RV ALASKA - Alaska by the Number$

This post marks the end of the RV ALASKA series which documented our four month trip across the U.S., through western Canada, on into Alaska and back in 2024.  I understand that Alaska by the Number$ won’t be of interest to everyone, but I believe it will be of interest to (1) anyone already planning to make this journey and (2) those who might be contemplating this expedition for the future and are looking for some general parameters.  I debated reprinting the tips I had shared in posts throughout the summer, thinking that keeping all trip-planning information together in one place would be the most helpful.  While that’s probably true, in the end, I decided to focus mainly on the numbers.  This post is longer than most as it stands, and I sure don’t want anyone falling asleep on my watch.  So, grab a cup of coffee (or an adult beverage, if you prefer) and settle in for the nitty-gritty details.  To my fellow numbers nerds, I raise my mug of morning coffee in your honor . . . Salute!

 

Days on the Road – 121

Miles Traveled – 20,863

The 20,000+ miles we traveled were total truck miles.  Many times, our travel trailer preferred to relax in the campground while Alan and I were out exploring, so the trailer traveled only 14,981 miles on this trip.  Our Outdoors RV Creek Side has certainly been around the block.  By the end of our Alaska expedition, those trailer wheels had rolled over 57,226 miles of roadway.

Photos – 9,169

To be fair, that number includes a LOT of duplicates – which I’ll eventually have to weed through to delete the extras and the bad shots.  Sigh.  What contributed to the high tally was using the Sports mode on the camera, capturing “drive by” images in rapid fire succession – a blessing and a curse, for sure.

Most Spectacular Scenery – The Icefields Parkway in Canada

We saw a LOT of incredible scenery both in Alaska and Canada, but Alan and I agreed that the Icefields Parkway was the most impressive.  I honestly think that’s due to the proximity of the snow-covered mountains to the road itself.  We were constantly looking above us to see the glittering mountains towering over our heads.  It felt like we were IN the picture book, not just reading it.

Most Disappointing Experience – The Weather

There were SO many days filled with clouds that it became depressing at times.  I don’t know if that’s typical of summers in western Canada and Alaska or not.  But I do know that we missed some gorgeous scenery due to fog and cloud cover.  This was especially disappointing because we know we’re not planning to make this months-long trip again.  I had no problem with the cooler temps – we had plenty of the proper clothing with us.  But we missed seeing the true beauty of a number of places due to the weather, and I can’t help but think of all of the amazing photo memories I failed to capture.  The pics below of one of the Waterfowl Lakes were taken from about the same viewpoint, but on two different days.  What a difference!  Because we had opted for a second drive on the Icefields Parkway, I was able to capture the magnificent view on the second go-round.  I’m still grieving for all of the spectacular scenery we missed due to overcast skies. 

Would like to have seen less of this . . .

. . . and more of this.

Tour Buses with Names – 51

You may recall that various transportation companies named buses after mountain peaks in western Canada and Alaska.  My favorites were Huntington, Bear, Katmai, Logan and Anvil.  I have no idea why this idea intrigued me as much as it did, but there you have it.

State License Plates – 49 out of 50

If we had started our list of license plates on Day 1, I’ll bet that we would have gotten 50 out of 50.  As it was, we were missing New Hampshire.  Alan even spotted a tag from Hawaii – how lucky was that?!

Canadian Province & Territory License Plates – 8 out of 13

We spotted Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Yukon.  We missed New Brunswick, Newfoundland/Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island.

Wildlife Sightings – 598

This total includes an accurate count of all of the individual critters we saw and an estimate of those that appeared in herds or flocks.

