 Spanning 2.2 million acres, Yellowstone National Park is the second largest national park in the contiguous United States after Death Valley, which covers 3.4 million acres. Like Death Valley, Yellowstone transgresses state boundaries, stretching from Montana to Wyoming to Idaho. Yellowstone is also the oldest national park, having opened in 1872, according to the National Park Service. That likely explains its popularity, which kept us from visiting for many years. Yellowstone attracts more than 4 million guests annually. When we found ourselves in striking distance of the park after Labor Day and peak tourist season, we decided to take advantage of the proximity, urged on by our wonderful hosts Mike and Barbara in Bozeman, Montana. Like us, you may be wondering, “Is Yellowstone worth visiting?” Find out about our experience to decide for yourself. Wildlife Having recently toured Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where bison surrounded us as we crept along Scenic Loop Drive, we weren’t too sure about venturing into Yellowstone. We did see bison there, but from a much greater distance. We were even closer to the animals on a drive through Ted Turner’s ranch in Bozeman. Despite that, the animals were nice to see. And for many people, Yellowstone is their only experience with bison and other wildlife. We also observed some elk partaking of their evening meal in the Madison River, and we spotted a lone elk midday in the middle of a meadow. We appreciated those sightings, as we hadn’t seen elk or deer at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We saw no other wildlife at Yellowstone except for swans, geese, and birds. That doesn’t mean other mammals aren’t there. They definitely are, as are fish and reptiles. Many guests have spotted bears, wolves, pronghorns, coyotes, and moose there. Vastness That leads to my second point. Covering millions of acres, Yellowstone is enormous. There’s no way to see it all in one day. Even going two days, like we did, you may not get through it all. There’s a lot to take in. By not hitting every area, you may miss some opportunities to view certain wildlife, as we can attest to. The time of day of your visit can make a difference too. Along with that enormity comes something we found quite unique and fascinating. Yellowstone features a great variety of landscapes:
Everywhere we turned offered something different to look at, making the park an amazing place to explore. Geysers Speaking of geysers, they’re the draw for most of Yellowstone’s guests, who’ve heard stories about Old Faithful, which erupts as a natural fountain regularly throughout the day. When we arrived at the geyser’s location, we had to wait an hour to witness the wonder for ourselves, but we didn’t mind. That gave us time to watch a couple of educational videos and peruse the displays and gift shop in the visitor center there.  Despite its renowned allure, Old Faithful is only one of about 500 geysers at Yellowstone, according to the National Park Service. Because the park is a supervolcano, it’s home to other hydrothermal features as well, including hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles — or openings that let sulfurous gases escape. As we drove through the park, plumes of steam caught our eyes and captured our attention, presenting unfamiliar sights. Although we’ve walked through an active volcano crater in Hawaii, the steam escaping it paled in comparison to the scenes we beheld at Yellowstone.  Conclusion After watching Old Faithful and observing bison far in the distance on our first visit to Yellowstone, we left with a meh feeling about recommending the park. Old Faithful was impressive, but our experience with bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and on the Alaska Highway made this park feel ho-hum. Since we were camped in the area for a few days, we decided to make another trip to investigate more and give Yellowstone a fair shot. On our second expedition, we navigated the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, worked our way up a mountain pass, and then turned around and drove through meadows and mud volcanoes to see Lake Village and expansive Yellowstone Lake. That drive changed our minds about the park. The diverse topography, incredible views, herds of bison, and more convinced us that Yellowstone is indeed worth visiting — especially for those who will never make it to other sights we’ve seen. Just be sure you allow more than one day to explore the natural beauty.
You might also like Is the Crazy Horse Memorial worth visiting?
