Date:         Thu, 21 Sep 1995 08:45:55 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         phillips@pi3.tucson.saic.com (Dave Phillips)
Subject:      Re:  Inuvik and Alaska

>From busgirl@netcom.com  Wed Sep 20 11:00:23 1995:
>[...] 
>Anyway, any idea of what you spent total on gas and food and whatever else?  
I don't know the total because not all the credit card bills are in
from Canada, but it was well short of $1K.  This included gas, food, 
motels for probably 5 nights, camping fees, park entrance fees, etc.  
Mostly gas, probably $30-40/day.  I had the carburetor leaned out 
pretty good, so I might have been approaching 25 mpg.  I'm a really 
frugal person, so YMMV on expenses.

>Did you eat out most of the way
>since you were alone, or do your own cooking?  
I cooked on my propane stove most of the time, but hit restaurants
sometimes in the bigger towns.  You should probably plan on having to
cook some dinners and breakfasts.

>Is there a possiblity
>of camping free if one doesn't need showers and potti facilities? 
I camped free most of the time (I'm a tightwad).  Most of the motorhomes
were doing the same thing.  Just find a place to pull off and camp.  I
was never asked to leave.  One night in BC I had to camp not far from a 
guy in a pickup camper pulled off the road; the guy glared at me.  Don't 
know why.

>Any other additions you found useful or would recommend because
>you missed having them?  
Yeah, a second driver  ;-)   I brought my laptop and an inverter along,
that way I could collect my mail periodically.  I really enjoyed having
it and reading the mail in the evenings.  Be aware that modem-capable 
phones are real hard to find on the road (and in Alaskan motels).  A 
camera and binoculars would be good to have.  

If you don't have screens for your bus windows, a mosquito net to sleep
under might be helpful.  Also, after I got into Canada, I switched my
desert hiking/driving boots for ones that were waterproofed.

Radio stations are only located in major towns.  Bring lots of tapes and 
perhaps a portable shortwave radio, although at this period in the solar 
cycle the short waves didn't work so good either way up north.  I missed 
the fine CBC radio programming from BC as I left the populated south.

>Any other stuff hard to get up there?  
If you have a particular favorite American food or snack, you might bring 
a supply of that.  The Canadian diet and tastes are slightly different 
from ours.  As mentioned, VW parts are non-existent.

>How many jerry cans would you bring along?  
I would say 1 per vehicle should get you between major gas stops.  You
want a cruising range of 350 miles or more.

>How much time at the bare minimum would you allow for the trip from, 
say the SF area?  
Let's see -- 3 weeks will give you about 1 day in Inuvik  ;-)   
4-6 weeks gives you time to see the sights, and take some drive days 
off to rest or play in the hot springs.

>ARe you gonna have to repaint yer car?  Did you break any glass?
Nah, I'd just have to wax it then.  No (additional) paint damage or 
broken glass.

>What was the warmest and the coldes temperature you experienced?  
The warmest was 110 in Phoenix, and the coldest was 28 in Colorado.
Alaska was mid-40s at night, 60s and 70s daytime.  Be aware that Inuvik
is slightly cooler, and can have frosts or snow any time of the year.  
Temperatures got to my liking only after I crossed the Canadian border 
heading north.

One driving tip:  Plan on doing a good portion of the day's driving
after 5 p.m.  The guys in the motorhomes have to have dinner promptly
at 5, so the road is mostly clear for the rest of the evening.  The
light is the same as mid-afternoon down here, so you can drive till
10 or 11 and still have enough daylight to make camp with.  Then at
bedtime get out your eyeshades.  ;-)

Northwest Territories Tourism will send you a packet of tourist 
information -- 1.800.661.0788.  Tell them you want to visit Inuvik.
(NWT has neat license plates in the shape of a bear).  I imagine Yukon 
and Alaska Tourism will also send you stuff, but I don't have the numbers.
Check Canada's web page for more information, perhaps.  
(http://www.kiz.com/campnet/html/campnet.htm has a link to the latter, 
but they're not responding at the moment)

Thanks to everyone for the kind notes of praise on my post yesterday.

...Dave Phillips  '69 bus     |  Internet:  phillips@aries.tucson.saic.com