Our tally included: 1 fox; 4 feral horses; 3 loons; 2 ptarmigans; 10 ospreys; 101 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 19 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 15 turkeys (including 5 half-grown young’uns); 9 sea lions; 33 seals; 17 sea otters; 1 river otter; 4 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 5 grizzly bears (including a sow with 2 cubs and the back end of one grizzly retreating into the brush); 8 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 9 rabbits (including one cute little baby bunny and one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 31 deer (including 3 fawns and 2 bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 25 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; countless cormorants; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Campgrounds – 45

There are plenty of pull-offs on roads in western Canada and Alaska where you could easily spend the night.  My understanding is that this is a perfectly acceptable practice up north, even though it’s frowned upon in most areas across the Lower 48.  We kept that idea in our back pocket in case of emergency, but our preference – for safety reasons – was to spend the night in a regular campground when at all possible.  Our only “security” was heavy duty bear spray; we opted for campgrounds to minimize any safety risks and reduce road noise.  If “camping” in pull-offs doesn’t bother you, you could save considerably on planning efforts and campground fees.

Some of the campgrounds we selected were simply about convenience or location.  Others were chosen due to their scenic value.  On an expedition of this length, I would have been surprised if we didn’t end up in many different types of campgrounds, and so we did.  National, state, city, territorial, provincial, government, Army Corps of Engineers, private and Cabela’s parking lots – we hit ‘em all.  The best scenery, hands down, was found in public parks.  But we did find a couple of private RV parks in incredibly beautiful settings.  Without a doubt, my favorite campground was the Marathon Campground, one of Seward’s municipal campgrounds directly on Alaska’s Resurrection Bay.  Alan’s favorite was Summit Lake in Stone Mountain Provincial Park – a small, but exceptionally stunning campground along the Alaska Highway in British Columbia.  It would have been exquisite on a blue sky day.

My favorite in Seward, Alaska

Alan's favorite along the Alaska Highway in British Columbia

Least Expensive Campground (Lower 48) – $ 0

The “free to stay” Riverside RV City Park in Douglas, Wyoming, tops the list of actual campgrounds in the “Least Expensive” category.  While not a true campground, Alan and I are fans of Cabela’s (for both their product selection and their welcoming attitude toward RVers), and we took advantage of free overnight stays in their lots in Kearney, Nebraska, and Hamburg, Pennsylvania.  Other low cost options for us in the Lower 48 were the Swinomish Casino in Anacortes, Washington, where we paid just $16.00 per night (including taxes) to stay in their overflow lot and, of course, a number of Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds.  Since the COE campgrounds are federal campgrounds, Alan’s Lifetime Senior Interagency Pass is accepted, and we enjoy a 50% discount on (the already reasonable) camping fees.  Dam West in Carlyle, Illinois, is one of our favorite COE campgrounds due to its design and location, but it was also the least expensive with Alan’s pass at only $9.00 per night.  Two other COE campgrounds on this trip were just $12.00 per night.  Not only do we appreciate the exceptionally low cost, but we’ve found most COE campgrounds to be absolutely delightful places to camp.

Most Expensive Campground (Lower 48) – $80.00

The Aspen Grove RV Park, a private RV park in Tremonton, Utah, was only a one night stand, but it was the most expensive night during our travels through the Lower 48.  Aspen Grove was all about location.  It was the most convenient place to call home base for our visit to the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Corrinne.  The RV park was gorgeous, and we don’t regret spending the money to stay there.  That being said, I don’t ever see us as repeat customers - unless we decide to return to the Golden Spike.  On the other hand . . . The Cap Sante Marina RV Park in Anacortes, Washington, was the second most expensive campground in the Lower 48 at $65.00 per night, but we’d stay there again in a heartbeat and happily pay whatever the going rate was.  The campground itself was absolutely lovely, and its location at the marina (a plus for these two boaters) put it within walking distance of restaurants and grocery stores.  The local bike trail was easily accessible from the campground, and the staff was fabulous.  The cost per night is definitely higher than what we usually pay, but the value (to us, anyway) is, without a doubt, well worth it.  

Least Expensive Campground (Alaska & Canada) – $12.00

Aside from the free pullouts I mentioned earlier, you can’t get much cheaper than the $12.00 per night we paid to stay in an RV parking spot at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska.  That parking lot grew on me (Alan, not so much) and I ended up really enjoying our stay in Fairbanks because of it.  Pioneer Park was the least expensive “campground” in this category, but it wasn’t the best value.  By far and away, Canada’s provincial, territorial and government parks provided us with some of the best camping value of the trip.  Parks like Watson Lake, Congdon Creek, Kinaskan Lake and Summit Lake were only $20.00 per night – in Canadian funds.  After the exchange rate was applied, we ended up paying less than $15.00 per night for appealing campsites in spectacular locations.  Canada’s public parks continued to impress us time and time again - gems, every single one of them.