2 Comments
 When traveling the interstate system across this great country, we sometimes encounter toll roads. Google Maps lets us easily avoid them to save money if we desire, but we’ve learned there can be great benefits to driving an RV on a toll road. What is a toll road? If you’ve spent most of your life in Arizona, the Great Plains, or the Northwestern U.S. outside the Pacific Northwest, you may not have encountered toll roads. As the name implies, a toll road is a route that requires a fee to drive on it. You can think of it as paying the troll under the bridge from “Three Billy Goats Gruff.” What does the money go to? It’s intended to cover the costs of road construction, operations, and maintenance. Toll roads have been in existence since the 1920s, according to the Federal Highway Administration. They were created to help pay for the expansion of highways, tunnels, and bridges. Today, all but 13 of the United States include toll roads, according to the World Population Review. Let’s look at some of the benefits of driving an RV on a toll road. Routes and road conditions When hauling a 42-foot fifth wheel across any part of the country, we like to avoid traffic congestion whenever possible. That typically means skirting big cities. Although most toll roads are found in cities, they tend to route travelers outside the downtown area. This is a significant perk when towing a big rig. Staying outside the city can also help prevent clearance issues. Although driving the New York State Thruway from one end of the state to the other can cost upward of $50 with our four axles, it keeps us free from low-clearance overpasses and provides a lot of convenience. Because toll roads collect money for upkeep, they’re typically — but not always — in better condition than highways that don’t. This makes for better driving with an RV. Every time we move our fifth wheel from one location to another, all the contents inside effectively experience an earthquake. Smoother roads mean fewer mishaps inside the rig during travel. Toll roads also include convenient travel plazas. If we need to make a pit stop or pick up some food or fuel, we can pull off the road and easily get right back on when we’re ready without having to worry about paying another toll. Each travel plaza usually includes clean restrooms, a handful of eateries, and other shops for snacks and vehicle needs. Payment procedures In the early days of toll roads, drivers had to have exact change to throw into a basket as they passed a toll booth. Digital technology has revolutionized that. No longer do you need to collect quarters, dimes, and nickels to enter these for-fee roads; you just need a registered license plate. Overhead cameras read license plates, which are linked to a person’s name and address. Toll bills are then sent in the mail to the address on file. Alternatively, drivers can proactively pay the fee online based on a website advertised as they pass a toll station.  Transponder options Another thing that can streamline toll payments is a transponder that suctions to the inside of a vehicle’s windshield. Instead of the toll booth cameras reading a license plate, they can read a transponder, which is also linked to a name and address. In 2022, we traveled to Florida and all the way up the East Coast to Maine. Our route included a number of toll roads. Before setting out that year, we obtained an E-ZPass transponder to adhere to our windshield. It worked from North Carolina up to Maine and even in Illinois when we visited there.  For our time in Florida, we had to secure SunPass. Since then, however, E-ZPass has expanded to cover the state of Florida as well. As of this writing, E-ZPass is available in 18 states.
That leaves 19 states with toll roads that aren’t covered by E-ZPass. We wanted a more comprehensive solution and found that the trucker fleet we belong to, TSD, which allows access for RVers under the Open Roads name, has a partnership with Innovative Toll Solution. For a transponder setup fee, which includes a small account on the transponder itself, and an annual fee, we get coverage of all toll roads across the country. For us, toll roads are well worth the cost to keep us outside busy cities on better roads with easy payments and decent food options. You might also like Our favorite phone apps for RVing.  South Dakota is known as the Mount Rushmore State. It’s also our state of domicile. As such, we made a point to visit its eponymous monument to the birth, growth, development, and preservation of our country while boondocking near the Badlands. The 60-foot-tall granite faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln took 14 years to complete. Today, those faces greet more than 2 million visitors annually on a mountain that stands 5,725 feet high in the Black Hills, a 5 million-acre forest plagued by controversy. Only 16 miles away is another, much larger granite monument we didn’t know about at the time we visited Mount Rushmore. This one, of Crazy Horse, is a tribute to Native Americans. Like us, you may have heard of Mount Rushmore and wonder if the Crazy Horse Memorial is worth visiting. Read on to decide for yourself. Envisioning Another Monument The entire Black Hills area was sacred to numerous Native American tribes and was granted to the Sioux and Arapaho tribes through a treaty in 1868. When Colonel George Custer and his expedition team found gold in the area in 1874, the Americans wanted the land for themselves. This led to the Battle of Little Bighorn, which ended with the tribes losing their rights to the land. Before the completion of Mount Rushmore, Lakota Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear commissioned New England sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who assisted sculptor Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore, to carve another sculpture in the area to honor Native Americans. “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too,” Chief Standing Bear wrote. Ziolkowski met the chief in 1940. After serving a call of duty in WWII, Ziolkowski agreed to take on the project to create a 100-foot sculpture of Crazy Horse, the Lakota war leader who fought the U.S. government to preserve Native American land and the Lakotan way of life. In 1946, Ziolkowski sculpted a scale model of Crazy Horse. A year later, he moved to the Black Hills to begin working on the full-scale project. Upon arrival, Ziolkowski decided to enlarge the sculpture to 563 feet, even though he knew he could never finish it in his lifetime. While five of the nine survivors of the Battle of Little Bighorn looked on in 1948, Ziolkowski made the first blast on the mountain, seven years after the completion of Mount Rushmore. Forgoing a salary and rejecting funding from the federal government, he pledged that the project would be nonprofit and educational. Exploring Crazy Horse Seventy-six years later, donation-funded work continues on the Crazy Horse Memorial, which became quite a sight to behold on its 50th anniversary in 1998. At that time, during a dedication ceremony, Ziolkowski’s widow, Ruth, unveiled the complete face of Crazy Horse. Although the sculpture is visible northbound on US Highway 385, more than 1 million visitors pay $30 to $35 per carload to navigate the winding road to the Crazy Horse Welcome Center. There, they pay their respects and glimpse the world’s largest mountain carving.  From the parking lot, they’re greeted with a side view of Crazy Horse’s face, outstretched arm, and pointer finger. A round window in the granite marks the beginning separation between Crazy Horse and his horse.
