During the Fall, I spent the days traveling to RV dealers looking at everything from conversion vans to mini homes... but could not envision driving them down some of the gravel roads I had seen while traveling in Canada....  that I thought deserved investigation.  In the Van RV conversions, I hit my head on the ceiling and could not figure out how to stand to take a shower.   The bigger ones that I drove seemed to swim down the road.  The problem, I decided, was that I was coming from a quick handling Honda Accord to a "truck".

This would all be a new experience for me and a major investment.    Finally I decided that it had to be something small and light that I could tow, like a popup tent camper.   That sent me looking at used SUVs for a tow vehicle as I decided that would be an easier decision than the camper for now.    But alas,  I tried them all, big and small, and they all drove like trucks...  leaning, bouncing, sucking gas... none matched my Honda's 33 mpg or quick handling.   Finally after many trials, I decided that I liked the Jeep Cherokee the best, as it was reasonably comfortable to drive, and would tow whatever I decided on.   Then I found the 1996 in the picture above and said goodbye to my Honda.
  
Next I went crawling through all the travel and camping trailers in the adjoining couple states.   The tent campers were roomy enough for me, but there was all that canvas stuffing to do early in the morning.  The travel trailers were nice on the inside, but heavier to pull and high profile making them more unstable to manage in the wind.    Looking at both used ones and new ones... I could not come to a decision.    Almost settled on the cheapest, smallest  popup tent trailer that I could find to get started...  but just kept putting it off..   I was one person, traveling "solo", needing a place to sleep and wanting to move in and out of campgrounds quickly... to get on the road.    The camping experience did not really interest me. 

Then it happened!  I was looking through a copy of Trailer Life that I purchased in the grocery store and found Aliner. The ad said it had been designed for trans-continental touring and off-road adventures.    The setup and takedown is literally less than 30 seconds.  Good for rainy days.   It has no canvas to handle, but folds down to the same low profile as a popup tent camper and weighs only 1000 pounds.   It can be opened while attached to the tow vehicle in any parking lot or rest area, in seconds.   It sounded like it had been designed just for me!  I looked all over for used ones but there were none to be found in the Midwest.  So I decided on a specific configuration and options that I wanted, and placed the order through a dealer in Iowa.   Now the RV component was complete.

I could now focus on other things...  planning the trip.    These are the set of things I have done to get ready:

• Took out a subscription to Trailer Life and read all the tips.
• Armed myself with travel guides and reference books
  • Both Trailer Life and Woodall's Campground Directory,  also great for door stops and muscle toning while on the road.
  • Scenic Highways and Byways, by National Geographic, including the best side trips in Alaska.
  • Movin' On, by Ron & Barb Hofmeister.  A bit beyond my current need, but great for those full timers developing survival skills for living in a $200,000 motor home.
  • Bell's Mile by Mile Alaska Travel Guide for Yukon and British Columbia.    A good reference book. Bell also has a great web site (See link below).
  • The Mile Post, trip planner for traveling to Alaska.   The Bible for such a trip and invaluable.  Buy a current copy, as it contains detailed mile by mile information that is updated each May.
  • Don't Worry, Make Money...  Spiritual and Practical Ways to Create Abundance and More Fun in Your Life.  This book has absolutely nothing to do with taking this trip.  But it was on sale, and after all, it was a National Bestseller.   After I had spent so much time in Sam's Cub one afternoon I thought I should buy something.   Darn, no pictures!
• Joined Good Sam's club, and signed up for their ERS plan.
• Joined Escapees RV club.  Plan to get their calling card.
• Applied for a new passport.  I was overdue for this anyway.
• Changed all my utility bills to direct pay from my bank account.   While I am away, my daughter will check my mail weekly (it will be held at the post office) and make minimum payments on my Visa bills and any others that will still come in.
• Searched the Internet for Information and found several sites that worked for me (note: the following links have been updated and many deleted as they have disappeared.. one was changed to an undesireable website and I appologize for that.. it has been deleted):
  • Bells Alaska Travel Guide
  • Camping World - resource for ordering camping supplies from the Internet.
  • Road Warrior Telecoupler II  - Best price I found for Telecoupler II.
  • Alaska Marine highway system home page
  • Alaska Community Information - "I Love Alaska" web site
  • RV Parks and Campgrounds in Alaska
  • Mark's Fulltime RV Adventure - Great site by a single fulltime RVer on budget, with tips, costs, etc..
  • RoadTrip America - My heroes!  Been tracking their adventures for a couple years.

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