Most Expensive Campground (Alaska & Canada) – $75.00

The most expensive award goes to the Springer Campground in Palmer, Alaska.  If you check the 2025 prices on their website, the most expensive site is $65.00 per night.  There is also a fee to lock in a specific site which I abhor.  I didn’t pay to lock in our site, but somehow we ended up being charged $75.00 per night.  I had to change our dates after I had made the original reservation, and I was told that my “cancellation fee” would be waived because we were staying the same number of nights, just different days.  When I later checked my credit card bill, there were two charges and one credit.  The net result was that we paid $75.00 per night.  This campground was in an amazingly picturesque setting, but I wouldn’t go back unless we couldn’t get into one of our preferred sites at Matanuska River City Park (at just $30.00 per night), also in Palmer.  Truth be told, that’s the only reason we ended up at Springer to begin with – Matanuska River couldn’t accommodate us for the full four nights we were in Palmer.  The next most expensive campground in this category was the KOA in Valdez at $59.00 per night – also in a gorgeous setting.   But I’d return to the KOA without a second thought.  The sites were too tight for our liking, but we appreciated the quiet, forested location outside the city of Valdez and would have no problem returning.

Gallons of Propane Used – 52.8

If I did my math correctly, that means we went through just over 7 full tanks of propane during the four months we were on the road.  (Each gallon of liquid propane weighs 4.24 lbs., so each of our two 30 lb. propane tanks holds 7 gallons.)  It was colder up north than we expected despite the fact that we visited in the summer months.  The heat came on during the night a number of times, and we often bumped it up in the early mornings to take the chill out of the air. 

Least Expensive Propane - $3.05 per gallon

Ed Staub & Sons in La Grande, Oregon won our hearts for friendly service and the best price on propane.  Staub has 19 bulk propane locations scattered throughout Oregon, Idaho and northern California.  Who knew?!  They were, by far and away, the least expensive propane we found on the entire trip.  Thanks to Todd at Outdoors RV for the tip!

Most Expensive Propane - $4.76 per gallon

The Essential 1 gas station in Seward, Alaska not only had the highest propane prices, but the least friendly staff, too.  Integra Tire in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, was actually 4 cents higher at $4.80 per gallon, but the exchange rate brought that down to a very reasonable $3.53.  A hat tip to Integra, though.  They had gas, propane and a dump station that was free to use with a gas fill-up – plus a friendly staff, too.  

Least Expensive Gas (Lower 48) - $2.63 at Flying J in Waddy, Kentucky

Most Expensive Gas (Lower 48) – $4.25 at Love’s in Pasco, Washington

Least Expensive Gas (Alaska & Canada) - $3.40 at Fred Meyer in Fairbanks, Alaska

Most Expensive Gas (Alaska & Canada) - $2.50 per liter at the Continental Divide Lodge on the Alaska Highway, Swift River, Yukon Territory

In a blog post back on September 18^th, I had reported $2.09 and $2.10 per liter as our most expensive gas.  I found this $2.50 per liter toward the end of the trip when I was reviewing our expenses.  Now, let’s do the math and make ourselves sick: $2.50/liter translates to $9.46 per gallon in Canadian funds.  I looked up the exchange rate on the date we gassed up at the Lodge and figured out that we paid $6.93 per gallon in American dollars.  That’s another good reason to drive off the top half of your gas tank – I’d rather pay $6.93/gallon for 18 gallons than 30 or more gallons.  Of course, the advantage is purely psychological.  The next stop could be just as expensive – or worse.  You plan your gas stops as well as you can and hope for the best.  But, really, when you’re in the more remote areas it is what it is.