True to sculptor Ziolkowski’s commitment, the memorial grounds include museums, a university, and a conference center. In the welcome center, guests find an informative film, a gift shop, and a restaurant. From the welcome center, visitors can hop on a bus to the base of the mountain for $5 per person — weather permitting (if there’s lightning in the area, tours stop) — to get a better perspective of the size of the mammoth monument. For an extra $125 per person, a van provides a guided tour to the top of the mountain. Even without taking a tour to get closer, the sculpture is truly a sight to behold and worth the visit. We’re glad we got to see it. You might also like Exploring Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  Having traversed this great country as full-time RVers for about five years, we had heard about a gas station/store chain called Buc-ee’s but had never visited one. We just hadn’t happened upon a store on any of our journeys east, where most of them are located at the time of this writing (although they’re expanding west). That changed on a trip from Virginia to Charleston, South Carolina, for a cruise with friends Jim and Jenny, sans Tagalong. Our I-95 route passed right by a Buc-ee’s, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. What an experience! Fascinating Attraction As we pulled into the Buc-ee’s in Florence, South Carolina, myriad gas pumps (120) stretched across the property, attracting loads of people. With Tagalong temporarily out of the picture, we had no trouble weaving through the throngs of vehicles to make our way to a diesel fuel pump. That would have been much more challenging, but still doable, if we had been towing. Despite the mammoth size of Buc-ee’s locations, the chain doesn’t allow truckers to take advantage of its offerings. Jenny and I climbed out of Gulliver to work our way to the store. Our jaws dropped as our eyes scanned the massive amount of fuel pumps, cars, and people. The Buc-ee’s beaver mascot graced pool noodles and other merchandise lining the way to the door of the store, where visitors stood eating various delectables they had acquired inside. Nothing could have prepared us for what we’d find as we entered. The expanse of the 53,000-square-foot store took our breath away. We were at a loss for where to look, inundated by the noise of customers talking and cash registers ringing, and forced to navigate the labyrinth of humans and product displays.  On a mission, we dashed around hordes of people to get in the long and quickly growing line for the women’s restroom, afraid we might not make it to a stall in time. To our pleasant surprise, the line moved almost as rapidly as it grew. Buc-ee’s employs restroom attendants to point people to empty stalls for efficiency. Thanks to those attendants, the chain has also earned a reputation for having the country’s cleanest restrooms, according to Cintas. Plentiful Offerings With our bladders empty, we moved on to more important matters: filling our bellies. Bob and Jim joined us, and before we knew it, Bob and I had lost Jim and Jenny. We continued on, undeterred, to explore the seemingly countless hot food options: burritos, tacos, BBQ sandwiches, sausage on a stick, hot dogs, Buc-ee’s chips, and much more. We even found a beef jerky counter and a wall dedicated to prepackaged jerky.  Bob wanted to get a T-shirt, so we wormed our way to the clothing and merchandise area, where a plethora of T-shirt options, blankets, shoes, stuffed animals, and a whole lot more filled shelves practically up to the ceiling. Bob snagged a shirt he liked, and we headed back to the food.  By this point, the din of the many visitors and the explosive variety of goods and food choices overwhelmed my senses. I just wanted to hurry and get my food and get out.
