highway. Not that the Parks Highway isn't gorgeous, because it is, I mean, but I have a little soft for the rich. Yeah. All right, well, before we move to our couple of wrap up questions, is there anything else that we didn't talk about Stacy or Gary that you want to add specifically about ARV, I just want to say, don't be afraid to do it. It is a big journey. And also know that a lot of things can come up between the time you decide to do it and actually go day. And if things have to get rearranged a little, you have to wait a year, then, you know, don't, don't worry too much. The other thing I want to say is enjoy the journey. Because a lot of people, they feel they have to just plan every day and know where they're going to be every single night, and sometimes the journey is going to dictate otherwise. So again, that pack the patience, enjoy the journey and just roll with it. Because sometimes life throws some curve balls, and especially when you drive this far, yeah, you've got to be able to just go with it, go with the flow and enjoy the journey. I love that. Well, put I like that. Yeah, yep. Anything you want to add, well, that's kind of the motto We Live By. You know, tomorrow is really never promised. So do what you need to do today, because you never know what's going to happen. Yeah, future. Yeah. And, you know, if you're hesitant about this trip, do it? Yeah? Come, come to Alaska, visit us that we're we've told you about many resources available to you, yeah, and one other resource we haven't, we've kind of maybe talked a little bit about, is internet connectivity and the availability of Starlink now, yeah, as a as a roaming option on RVs. Yep, it has opened up internet connection on the whole route. We traveled up in October with the art with Starlink on our RV and we had internet connection the entire trip. So that will ease a lot of people. This isn't a sponsored Starlink post or anything like that. A user who is very happy with it and has experienced the services that it provides, driving from Washington to Alaska, we had 100% connection every day. Yeah, the new the new roaming plan allows in motion. So it was. Wonderful. And the only time we never had service is when we were at a gas station because we were parked under an awning. Yes. So link shut off the internet, yeah, um, yeah. And I'll just say listeners, we, uh, Stacy and Gary and I are recording this episode over a Starlink internet connection, which, when I started this podcast two years ago, it wasn't good enough for that. So, um, it really has also improved a lot in the very recent past. Oh, and not only are you recording over Starlink, we're recording over our own personal star, like you're at home too. Yes, yes, both parties. Yeah, it's great working pretty great, wonderful. Okay, so the last two questions that we ask everybody who comes on the pod, the first one is going to be a little bit difficult, because I know it's about restaurants, and I know that Houston doesn't have a lot of restaurants, so I will instead, you get to be the lucky people who can pick a favorite restaurant, maybe anywhere along this route that you're like normally I Ask, I'm gonna ask, I would ask, What's your favorite restaurant in Houston? Which you can answer, if you've got a good answer for that. But instead, you could also tell us what your favorite place is to eat along the trip to Alaska, along the drive. Well, yeah, my favorite restaurant used to be in Houston, till the Houston lodge closed down almost a year ago today. Unfortunately, the Houston Lodge was closed. We don't have any. There's a couple little places in this little town of Houston, but not too many. Yeah. Now let's see, maybe not necessarily full meal kind of food, but which one was it? Stacy that had the best cinnamon buns? There's several. There's a few. Testa, Testa River Lodge, River Lodge, yeah, Testa River Lodge. My gosh, they were huge and just creamy and delicious, yeah? And that's, you know, that's another thing about this trip, is stop into the lodges. You know people, yes, into the lodges, visit them. They want you there. Yep, they have little gift shops for you to go through, and a lot of them provide food, lunch and such, yep. But now, as a regular restaurant here in Alaska, I'm probably, gosh, I have to go ahead. Stacy, you could bail them out if you want a really nice meal. I mean, like you're celebrating something fabulous. Think I know where you're going. I would go to Seward and go to the cookery, very good. And then, you know, a lot of people say you have to go to Moose is tooth and Anchorage, and they're great. We just had lunch there, like, three days ago. But if you want amazing pizza. I have two suggestions. Either, what's the mermaid place down in Oh yeah, fat mermaid. Yeah, fat mermaid. Or same fat owl, olives and Homer, yes, if the word fat is in the name of the restaurant, go to it. They're probably pretty good. Yeah, absolutely right, yeah, yeah, yeah, um, just to throw out something super random, because you are people who appreciate this one. Well, other than obviously fast eddies, everyone has to eat. Oh no, my head, but, yeah, but it's, it's like, I, what I tell people is, like, it's literally not optional, because you, you need food when you get to toke, no matter that section of the highway, right? No, you need a minute to, like, recover. But the other thing just food. You need a beer? You do? You need kind of the full experience that you can have at fast eddies, for sure, yeah, um, the other place that this is really obscure, but I love the poutine at the Triple J in Dawson City. So that's not really on the way. I mean, you'd have to go up to Dawson, but that is a that's a fun one if you're ever up there. So I in 2017 we did the sour toe. Oh, well done, though we have a certificate to prove it. You have to look that up. It's pretty it's pretty grotesque. Yeah. It's pretty cool to see that I did that. Yes, yes. So listeners, just go out there and see what you can find about the sour toe cocktail in Dawson City, Yukon. And we'll just leave the sour toe there. Leave it at that. Alright. So last but not least, Stacy and Gary, you've given us so much wisdom today, but I would love to hear if you have one piece of advice for any Alaska traveler, whether they're RVing or not. What would it be? I'm gonna say, Join RVing to Alaska, the original so you can see other people travel. Get a great idea and just follow along their journeys. We realize that usually it takes about two people to plan an RV trip up. It's not something you just just say, hey, let's jump in the RV today and go, yeah. I mean, I know there's some people that do that, but if you want to see what the experience is like. Do join our community online. It's facebook.com/group/rv, two, AK, join the group. Follow along. See what it's about, because that's what I love about our group page. It's a giant collaboration. It's not just me educating you. Yeah, everybody, educating everyone. Love it. Okay, Gary, I'm just gonna add this Stacy. What she forgot is, you know, get the mile post too. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, now, what was the question again, just to make a motion? Well, that was a good answer to the question, which was, what's your one piece of advice for Alaska travelers? Um, you know another one, you're in just a second, but you're not going to see it all. Yeah, it's almost impossible to see and do it all. Yes. And if you can get off the road system. Take some flight tours. Go fly to the outside to go fly to Nome, go fly to get outside of the road. But yeah, you're not going to see the whole thing in one trip. You just don't have the time. Yeah? But when you do take the trip, do it at a pace where you can enjoy what you do have plan to see. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to add. Don't think you can do this in two weeks. Yeah, no, you gotta slow your roll. Really. Just take your time. Immerse yourself into the land, into the culture, into the people. Yep, yes, it's the culture is great, and that's why I said go out to the remote villages. Yeah, different world out there, yeah, and they survive in a different way. And it really is eye opening, and it's they're great people to meet, and they want to meet you, and they want to show you what they do. They want to show you how they live. Yeah. So yeah, experience that if you can, yes, well, that is a great note to end on Stacey and Gary. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having us. You