Upcharge on Cell Phone Plan – $ 0

Our carrier is Verizon, and we had no problem with cell service – except in remote areas where there are few people and absolutely no cell towers.  If there’s no service to be had, there’s just no service.  (I can see a distinct advantage to a satellite phone on this trip.)  Whenever we were in an area with service, Verizon seamlessly picked up a signal through the local phone company, and we experienced no interruptions in service.  That service was free from Verizon – we never paid more than the usual amount on our monthly bills.  On the other hand, we have an AT&T hotspot in the truck, and that was down more than it was up – in both Canada and Alaska.

Most Ridiculously Priced Grocery Item - $6.39

That was the cost of a gallon of drinking water at Three Bears Alaska in Tok – and we needed four of them.  However, at that same store, I paid a few cents less for the single containers of Chobani yogurt than I usually do at home.  Go figure.

Biggest Waste of Money - $120.00 for an upper level one year membership to Costco

We don’t have a Costco location anywhere near where we live, but I understood that their gas stations were very reasonably priced.  Knowing that gas would, most likely, be our biggest expense, I figured that a membership would pay for itself in savings in gas and groceries.  That may or may not have proved true – the stations were all so tight that we couldn’t comfortably get in them with the trailer, so my savings on the cost of gas through the membership never materialized.  We did stop at Costco locations several times on the trip, but we didn’t save enough money on provisions to make even the lower level membership worthwhile.  Lesson learned.  Never again.

Discount Savings – $413.84

Throughout our lives, Alan and I have been frugal in a number of what we considered lower priority areas so that we had money to spend on purchases and experiences that were of a higher priority to us.  We didn’t miss the trendy clothes, brand name groceries, huge flat screen TVs or alcohol and tobacco products, but we did enjoy spending freely on books for the kids, healthy food, outdoor gear and travel experiences (among other things).  Although we’re blessed to be financially secure, it was our frugality that got us here, and our frugal habits still travel with us.  We saved over $400.00 on this trip simply by taking advantage of Alan’s Lifetime Senior Interagency National Parks Pass, enrolling in the KOA Rewards program, saving 5 cents per gallon of gas at Pilot/Flying J stations via our Good Sam membership and using my customer savings cards at Safeway and Kroger grocery stores.  Safeway discounts also apply to Albertson’s and Carrs (among others); Kroger discounts also apply to Harris Teeter and Fred Meyer (also among others).  Note that, for the Alaska trip alone, paying the $36.00 annual fee to join the KOA Rewards program didn’t pay for itself.  We actually earned discounts totaling only $31.06.  However, we have a reunion of high school friends at a KOA coming up later this year.  That additional KOA stay will make the annual membership worthwhile.  To be fair, membership probably would have paid for itself on this trip, if we hadn’t canceled our reservations at the KOA in Fort Collins, Colorado, and moved over to Horsetooth Reservoir to camp with our friends.  In addition, we were mindful of using our Discover credit card at the pumps when Discover was running a 5% quarterly special at gas stations.  Most of our other credit card purchases were applied to our Verizon VISA card which offers 4% back on gas, restaurants and grocery stores – all of our big ticket expenses.  Who doesn’t love free money!  You know what I always say . . . Better in my pocket than theirs!

Now, let's talk about . . . 

ACTUAL EXPENSES

Guide Books & Maps –$87.20

I used a combination of 9 travel guides and maps or atlases for planning purposes, and took them all with us on the trip.  Two of the guide books were purchased used.  The Travelers Guide to Alaska Camping by Terri & Mike Church – now out of print, but you can find used copies – and the Guide to the Alaska Highway by Ron Dalby were the two guide books we referred to most often.  The Milepost was a big help in certain situations or locations, as well.  There’s a learning curve to understanding and reading the Milepost.  Some people love it; some people hate it.  Personally, I wouldn’t make the trip without it.  The Map of Western Canada that we purchased at a sporting goods store in Jasper, Alberta proved to be worth its weight in gold, since our Rand McNally Road Atlas covered the western part of Canada poorly.  The Lonely Planet Alaska Travel Guide was okay, but Bear Viewing in Alaska was almost useless because we chose not to fly anywhere within the state.  The best places to see bears almost all required a flight of some type.  I don’t think we even opened our Motor Carrier’s Atlas once on the entire trip.  The cost noted doesn’t include our Rand McNally Road Atlas, the Motor Carrier’s Atlas or The Next Exit, since we already had those in our library and never leave home without them.