After setting on a BBQ sandwich for Bob and a sausage on a stick for me, we maneuvered to the convenience store part of the establishment in search of a drink. We made our selections, and a nice young gal rang up our purchases, confirming that our experience was normal every day for her. We exited the building, thankful for relief from the cacophony, and stood outside to ingest our food while watching others enter the store to start their Buc-ee’s experiences. Monumental Destination Despite the overload to the senses, Buc-ee’s does a lot of things right. Unlike most of the truck stops we’ve visited across the country, Buc-ee’s has much cleaner restrooms and much better food options, both hot and healthy. For those reasons, we’d consider stopping again. Buc-ee’s also holds a couple of world records: one for the world’s largest convenience store, at 75,593 square feet in Luling, Texas, and one for the world’s longest car wash, at 225 feet in Katy, Texas. We recommend checking out Buc-ee’s for yourself if you ever get the chance. If you find it too overwhelming, you never have to go back again. But with the myriad food and product options, the fast-moving lines to the restrooms, and the numerous fuel pumps, you just might get in and out of it faster than you would at another stop. Buc-ee’s is sure to be an experience you won’t likely soon forget. You might also like What It’s Like to Stay in a Truck Stop at an RV.  Can RVers stay at truck stops? We wondered this, as backing into or pulling through a parking spot designed for a semi-truck can feel cramped. We need at least 5 feet on the passenger side of our fifth wheel in order to open our stairs to get inside the rig to sleep. We’ve managed to do that at rest areas, but maybe their spots are wider.  We tend to avoid staying at busy truck stops. We don’t mind the low-pitched bub-bub-bub of the diesel engines, because the noise tends to be constant. But we don’t want to take a spot away from a trucker who might need it. We have great respect for truck drivers and what they put up with to keep our supply chain operational. We’ve overnighted at a couple of spacious truck stops, however. At one, we were able to park next to a telephone pole that prevented a truck from getting too close to us — and gave us plenty of space to easily get into and out of our rig. A roomy dirt lot across the street from another truck stop let us spread out and not feel cramped.  In both of these instances, we kept our truck connected to our trailer and boondocked. We felt safe, slept peacefully, and experienced nothing out of the ordinary. We were able to fuel our truck, open our dining room slideout to get to our living room, eat a meal, relax in front of the TV, start the next day with hot coffee, and get on the road to our destination in a timely fashion. A New Overnight Truck Stop Option Wanting to cater to more RVers, Love’s started installing RV sites at its easily accessible truck stops in 2022. They include Wi-Fi, electric and water hookups, and access to a dump station. Today, Love’s has 61 RV stops across the country. All spots are bookable and payable from a mobile device or an on-site kiosk. We had heard these could be pretty costly, so we didn’t think we’d ever take advantage of this option. But finding ourselves in need of a convenient overnight stop with electricity to power our air conditioners in the humid South, we decided to give a Love’s RV Stop a try while passing through Alabama.  Many Love’s RV Stops are fenced off, located away from the trucker parking, and somewhat private. The one we tried out included eight RV sites near the auto/RV fuel pumps. Getting into the spots in a setup like this can be tricky if the gas station is busy. Thankfully, we were able to back into our site just fine. It wasn’t level, but it was concrete. We fished out one of the boards we carry in the back of our truck. Bob drove forward, and I placed the board into position behind the tires on the low side of the trailer. He backed the rig onto the board and pretty well evened it out side to side. Because this was an overnight stop, we didn’t want to disconnect the truck from the trailer, even though Tagalong was about 3 inches high in the front.  This being a designated camping spot, we felt freer to leave our dining room slideout open, which gave us living space to enjoy while we recuperated from our drive for the day. Overall Experience The building on the premises included restrooms, showers, a store, and a couple of restaurants, which made for quick and easy meals after a busy day of travel. We were able to grab coffee in the morning before hitting the road, preventing us from dirtying dishes and adding water to our gray tank. On our way to moochdock at the home of some friends, we wanted our tanks empty. The constant movement of vehicles and people in and out of this location felt a little sketchy for our first foray into Love’s RV Stops. We kept our door locked whether we were inside or outside of our trailer. It helped that we parked directly under a light. Despite these seeming drawbacks, the convenience of the stop made it worthwhile for the $38 we paid. En route to our destination the following day, we stopped at another Love’s for fuel. It had a nicer RV setup, protected by a wooden fence and separate from truck parking and fuel pumps — for an additional $10. We had considered staying at it the night before, but that would have meant driving another hour and a half or so. We were grateful to save that time.  We would definitely consider trying another Love’s RV Stop when we need a convenient overnight stay on a long drive. It does offer a lot of pluses.
