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Old 03-06-2017, 10:53 AM   #1
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Dreaming of alaska

We're not getting any younger; and with free access to the National Parks in Canada this year, we're thinking that if we're ever going to go, this is our best chance for the great Alaskan road trip. We've owned our awesome new motorhome for less than a year, so our question is this: Will our Melbourne be a broken, chipped mess after two months on this adventure? We've heard some horror stories!
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Old 03-12-2017, 02:50 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by koko View Post
We're not getting any younger; and with free access to the National Parks in Canada this year, we're thinking that if we're ever going to go, this is our best chance for the great Alaskan road trip. We've owned our awesome new motorhome for less than a year, so our question is this: Will our Melbourne be a broken, chipped mess after two months on this adventure? We've heard some horror stories!
KOKO

I lived in Alaska twice (total of 15yrs) and the last time I went up, I drove a 27' class C with a 69 VW bug behind me.

I can tell you the VW was worse for wear (broken headlight and rock chips on the front) but I didn't have any sort of protection on the back of the motorhome nor on the front of the car. As for the camper, other than a rock chip in the windshield caused by a truck flying the opposite direction, we had no more damage than traveling anywhere you'd go with random road construction.

What you need to know is the Alcan highway is ALWAYS under construction somewhere during the summer due to constant frost heaves tearing up the road during the winter. Since the construction season is so short (when we went up the first week of May all the lakes were still frozen and many of the rivers hadn't broken open yet) a lot of work has to be done in a short amount of time.

The Alcan has been paved from one end to the other but there's always a section somewhere being torn up and redone. It might be a couple thousand yards or a half dozen miles...no way to tell. You can do some internet research before you go and find out what's planned where, but take it with a grain of salt.

I'd recommend spending the $35 and get the latest edition of The Milepost (https://www.themilepost.com/features...alaska-highway). although it's now online, having the book is a great resource to know where things are while traveling and full of great history and information about the area you're driving through.

As a precaution, I'd spend a few bucks for a hood cover for the Melbourne (I've them on a couple different web sites for about $100)...and besides they look kinda cool!!

Have fun...it's the trip of a lifetime.

Let me know if you have any questions...happy to help.
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Old 03-12-2017, 06:15 PM   #3
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Went to Alaska last summer. 6 weeks and 11,300 miles. Beautiful! We went in our truck camper. The truck camper allowed us to go pretty much anywhere we wanted and allowed us to stop pretty much anywhere we wanted. I tried to hug the far right side of the road and slow down when I saw big trucks coming and I kept my distance behind everyone. No chips that I could find.
We didn't do any "4 wheeling" but we did get on some unpaved (and worse) roads and there was much more to see. You'll need to know what's ahead before you get off the main roads with your rig. If you are concerned about your Melbourne you can rent about anything in BC/Alaska including truck campers on a pickup truck. I would also recommend getting the Milepost.
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Old 03-12-2017, 08:56 PM   #4
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Agree that it would be the trip of a lifetime. Thanks for your responses.
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2017 Melbourne 24k towing 2003 Jeep Wrangler
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1978 VW Westfalia; lots of tents
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