Date:         Tue, 12 Sep 1995 13:17:57 GMT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         TJNYE@MANSCI.watstar.uwaterloo.ca (Tim Nye)
Subject:      Re: Planning Alaska Trip in 96

In article <Pine.SUN.3.91.950911213956.8029E@mango.epix.net> Will Sill <will@gra
pe.epix.net> writes:

Will, that was a great response, and I agree entirely. (I've made two trips, 
and can't hardly wait to get the time to go again. :-)

Maybe I can expand upon a couple of things.

>DO I NEED A RIDING MECHANIC AND A TRAILER FULL OF SPARE PARTS? Also no, 
...
>you're mechanically in good tune or else have lots of time & money.

You might think of a trip to Alaska as compressing about a year's driving 
into a few weeks.  So think of how much maintenance you might expect in an 
average year, and expect about that much on this trip.  

Obviously, breakdowns on the road are going to be much less fun then doing
the preventative maintenance before starting out. (Like that old oil filter
commercial used to say: "You can pay me now, or pay me later...")

>WHAT'S A GOOD TRAVEL GUIDE??  "Milepost" is the one I recommend - it tells

Definitely the "Milepost".  A new one comes out each spring, and either you
can find it when you get into the area, or you could have a local bookstore
order it in for you (about $20, ISBN 1-878425-25-0).

Another book I would recommend is Ron Dalby's "Alaska Highway Insider's
Guide".  I found it to be the best guide of any I looked at for the area,
especially for the checklists of preparations and provisions it has.

You can also get tourist info from:

        Alaska Division of Tourism
        P.O.Box E
        Juneau, AK 99811
        (907) 465-2010

        Tourism Yukon
        Box 2703
        Whitehorse, YT
        Y1A 2C6
        (403) 667-5340

        Tourism British Columbia
        1117 Wharf St.
        Victoria, BC
        V8W 2Z2
        1-800-663-6000

        Alaska Ferry System
        Homer Ferry Terminal
        P.O.Box 166
        Homer, AK 99603
        1-800-382-9229 or (907) 235-8449

        BC Ferries
        1112 Fort St.
        Victoria, BC
        V8V 4V2
        (604) 669-1211 or (604) 386-3431

Each place has 100+ page brochures they will send to you for asking.

Best of luck,

Tim