You might also like Our Favorite Phone Apps for RVing.  When you think of camping in an RV, you may picture luxury: electric-powered lights and television, running water, and a flushable toilet. At campgrounds that offer full hookups, those things are realities. Boondocking, or dry camping, however, means sacrificing those luxuries. Or does it? Without shore power electricity, you can camp as if tent camping, reading and participating in outdoor activities rather than watching TV or using a laptop, and relying on solar-powered lamps after the sun goes down. But those aren’t your only options. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live off-grid in an RV, we’re happy to share about our experiences doing so. Powering Up and Topping Off Thanks to the 10 solar panels on our fifth wheel roof (six 160-watt and four 100-watt), we typically get enough energy to keep our three 170-amp-hour batteries charged to power everything we want to operate. That includes my work laptop, dual monitors, office light, Bob’s computer, our TV, digital picture frame, and Google Home — and even charge our phones. We rely on propane to run our refrigerator, water heater, space heater, stove, and oven. Our rig has designated holding spaces for three 7-gallon/30-pound propane tanks, which provides plenty of fuel for a week or two off-grid. We limit microwave use, instead opting to heat water, coffee, soup, and leftovers on the stove. For water to make coffee and meals, clean dishes, brush our teeth, flush the toilet, shower, and drink, we have to find a potable source to fill our 75-gallon freshwater tank. We prefer to do this near our camping destination at a gas station, campground, or dump station rather than hauling the liquid long distances, which can affect fuel efficiency and put unnecessary strain on Gulliver and Tagalong.  We tend to stock up on groceries, prescriptions, and other supplies before going boondocking. That way, we can stay longer, which saves on fuel. Finding Warmth on Cold Mornings On cold workday mornings, I get out of bed and, clad in a fluffy robe and slippers, descend our three steps to turn on our portable propane heater in the living room. The portable heater is more energy-efficient than our onboard propane heater, which uses electricity to start the motor. After that, I open my office door to try to get some warmth in there and then roll up window shades. Most of our windows include two shades: privacy and blackout. We pull down both after the sun sets to help keep cold air out. Opening the shades in the mornings lets sunshine in for natural heat. Then I check our VictronConnect phone app to get a read on our batteries’ state of charge. If it registers 75% to 80% and the weather forecast calls for a sunny day, I know I can run my little electric room heater in my office without too much dent on our battery life.  If, however, the reading is closer to 50%, I need to conserve as much energy as possible. That means starting my workday in the warmth of bed or in the living room near the heater using my laptop disconnected from a power source and from my wall-mounted dual monitors. When my tummy starts rumbling, I heat water on the stove to brew coffee in our 50-ounce French press and make a bowl of oatmeal. “What about Bob?” you may be wondering. He stays in bed reading the news and then has a light breakfast on his own. On rare occasions of multiple cloudy days, Bob starts one of our two propane-powered generators to charge our batteries up to 100%. Dealing with Waste With no garbage pickup off-grid, we have to remember to take our trash with us to deposit in a public wastecan anytime we venture into town. We also have to be mindful of the liquid that goes down our sink and shower drains. Our fifth wheel has a capacity of 85 gallons of this gray water, which tends to add up fast — even with turning off the faucet between lathering and rinsing when taking a shower. Wastewater also comes in the form of black water, or toilet water. Our rig has a 50-gallon capacity for this. Our gray and black water tanks usually last for a couple of weeks before we need to empty them. If we plan to boondock longer than that and don’t want to hook up the truck and trailer to haul to a dump station, we have to find a way to dispose of their contents. Some RVers carry a macerator and portable wastewater tank for this purpose. We don’t have either of those, so we try to take advantage of public restrooms when away from our RV and be vigilant and sparing when using water from our faucets. Enjoying Nature By camping off-grid, we’re able to get our rig into scenic areas we otherwise wouldn’t, such as in the shadow of a towering mountain, atop a butte overlooking a city, or near a rushing river or expansive lake.  We like to take daily walks in nature to get exercise and admire wildflowers, desert flora, and varying terrain — and creatures big and small in their natural habitat when we happen upon them. Getting out of our rig also allows us to meet other RVers and exchange stories.
Being in nature isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, however. It often comes with windy conditions, the price we pay for the beautiful surroundings. We’ve learned to accept that as part of the experience. Despite that aspect, we’ll continue to take advantage of the boondocking opportunities that come our way. You might also like 7 Best Boondocking Hacks.  When we started our full-time RV lifestyle in 2020, we began with a blank U.S. map. We decided that to add any state sticker to the map, we had to sleep in our rig in that state. The map includes the state of Hawaii, but how do RVers honestly put Hawaii on their map? We’ve heard about some creative ways to add the 50th state to an RV map. Some RVers have taken a picture of their rig with them when visiting Hawaii and hung it above their heads while sleeping to say they slept there in their rig. Small RV rentals, such as camper vans available on the islands, offer another possibility. Some RVers have left their traveling homes in the contiguous states and taken the camper van rental route to get Hawaii on their RV maps. We decided to forgo putting Hawaii on our map, but that didn’t prevent us from visiting the beautiful state. We did so by embarking on a cruise from Long Beach, California, with stops in Maui, Honolulu, Kauai, Kona, and Hilo. We slept on the cruise ship every night, so we technically didn’t sleep in the state anyway, even if we had taken a picture of our rig with us.  