Blue View – Alaska Trip Wrap-up

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Where we went

We’re now back in Las Vegas after our fabulous Alaska roadtrip, getting reacquainted with all those amenities we did without for the last five+ months – flush toilets and free hot showers merely steps away from our bed; a bed we can just sit up and step out of; high-speed internet anytime we want it; hot and cold running water; a kitchen with a stove and oven; a fridge with room for more than a couple days of provisions; a freezer; a washer and dryer just down the hall – available any time, day or night – without the need for a roll of quarters; and a closet with hangers, to name a few.

It’s not that we’ve felt deprived or that living in a small van for months required a major sacrifice. Sure, there were compromises, but they were greatly outweighed by the many positives. On the other hand, it is nice being back and enjoying all these luxuries we usually take for granted.

We drove almost every highway in our biggest state, Alaska. Other than places not accessible by road like Nome, Kodiak Island and Ketchikan, we missed perhaps two highways. We should have kept track of our miles in the state, but, unfortunately, we didn’t.

We dipped our toes in the Arctic Ocean twice – once in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories in Canada via the Dempster Highway, and once in Prudhoe Bay via the Dalton Highway in northern Alaska. (The Arctic was the only ocean we hadn’t sailed while on Nine of Cups, BTW). While the Dalton had its moments, overall, the Dempster was the longer and more difficult of the two.

I thought I’d compile a few factoids about the trip:

Our Trip Odometer

  • Total miles: 16,082 (25,881km)

  • Unpaved miles – gravel and dirt: 1,016 (1,635km)

  • Number of road construction sites: 3,957,882 (or so it seemed)

  • Number of potholes: Roughly the same as stars in the Milky Way

  • Days: 161

  • Fuel economy: 18.8 MPG

  • Gallons of gas: 855 (3,237 liters)

  • Most expensive gas: $7.50/gallon in Coldfoot, Alaska on the Dalton Highway

  • Cheapest gas: $2.94/gallon in Rifle, Colorado

  • Oil Changes: 3

  • Sets of tires: 1 (The old tires were on Blanche when we bought her, so we don’t actually know how many miles were already on them. We do know we drove on them for a total of 35,500 miles (57,132 km), including about 12,800 miles on this trip. We bought new tires in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. They were much more expensive than in the States, and we were hoping the old ones would make it back to Montana. When two of them got below 3/32” tread depth, however, we didn’t want to risk going another 1800 miles on them, especially with the chance of running into snow.)

  • Camping days: 156 (Mostly public campgrounds in state and national forests and parks, but also the occasional rest area, Walmart parking lot [always with permission, of course], and commercial campground.)

  • Hotel days: 5

  • States: 9 (Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah).

  • Canadian provinces: 4 (British Columbia, Yukon, NW Territories, Alberta)

  • U. S. National Park Sites: 20 (includes National Parks, National Monuments, National Historical Sites, National Recreation Areas)

  • Canadian National Park Sites: 5

  • Diesel heater fuel: 8.6 gallons (33 liters)

  • Coldest night: 27 degrees F (Singleton CG, Dixie National Forest at 8800 feet)

  • Warmest day: 92 degrees F (Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada)


    To quote one of America’s great philosophers,

“and that’s all I have to say about that”

… Forest Gump

See you next week...