Gas – $8,756.60

We figured this was going to be our most expensive line item of the trip, and it was.  Ouch!

Propane – $195.88

Consider the fact that temperatures in Banff (Canada) in June (which is when we were there) average a high of 66 and a low of 41.  Then consider the fact that the temperatures in Fairbanks (Alaska) in August (which is when we were there) average a high of 66 and a low of 46.  Now, ask me if I’m surprised that we spent almost $200.00 on propane.  Nope, not a bit.  Thankfully, our Outdoors RV travel trailer is well-insulated; I’m sure that helped considerably in keeping our propane costs down.

Equipment & Maintenance – $521.55

The expenses in this category included 2 Duracell 235 Amp Deep Cycle Golf Cart batteries (replacements for our original batteries which served us well for 7 years); 2 replacement sensors for our TST Tire Pressure Monitoring System; and a tire rotation on the truck.  All money well spent.

Oil Changes – $364.83

We had the oil in the truck (a 2024 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4x4) changed 3 times: $101.24 at Island City Express Lube outside of La Grande, Oregon; $125.42 at Wasilla Lube Express (Swanson location) in Wasilla, Alaska; and $138.17 at a Grease Monkey in Fort Collins, Colorado.  We received excellent service at all three, and we wouldn’t hesitate to return to any of them.

Car Washes – $30.99

That total covers 4 washes, 1 each in Oregon, Alaska, Colorado and Virginia.  Alan is fanatical about vehicle care and maintenance.  I’m surprised this expense wasn’t triple the total it was.  I can’t tell you how many times he would walk by the truck or trailer and just shake his head.  The wash in Alaska (at a Tesoro gas station in Tok) was free with a gas fill-up.  Much better than the $25.00 per wash they were charging at the Tundra RV Park in Tok where we stayed. 

Laundry – $120.25

I usually throw “Laundry” into “Miscellaneous,” but we were on the road for so long I assigned it its own category.  I (or we) ended up hitting a laundromat 7 times; some experiences were better than others.  Public laundromats in Seward and Fairbanks (both in Alaska) were both pretty dismal and happily forgotten.  Surprisingly, Alan and I had a wonderful time doing laundry in La Grande, Oregon, where we enjoyed not only our conversations with the two young attendants at a public laundromat, but also the entertainment they provided as they painted the building’s interior.  Convenience was the name of the game at the Tundra RV Park (Tok, Alaska), the Kenai Princess RV Park (Cooper Landing, Alaska), the Cap Sante Marina RV Park (Anacortes, Washington) and Dam West COE Campground (Carlyle, Illinois).  Dam West wins the “Least Expensive” award; Cap Sante wins for “Newest & Best Laundry Facility and Reasonable Prices” award.  For the record, I don’t mind doing laundry at home at all, but I really dislike the chore of going to a laundromat when we’re traveling.  It always feels like wasting time when we could be having tons of fun instead.                                                              

Tolls - $120.44

Hmm.  I just noticed that we paid more in tolls (19 cents) than we did for laundry.  Interesting.  I don’t normally run a line item for Tolls on each trip.  Since we use EZ-Pass, I budget one annual amount for Tolls to cover all of our trips.  There’s always that rare cash transaction when an agency doesn’t accept EZ-Pass, but we find that they’re few and far between.  The only toll we paid west of Indiana was $13.00 for traveling through the Whittier Tunnel in Alaska - well worth the cost for the eerie experience of driving on the train tracks in the tunnel.  

Parking - $23.87

All of our parking expenses on this trip occurred in Canada, but we’ve experienced an uptick in parking costs as we’ve visited cities around the U.S., too.  The exchange rate is the reason the total is such an odd dollar amount.  I understand that various agencies and municipalities rake in a lot of dough on parking, and nobody wants to forfeit revenue.  That being said, paying for parking really annoys me, and my opinion of communities that offer free parking is more favorable than that of those that don’t.  It seems to me that you would want to encourage the public to come and enjoy your shops, restaurants and attractions, not penalize them by charging them to park.  But, what do I know?