Island Allure Millions of tourists are drawn to Hawaii’s volcanic islands every year for their tropical climate, bountiful flora, colorful sand beaches, captivating volcanoes, abundant sea life, expansive pineapple plantations, and plentiful hiking and surfing opportunities. Having taken the same cruise on the same ship eight years earlier, we were drawn by the 15-night sailing, our love of cruising, and easy accessibility to Los Angeles from Arizona. After a very busy year, a cruise offered a much-needed getaway for us to disconnect from technology, unwind, and refresh. After relishing four relaxing sea days, being rocked to sleep every night by the ocean waves, we toured volcanoes, paid our respects to the soldiers entombed in Pearl Harbor, basked in the Hawaiian sun, dined on fresh seafood, and admired uncommon-to-us sea life. One of the things we enjoy about our full-time RV lifestyle is the myriad opportunities we get to visit friends and family across the country. We had that same opportunity in Kauai, where Bob’s brother Rick and his wife, Carolyn, were vacationing. We spent a wonderfully easygoing day with them — and even saw sea turtles and whales. Making Memories The highlight of our Hawaii visit was renting a Mustang convertible in Maui and driving to the top of Haleakala Crater, a national park with a summit that rises 10,023 feet above sea level. As the car ascended the switchback road, we found ourselves high above the clouds without being in an airplane. We even looked down on a rainbow, a truly unique experience (but unfortunately didn’t get any pictures of it).  When we reached the visitor center shortly after the park entrance, gusting winds made us shiver — and close the car top. A few miles later, at the summit parking lot, the outdoor temperature registered 48 degrees. Pushing the car doors open against what felt like 35 mph winds — and dressed in only shorts and short sleeves — we braved the cold, passing ice on the ground as we approached an overlook building. Closed, it offered no respite from the cold blasts. We quickly snapped some pictures overlooking the crater and ran back to the car to return to the visitor center. After descending the volcano and reaching normal altitude, we opened the top of the car to enjoy the Hawaiian sun. With some of our favorite Petra tunes blaring, we drove toward a black beach off the beaten path. In Hawaii, all of the beaches are public. Despite that, we had this one virtually all to ourselves. Of course, we had to go into the water. We had originally planned to snorkel here, having read about the coral reef not too far from shore. But the wind had made the waves choppy and the water murky. We swam for a while and then sat in our beach chairs to dry as the sun neared the horizon, thankful for an amazing day, time together, and God’s beautiful creation around us. You might also like Where We Park Our Rig for Flight/Cruise Travel.  Living in an RV full time looks spectacular on YouTube, where RVers showcase magnificent travels, amazing destinations, and exciting adventures. But is RV life really all that glamorous? After four years on the road, we can tell you it definitely is not. Sure, parts of the lifestyle live up to that reputation, but many others leave much to be desired. Here are some of the negative aspects of full-time RV living: Travel-Day Squabbles Typically, we enjoy a week or two in a single location, exploring what the area has to offer and keeping busy while there. When we get into the truck on travel days, we have dedicated time with each other, interrupted only by fuel and rest stops or rare sightings along the way.  It seems these occasions often become times to discuss issues between us, since neither of us can walk away. This can make for unpleasant travel that may carry into arriving and setting up at our destination. Sometimes, we forget we’re on the same team and in a partnership. That’s why you can find T-shirts and mugs that say, “I’m sorry for what I said while backing up the trailer.” Long Driving Days Reaching a destination by a certain date — for a wedding or a cruise, for example — may require multiple days of driving. This can be exhausting. One day, we drove 11 hours trying to get somewhere due to a family member’s medical emergency. Similarly, we spent eight days driving the Alaska Highway each way. Even though we traveled only three to four hours on most of those days, we kept all but our dining room slideout closed at any overnight stop. That kept us from taking up too much space at, say, a rest area while still allowing passage to our kitchen and refrigerator.  Not being able to “be home” day after day wore on us. To help break up the trip, we spent two nights at the Liard River Hot Springs Campground in British Columbia both ways. This enabled us to open all four of our slideouts and truly feel at home. On the way back to the Lower 48, we also stopped at a museum in the Yukon to make the journey more enjoyable. Breakage Towing all of our belongings across the country equates to an earthquake in our “house” every time we relocate. Some roads are definitely better than others. The constant vibration can knock things loose. Big bumps or potholes can bounce hanging clothes off their closet rack. Pipes leak, sealants let go, and screws come loose. It seems that almost every time we move, we find something else that needs our attention. It may be a tire, a window, the truck bed cover, or any number of other things. That’s why we make a point to give the vehicle a thorough walkaround before travel and when we stop at a rest area or fuel station.  We’ve learned to roll with the punches and take these issues in stride. They’re just part of RV life, but they’re not necessarily fun.
