LESSONS LEARNED

---

We’re incurable list-makers, so had fun talking about this on the way home. The primary lesson: read this blog, read and talk to everyone you can, learn alot, and then DO WHAT YOU WANT!! Above all, take it easy and have fun. We met individuals and caravans who were trying to drive 3-500 miles daily on two-lane roads. If your vacation is short, reduce your geographical reach and HAVE FUN!

STUFF TO TAKE: this part is all about the ease of using your stuff. If you can’t get the boat off the top of your rig, you’ll never use it. Our bikes were mounted on the front of the truck and though they took a beating, they might have been worse off in the back. We didn’t put a cover on them because we worried about restricting airflow to the truck’s radiator. They did get chipped up and filthy, and the chains will probably have to be replaced. Put a shower cap on the seat!
• Don’t pack heavy (howls of laughter from Tom at this point …) You’re not going into the jungle. We took extras of too many things. If you’re addicted to a certain brand of coffee and MUST have it every morning, take plenty. Otherwise, you’ll find what you need, even though it may be a different brand or a little more expensive.
• Tom’s corollary to the above note: you never have enough beer.
• You’ll need eyeshades unless you have blackout curtains/blinds on your truck. We slept 8-10 hours a night without problems and only used the eyeshades once, when it was “hot” (70 degrees F) and we needed all the windows and vents open. We saw that some people had taped aluminum foil to the inside of their windows under the shades.
• Take a bug screen to protect your radiator. The fabric screen we bought in Dawson Creek hooked around the wheel wells and kept millions of bugs out of the radiator. We might put it on the tractor when we get home. Some people had armor-plated the fronts of their rigs, but the only other thing we did was put hardware cloth in front of the radiator inside the grille.
• We put “Expel” (a heavy mylar film from 3M) on our headlights and the front window of our camper. It’s the same stuff the government puts on windows for bomb protection. We don’t know if it worked, but we do have two rock dings that went through the aluminum of the camper. No headlight or window problems. You can buy it on line to fit the exact dimensions of your headlights and windows.
• Take those orange “leggo blocks” as needed to level your rig. With a truck camper, we needed a maximum of 10, since we could level our camper in the bed of the truck using the jacks.
• Extra box at the rear - we're not sure we'd do it again. It was a pain, and the one we bought (Rola Adventurer) only made it about 4000 miles before the welds failed. We’ve talked to others in the North American Truck Camper Owners Association (NATCOA) and they recommend a different model. Check the NATCOA forum.
• Take a collapsible bucket - we bought ours at REI. It holds about 3 gallons and was handy at provincial parks so that we weren’t using our freshwater tank so much. It also was great for extinguishing campfires and for draining gray water so that we could dump it (legally) into the toilets. We also took a 6 gallon “jerry can” that fit easily into the back seat and could be emptied into the fresh water tank of the camper.
• Take an RV brush with a collapsible handle to wash the bugs off the front of the rig and the mud (trust us) off the back.
• We took an “autoformer” designed to convert amperage to voltage so that you can boost voltage to your appliances in places were everyone’s hooked up and using their air conditioning. We stayed mostly in government parks (no hookups) and didn’t need the AC anyway.
• Take two inverters, one for the cab and one for the camper. They’re great for recharging appliances while you’re driving. (Remember to unhook them when you’re stopped so they don’t drain your battery.)
• Take some webbing straps (you can buy good ones from Northwest River Supply) of various lengths. You never know when you’ll need them and they’re much better than ropes. Our awning no longer locks in the up position and we have it strapped to a jack.
• Take a 6X6 tarp because you’ll never know when you wish you had one. Ours was good for stowing bikes inside when we went on the ferry, for hauling campfire wood and for protecting stuff.
• We removed the TV mount from one of our cupboards and used the cupboard for storage. Instead, we bought a Hauppaugel WinTV USB2 tuner with a coax hookup at one end and a USB hookup at the other. It’s tiny and allows you to use your laptop as a TV. However, you’ll find that most places don’t have TV and that unless you’re a real addict, you won’t watch much.
• Take a small electric heater. Ours is a “Ceramic Disc Furnace” by Pelonis, Model HC-350. It lets you use the campground’s electricity rather than your propane. Remember that a fair number of campgrounds only have 20 amp connections. Bring an adapter!
• We brought a small CB radio, mostly for the weather band, but found that it doesn’t work in Canada. They may use a different frequency - it might be worth researching.
• For a doormat (and you WILL need one) we brought an “astroturf” cover from a trailer step. It’s been great for getting the junk off our shoes, hoses off easily, and goes on the passenger floor mat.
• Vinyl flooring is without a doubt the best choice. If you’re doomed to carpeting, protect it. Alaska gravel is made from slaty rock, so all the gravel, sand, etc. is charcoal gray.
• Bring the best pair of binoculars you can afford. Our spotting scope was worthless because the critters didn’t hold still long enough.
• Bring a tripod for your camera, even if it’s a little camera like ours. We have a small digital camera with a zoom, and have gotten good stills and videos from it. It’s a Canon PowerShot S21S, with 5.0 megapixels. If you have the cash, get the best digital videocamera you can afford. There’s no way to capture wildlife action or panoramic views with a still camera.
• Bring playing cards, a how-to game book and any board games you like.
• Bring a DVD player (or your laptop) and some oldies (we have Superman) or DVDs of TV shows. We brought DVDs with seasons of Lost, Prisonbreak, and 4400, shows we’d never watch at home, but have watched on rainy and/or mosquito-ridden nights. You can recharge the player with your inverter while you drive, and you don’t have to turn on your camper lights to read.
• We brought one of those roll-top tables, but never used it, since the government parks all have picnic tables. If you’re going to commercial campgrounds, you might need one. Many times, you won’t get a picnic table or it will be broken.
• Tools: what do you really need? We are glad we brought
o caulking gun and caulk,
o duct tape (of course),
o hatchet (but next time will bring an axe or splitting maul),
o an electric drill and bits (rechargeable)
o backup adapter to use with the drill on the camper jacks in case the electric jacks fail
o socket set (We wish we had brought a full set of US-sized sockets. )
• We brought a small grill that we discarded after two nights when it wouldn’t heat anything past lukewarm. For the second grill (a little rectangular Weber), we bought a replacement drip plate for when the first one (as always) corroded. The Weber’s now worn out from cooking fish.
• We brought a small “inexpensive” GPS, which we loved for hiking. Let your kids learn how to use it. They’ll have fun measuring things as you drive, and you never know when they might need to know how to use it on a wilderness hike to bring help when you fall down a hill.
• For the fisherman:
o We saw several people who brought small (up to washing machine-size) freezers and generators for their catch. Some were mounted on platforms at the back of truck campers, while others had them inside larger rigs. We bought a cube-shaped cooler that fit our camper. We’ve used it for fish, vegetables, soda, beer and as a laundry hamper.
o Fishing techniques for salmon are different. We took along light and heavy action spinning rods. The heavy ones will work for pink salmon, but the light ones weren’t of much use. For freshwater salmon fishing, people “flip”. You need a fly rod capable of handling fish over 5 pounds with 20 pound test braided nylon line and 2/0 single snelled hooks. Email us if you want the flipping technique explained - it’s weird. We’ll take light and heavy action fly rods if we go back.
o We would love to take a canoe with a flat back for a small trolling motor. You don’t need a big boat for the lakes and rivers, and for saltwater, you’re better off going with a guide anyway. You don’t know the waters or where the fish congregate. There were many lakes and slow rivers we could have fished if we had had a small boat. Tom’s waders were helpful, but his felt-bottomed boots never did dry out. If you fish with a guide, they’ll provide waders or hip boots.
o If you’re fishing for salmon in the rivers, bring a landing net. You might need a bigger net than you think.

