Vegas 15,500 mile trip to Alaska

[Oneilkeys]

We just returned from our 15,500 mile 3 and ½ month trip from south Florida to Alaska and back in our 2014 Vegas 24.1. This is the second multi-month trip we have taken in the RV, the first was from Florida to Nova Scotia, last year. Generally, both my wife and I were more than pleased with the livability and functionality of the Vegas. In over 100 days, there was only one day that we checked into a hotel and that was because of 30 amp power issues. In our last several RVs (Class B and C) we would routinely “motel it” every couple of weeks of so. With the Vegas we did not find the need. Actually, we were happy to sleep in it again after one night in the motel.

About 75 of the 100 days were “dry camped”, mostly in public campgrounds. We spent two nights in Walmart due to bad storms in the area and we were thankful for their hospitality. The most we spent in one place was a week dry camping in Denali National Park and another week in Seward city park in Alaska. In both instances, a small solar panel and one hour a day generator use met our electrical needs. In our smaller RVs my wife would routinely use the campground showers if they were clean and nice. This trip, the Vegas shower was so successful, we almost never used the campground ones.

I drove the Vegas all 15,500 miles from 80mph I-90 in South Dakota to some of the roughest dirt and gravel roads I have ever taken an RV on. The Ford chassis took it all in stride and not once did I not feel in control. We went from following a snowplow in Yellowstone NP to blinding thunderstorms to 100+ degree temperatures and the Vegas went thru it all. I know a lot of people drive while running the generator and house A/C, but we never felt the need to. With all the insulation I put in the engine compartment and “doghouse”, the chassis A/C worked fine.

While the trip was not completely free of RV issues, we consider ourselves very lucky with the few issues we had. I discussed some issues early in the trip (18 May) in previous posts – water pump failure and defrost issues. The only other major issue we had was not the fault of Thor or the RV. In Canada we had a 30 amp power issue which melted the plastic end of the 30 amp cord to the 30 amp receptacle on the RV. I had to physically remove the receptacle from the RV to get on the road. Luckily, nothing internally was damaged and the next day we were back in the U.S. and able to buy a new cord and receptacle from a Thor dealer.

The only real negative is the fact that the RV dealers and Camping World that I interacted with were all uninterested in helping me with my problems. They were more than willing to sell me the parts, but told me that they could not fix my problem for ten days or more. Luckily for me, I have replaced fresh water pumps and installed 30 amp systems on several of my boats, so I was able to fix everything that broke. From my experience, be aware that if you have an RV problem, you are probably not going to get much help. My experience with Ford dealers has been much more positive.

In conclusion, we had a great time and we were very happy with the Vegas. We’re already planning next year’s trip. And, unbelievably, I had nothing to fix when I got home… knock on wood!

[JamieGeek]

That is a quite impressive trip! I am very surprised that nothing was rattled out of place with the road to Alaska and back (given what I've read about RV'ing to AK).

You must have hard drives filled with photos! LOL

[roadhog]

Glad you had such a good trip. Would love to do that someday. Thanks so much for the report.

[groswald]

That trip is on the list. Glad to hear the Vegas handled it well!

I've been putting off buying a power protector due to the cost. Based on your experience I s'pose it's time.

Regards,

Randy

[KNMIB]

That is wild. What a great adventure. How much drive time per day did you think you did? Is the solar panel you used mounted or portable? You are about to get a bunch of questions because we all love and dream of this type of trip. Thanks

[Oneilkeys]

The trip to Alaska took over a month since we meandered from one interesting place to another. On the way back, after 3 and 1/2 months we just wanted to get home and we did 3000 miles in six days. The solar panel was just a small one we put in the window and plugged into the house bank.

[Oneilkeys]

On the power protector, there were two things I wanted to buy before I went on the trip. One as the surge protector - which I got burned on. I purchased one with the parts to fix the shore power. The second thing was a tire pressure monitor system. Luckily, I got thru the trip without a tire problem, but I will purchase one before my next trip, for my peace of mind. Together they cost about $1000, but it would have been worth it.

[DocMike]

Outstanding. We have been on two cruises/train trips thru Alaska but now...a road trip is in the future.

What kind of insulation work did you do? If you can provide a thread I'll trace it down. I just downloaded a decibel app to check road noise on our first 500 mile trip this coming Labor Day.

I am having a frontend alignment done next Monday (I noted the problem on our PDI drive, listed it on the paperwork but I have given up trying to get it done thru Thor or Ford - both are world class in pointing the finger at the other). Other than that and a few onboard modifications the Vegas will be going out as purchased this past May.

ANy last minute suggestions?

Again, congrat's on the Alaska adventure and thanks for sharing.

[Mr Sunshine]

Great report. Thanks for sharing! Please post some pics if you can.

[Oneilkeys]

This is a post I made back on 10 April on the insulation.
When I removed the dog house and added more insulation, I also put some insulation in the engine compartment against the firewall and under the table. While I was in the engine compartment, working in the area under the table, I noticed that the frame that holds up the windshield is hollow and open at the bottom. If it is open at the top (can't believe they would have closed it) that allows the engine noise and heat to flow up this big tube to the ceiling area. I built two plugs out of scraps of insulation and closed off the two holes. Will see if it makes any difference or not.

[Oneilkeys]

See my posts on shower modifications and Easy Dump installation back in April. Those are the two best modifications I did. My wife made new curtains for the front window and blackout curtains for the three windows in the bedroom. For Alaskan 23 hour sunlight days, they were really nice.

[aa9zz]

Wow!

[Oneilkeys]

On pics, my wife took several thousand pics which we have not even started to catalog. My favorites are the Grizzlies we saw in Lake Charles NP. We were within 15 feet of one Grizzlie and about 7 feet away from another. We saw over 100 Grizzlies in our two day trip. Awesome!

[KNMIB]

How did you find the roads in Canada?

[EA37TS]

Sounds like the trip of a lifetime. Any lessons learned would be greatly appreciated.

[Oneilkeys]

This is our second RV trip thru north western Canada and Alaska and we found the main roads as good or better than many places we have traveled in the U.S. The Alcan highway was in very good shape this year except for two long stretches that were under construction. Because of the short construction season, you will always find some major construction on your route. In Canada Route 37 Cassair highway - which runs from the Alcan to Route 16 is fully paved and about 1/4 of it has just been replaced. It is a beautiful road. For anyone who wants to go or plan to go to Alaska "the Milepost" is an absolute must! It is expensive ($40 I think) from Amazon, but it tells you mile by mile the condition if the road and what is open and what is not. It is updated every year in March or April and you need the new one. It will repay its cost many times over. There are many roads (Top of the World hwy from Chicken to Dawson City for example) that are dirt And gravel that you will want to take. The Vegas did not have a problem with any if them. Changing a flat was my biggest worry and I did not take some roads far from civilization because if this.

[Larry]

Sounds like a wonderful trip with great memories. Would love to do that in a couple of years post retirement.

[Oneilkeys]

Retirement is good. Don't put it off.... My greatest lesson learned after 10 years of retirement.... Is just go do it.

[Nursx2]

Nova Scotia!? Almost made to my home province of Newfoundland! We were going to drive there this summer from Ohio but I just could not do the 7 days total drive thing for a week on the island! Someday!

[Oneilkeys]

My sister lives in Nova Scotia so we have been to PEI and up the Cabot Trail. Beautiful country and nice people... Maybe Newfoundland next time..