Logistics Unless you have a small rig such as a camper van or a truck camper, logistics tend to be a big part of full-time RV living. We have to do a lot of research before venturing anywhere to make sure our big rig can fit. This can take a lot of time. Checking our desired destinations is more crucial in the East, where clearance can be more challenging, than it is in the West. We had absolutely no clearance issues in Alaska. There, 15 feet, 10 inches is considered low clearance, compared to anything below 13 feet, 6 inches in the rest of the country. Uncertainty Because we move so often, it’s hard to keep track of where we are and where we’ve been. We both experienced that same situation when we toured with the Continental Singers and Orchestra, which is how we met. For three months, we had a concert in a different city every night. Fast-forward 36 years, and we’re having deja vu moments. Many mornings, we wake up unsure of our location. What state are we in? Where were we yesterday? Where were we when that happened? Despite these challenges, we enjoy RV life and the freedom it gives us. We also relish visiting family and friends across the country much more often than we’d see them otherwise. Life is good. RV life is great. You might also like More Answers to Your RV Lifestyle Questions.  You know the old saying, “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Having heard great things about Alaska and seen pictures of its magnificent beauty, you may be wondering if that saying applies to the 49th state. Alaska truly is an amazing place, with jaw-dropping scenery, wide-open spaces, and peaceful surroundings. It does have some negative characteristics, though, that you should be aware of if considering a trip to the Last Frontier. Mosquitoes You’ve likely heard the joke about mosquitoes being Alaska’s state bird. They’re not quite that big, but you can see them. The bountiful lakes, ponds, rivers, and creeks in the state give mosquitoes lots of places to lay eggs. We found mosquitoes to be the most plentiful and annoying during the month of June. The tiny creatures easily found their way into our rig. I had my arm outside the blankets while sleeping one night and woke up to numerous itchy welts on it. The two mosquito rackets* we invested in before our trip to Alaska came in quite handy to battle the pests. There’s something satisfying about hearing the insects fry. (That’s how bad they are.) The netting hoods* we purchased also helped when we spent time outdoors, as did the insect repellent wipes we bought.  We got a plug-in bug trap later in the season. Because the population of mosquitoes had already subsided, we didn’t find the device super effective after only one night of use, but it did make for a great night light. Lack of Darkness Speaking of night lights, you don’t need them for many hours, if at all, during the summer months. Alaska is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun for good reason: Because of its position in the northern hemisphere, the state doesn’t get very dark in the summer.  In Fairbanks in June, the sky never gets pitch black, although it does approach twilight for a couple of hours each night. After the summer solstice, the days start to get a tad shorter, especially if you head south. Many people struggle with the lack of darkness. We got used to going to bed with the sun still high in the sky. We pulled our room-darkening shades to give the trailer more of a night feel, and our bathroom skylight made a natural night light. Darkness seemed strange when I encountered it in San Francisco on a work trip a couple of months later. I had forgotten what it was like. Desolate Roads Alaska’s wide-open spaces allow plenty of room for people to spread out. Unless you’re near Anchorage or Fairbanks — or on the Kenai peninsula during the salmon runs — you’re not likely to run into much traffic. (You will, however, come across potholes and frost heaves.) On many roads, you can go for miles or hours without seeing or hearing another vehicle.  Because of this desolation, you’re at the mercy of small-town service station workers, or good-samaritan passersby, if you do have a breakdown. We know because my cousin had an issue with his boat trailer after we met him in Glennallen to go to his remote cabin. After getting the boat and trailer towed to the sole service station in the area around 3 p.m. on a Friday, we didn’t leave with the trailer’s integrity intact until about 5 p.m. on Saturday, more than 24 hours later. Few Store and Restaurant Chains Service stations aren’t the only rarities in the Last Frontier. Store and restaurant chains are too. The only places you’ll find retail, food, and coffee chains in Alaska are in the big cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks and their suburbs. If you get a hankering for McDonald’s or Taco Bell while elsewhere in the state, you’ll likely be disappointed. Expect to see lots of mom-and-pop shops. Tok, for example, has a Thai restaurant and an American restaurant, and that’s pretty much it. We prefer those small-town establishments anyway because they give us a better taste, literally, of the areas we visit. You may or may not find a supermarket chain. We came across a Fred Meyer in Soldotna, a Safeway in Valdez, and an IGA in Glennallen. Alaska has its own grocery store chain, too: Three Bears Alaska has 12 supermarkets in the state. High Costs Expansiveness and unadulterated magnificence come at a price. Because everything has to be trucked, shipped, or flown into Alaska from a great distance, costs for groceries, restaurant meals, fuel, automotive parts, and practically everything else are expensive. Even with awareness of that, you may have sticker shock. Rain and Mud You will have rainy days in Alaska, especially in the coastal regions. We experienced many, which made for muddy messes inside and outside our trailer. A summer in Alaska is definitely not glamping.  On a good note, rain in the 49th state is different from rain in the Lower 48. Alaska gets more drizzles than downpours. Because of that, it’s easier to do things outdoors even with “showers.” You just have to dress for the occasion.