THINGS TO DO:
• Get your spare tire out from under the truck, mounting it on the back or even the roof of the camper. We haven’t needed it so far, but will be very glad if we don’t have to move the truck out from under the camper to get to the tire.
• Tom’s rule: if you wash your truck it will rain.
• Expect rain - the northwest has had an unusually cool and rainy summer, and we had probably two weeks worth of sun in our 3-4 month trip.
• Don’t overload your truck. We saw too many half-ton trucks carrying BIG campers or pulling BIG trailers. They looked way overloaded and we stopped more than once to see if they needed help at the side of the road.
• We put new Michelin LTX M/S tires on the truck before we left. They were expensive, but we have had no trouble and we’ve been on a lot of BAD roads. Tires in “pretty good shape” will probably fail you.
• Go where you want to go. Take advice from people, but if someplace seems like it would be fun for YOU, go there! We thought Skagway was awful, but met people who stayed for two weeks. However, the hiking in the area is awesome, so we might go back. We didn’t think the Denali Highway (120+ mile gravel road) was worth the hassle and would recommend going 120 miles farther up the Dempster Highway if you like gravel. The Dempster was a better road and prettier.
• Be friendly. The Canadians and Alaskans have no patience for stuck-up folks from the lower 48 - the size of your rig has nothing to do with your worth. Take time to chat with people - it’s the experience, not your schedule.
• If there are people behind you on the road, even one, put your turn signal on and PULL OVER! We drive slowly because we’re looking for wildlife and the scenery, and don’t mind if the people with jobs to do fly by us. In Alaska, it’s the law to pull over if five vehicles are backed up behind you, but it’s only polite to let others go ahead. In most places, the shoulders are wide enough for you to take your foot off the gas and pull slightly right. Big trucks and tour buses are in a hurry. Though legally they may not have the right of way, if you don’t give it to them, they’ll take it anyway.
• We’ve been on the road 12 weeks and have driven an average of less than 100 miles a day. The average is deceiving, since we’ve often spent several days at a single place. We realize that most folks don’t have this amount of time, but the point is: don’t rush. We have talked to many people who are averaging 3-500 miles a day. What did they see? The roads!
• Set yourself up so that you can use the wonderful government campgrounds in Canada and Alaska. In most cases, anything over 30 feet is too big, and some of the turns are pretty tight even for us in our truck camper. However, you may be able to walk around the loop and check. Commercial campgrounds are often big gravel (or mud) parking lots, and you’re cheek-by-jowl with your neighbor. There’s not even room to put out an awning, and that’s in the best of them. Many cost from $30 to $70 a night, while the government parks cost $10-14. We have yet to park in a turnout or WalMart lot. (Of course, we’ve only seen about three WalMarts, but Canada has a chain called Fred Meyers, similar to WalMart with the same policy about RV parking. It’s amazing how many half-million dollar motor home drivers are parked there because it’s free.)
• Take a laptop and printer. Take the necessary software disks in case you need to replace a laptop. We started with three (one new Dell XPS, one old Compaq in the front with routes and maps, and a backup HP that had screen problems). The second night, I spilled lemonade into the XPS. Since it’s under warranty, we called Dell, who actually offered an on-site repair in Alaska. We couldn’t figure out how to make that work, so bought a cheap Toshiba with that @#$%^ Vista. Tom’s struggled with four cranky computers ever since, and we don’t have the software to make the printer work with the Toshiba. (We have a tiny cheap printer, which is all we need.) Memory sticks help.
• In your storage area(s), whether it’s your back seat or cabinets in the camper, think about where you’re putting everything and STICK TO IT. There’s nothing wrong with rearranging as you go along, but make sure everyone knows what you’re doing. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking for something when you need it fast and not be able to find it. We anal folks have made a diagram of our back seat and the contents of each container to use if we ever do this again. Of course, the next time we may have dogs in the back seat …
• If you have a truck camper, join NATCOA, the North American Truck Camper Owner’s Association. It’s a welcoming group that has a on-line forum with GOOD info on Alaska that’s not oriented around those with 50-foot motor homes and toads.
• Take a multi-day shakedown cruise. We took three and found there were many things we never used and others we needed. We rearranged the cupboards to put the necessary but low use items at the very back. Our truck camper allows access to the truck bed around the wheel wells, and we found them to be great places for everything from wine to little propane bottles and extra boots stored in dry bags. (If you know where to reach under our camper, you can stand next to the truck and fish out a bottle of beer …)

Wildlife Viewing: you CAN see wildlife from your car, and if you’re mobility impaired, that’s a good option. We’ve talked to many people who said they didn’t see much. We’ve seen tons.
• Get off the beaten path, drive slowly (40-50 mph) and watch along the road.
• Get out of your vehicle and go hike.
• Go to Katmai if you can afford it, and/or to Fish Creek (free) near Hyder AK.
• Don’t be afraid to get out there. Carry your bear spray, make noise (talk or sing, even if it’s “99 bottle of beer on the wall”) and have fun.
• You’ll see wildlife in the most unexpected places. Our first morning in Grand Teton, a moose cow and her calf walked by our camper. At the Hoh campground on the Olympic Peninsula, elk were just across the road. At Hyder AK, the campground owner told us about a couple who went to Fish Creek four or five times, never saw a bear, and came back to find one in their campsite.
• Don’t take your dog with you when you hike. The bears, etc. can smell them, even if you can’t. If you do walk around with your dog, keep it on the leash -duh. We’ve been told that a loose dog will chase the bear’s scent, get scared when he sees it and will bring the bear right home to mom or dad. They can be REALLY annoying to others in campgrounds. (We have three dogs and they’re at home.)
• Get away from the crowds and go where the people aren’t. Example: if you’re at the Denali Teklanika campground and see a dozen people sitting on the riverbank waiting for the bears, go somewhere else. The bears aren’t dumb.
• Animals are not on your schedule. We saw an incredible number of people at Fish Creek who walked out, stayed 10 minutes and left disappointed. Pack a lunch or a thermos of hot drinks (and eat/drink in your vehicle!) and expect to stay for 4-5 hours.
• DON’T SMOKE!!!!

Above all, have a great time. We did.

---

Photos

Sandy
Writing in the camper