That said, rain can ruin plans and visibility. A foggy, rainy morning limited our views on the wildlife glacier cruise we took in Valdez. We had a wonderful time on the tour anyway and were able to see quite a few things. When we moved to Valdez from Homer, the forecast called for rain all week. The weather changes quickly in Alaska, and we were blessed to enjoy multiple nice days in the city at the end of the Alaska pipeline. We’re glad we didn’t let the predicted outlook deter us. But don’t expect to get a suntan in Alaska. More often than not, you’ll likely be wearing layers to keep warm. There are pros and cons to everything. As far as we’re concerned, the positive attributes of Alaska far outweigh the negative. The state’s awe-inspiring grandeur is not too good to be true. In fact, some of Alaska’s seemingly unfavorable traits contribute to its allure. You might also like Can You Drive a Fifth Wheel on the Alaska Highway? * As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.  When considering and researching driving to Alaska, we didn’t find much about taking a fifth wheel RV or a big rig on the Alaska Highway. Plenty of sources referenced class C motorhomes, camper vans, and truck campers, but could we take a fifth wheel? The answer is yes, you can drive a fifth wheel on the Alaska Highway, and that’s exactly what we did after many months of preparation. Our truck and rig needed a good wash after the trek (but not as badly as it needed it after our trip on the Dalton Highway).  Road Conditions We found the first half of the road to be fantastic, in much better shape than many of the highways we’ve traveled in the Lower 48. The second half, however, left a bit to be desired. We had heard that the road worsened near Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territory. Indeed it did. The highway became littered with large patches of bumpiness. Being early in the season (toward the end of May), we also encountered numerous construction zones, most of which consisted of gravel. In a number of places, we had to wait for a pilot car to lead us through the areas under repair. Once we crossed into Alaska, the road became even worse, with lots of waviness from frost heaves, wide-open potholes, and more construction. The road continued to be challenging until about 40 miles outside of Tok.  8 Tips for Success Adverse road conditions can be harder on fifth wheels and big rigs than they are on camper vans, truck campers, and class C motorhomes. Additionally, smaller vehicles allow for more spontaneity and easier parking. With a 42-foot fifth wheel in tow, we have to be more calculated and plan our stops. Fortunately, most of the gas stations along the Alaska Highway are uncovered, unlike in the contiguous U.S., so we had no trouble pulling in to get fuel. Here are our top tips for success on the Alaska Highway. 1. Set your odometer to 0 in Dawson Creek. This will enable you to follow along with The Milepost book and/or the Alaska Highway book you can pick up in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, at the visitor information center that details the many turnouts along the way where you can stop for lunch or camp overnight. The visitor center also offers a list of gas stations along the Alaska Highway that are noted by mileposts. 2. Know your metric measurements. You likely know the height and width of your rig in feet and inches. In Canada, you need to know those measurements in meters, as that’s how overpasses and bridges are marked. Our rig is 13 feet, 3 inches tall, which converts to 4 meters and 4 centimeters.  3. Be prepared for fueling differences. Fuel prices look inexpensive in Canada, but that’s because they’re per liter rather than per gallon. One liter is equal to 0.26 gallon, so you can roughly determine the price per gallon by multiplying the cost times four. Keep in mind the price is Canadian, which, at the time of this writing, is $1.32 (CAD) to $1 (USD). If you’re used to topping your diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) at the pump in the U.S., be aware this option is a rarity in Canada. We carried a container of DEF with us to ensure we didn’t run out. 4. Watch your speed. It’s best not to be in a hurry on this remote highway. You’ll get better gas mileage going at a slower pace, and it will be easier to stop if you come across something of interest — or happen upon wildlife. Enjoy the journey and make the most of it. The posted speed limits are in kilometers per hour, not miles per hour. It didn’t take us long to learn that 50 kph is 30 mph, 70 kph is 45 mph, 90 kph is 55 mph, and 100 kph is 60 mph. 5. Regularly scan the horizon for wildlife. Spotting wildlife is one of the highlights of driving the Alaska Highway. Keeping your eyes peeled gives you more opportunities to see black bears, bison, moose, porcupines, bighorn sheep, deer, and more. We quickly realized that black blobs from a distance tended to be bears (although some black blobs were culvert openings) and brown blobs were bison.  6. Don’t be afraid to use the other lane. Because the highway is remote, you can use the entire road to avoid taking your rig over bumps unnecessarily. Just be sure you check both behind and in front of you before moving into the oncoming lane. 7. Download playlists and/or podcasts. Knowing that our SiriusXM radio is satellite-based, we expected it to work on the Alaska Highway and even into the 49th state. Because Canada and Alaska are much farther north than the SiriusXM satellites, our radio wasn’t able to see them and left us in silence. We had heard that might happen, so we went prepared and downloaded some Mike Rowe podcasts ahead of time. 8. Keep snacks handy. The Alaska Highway is not like most highways in the contiguous United States, with gas stations and restaurants every few miles. It’s quite remote, leading through very small towns and villages that may or may not have food available. Be prepared: Have snacks on hand and easy-to-make meals at the ready. They’ll come in handy when your tummy’s rumbling and no restaurant is in sight. It’s also wise to have some Canadian cash on hand in case you stop at a small establishment that doesn’t take credit or that’s experiencing internet issues. The Alaska Highway is a great adventure for vehicles of all shapes and sizes, offering beautiful scenery and plentiful opportunities to meet amazing people. You might also like Crossing the Border into Canada in an RV.  |
AuthorThis is the travel blog of full-time RVers Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. Categories
All
|
RSS Feed