Bank & Credit Card Fees – $28.35

I think we got off easy on our finance-related fees, mainly by using credit cards that didn’t charge foreign transaction fees.  We knew we needed Canadian currency because many of the provincial parks have iron rangers and/or accept only cash.  (I don’t know if they took personal checks or not, but I didn’t really want to be writing checks all over Canada.)  We used the ATM card associated with our Money Market account at Discover Bank that’s set aside for travel expenses.  Rather than convert a large dollar amount to Canadian funds and end up with a lot leftover, we made 3 ATM withdrawals at a cost of $4.50 each – all through the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).  (Discover Bank didn’t charge us on their end for the withdrawals.)  We had identified CIBC and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as two of the largest Canadian banks with a presence in western Canada.  Both used one or two of the same financial networks as Discover Bank.  CIBC had convenient locations in Jasper and Whitehorse, so we used that bank exclusively.  Under normal circumstances, I try to avoid bank fees whenever possible.  In this case, it didn’t bother me to pay the ATM fees to access funds when and where we wanted.  I paid $16.90 in foreign transaction fees via our Chase Freedom VISA card.  My bad.  Because I always use that credit card for our campground and hotel reservations, I didn’t think twice about pulling it out when I booked campgrounds on the fly in Canada.  I learned my lesson.  If we return to Canada in the future, I’ll use our Discover Card or Verizon VISA for reservations instead, neither of which charge foreign transaction fees.  

Campground Fees - $4,137.93 (an average of $34.20 per night)

This is definitely a situation where “your mileage may vary.”  The campgrounds we chose ran the gamut from a parking spot in a lot to a number of public campgrounds run by federal, state and local governments (in both the United States and Canada) to private RV parks at both the high and low ends of the luxury scale.  So, our costs varied widely.  Whenever possible, we took advantage of Alan’s Senior Lifetime Interagency Pass (in the States) and our KOA Rewards program discount (in both the U.S. and Canada).  This is definitely a line item where you can work to save money, but we didn’t let cost alone determine our campgrounds.  On any trip we take, the campsites are not just a place to sleep, but a critical component of our “happy camping.”  I work hard to find sites we’ll truly enjoy, and cost is just one consideration.  I’m pretty sure my frugal heart shudders when I fall in love with a campsite I see and completely ignore the price, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Park Fees & Entertainment – $521.28

This category included admission to various museums and attractions, as well as the National Parks passes we needed to purchase when we visited Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada.  Our Discovery Passes (Canada’s annual National Parks pass) were just over 20% of the total for this line item.  The cost in Canadian funds was $151.25 for 2; the exchange rate brought that down to $110.04.  Alan and I don’t normally visit many museums when we’re traveling.  In this case, however, we weren’t sure if or when we’d be returning, so we did take advantage of them more than usual.  The only museum/attraction we felt was overpriced on the entire trip was the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward.  After paying $71.00 for two admissions and perusing all of the exhibits, we simply didn’t feel the cost was justified.  Others, I’m sure, would feel differently.  That being said, we didn’t regret any money we spent in this category.

Restaurant Meals & Treats (such as Cinnamon Rolls!) – $3,122.48

I heard y’all gasp at that one.  Here’s the deal: I don’t enjoy cooking, and neither does Alan.  While we can each put a meal on the table that’s healthy, relatively tasty and satisfying, cooking is definitely not our forte.  Plus, we really do enjoy sampling regional foods as we travel, and we find comfort in familiar restaurant chains whenever we’re on the road.  So, we enjoy both restaurant meals out and simple meals at camp whenever we’re traveling.   The combination works for us, and (on this trip) it resulted in a $3,000 expense.  This is definitely a total I can see running either much higher or much lower depending on your dining preferences.  

Groceries – $2,102.22

This category really bothers me.  Not so much cost-wise, but frustration-wise.  In cost, this represents only a 13% increase over a four month period in my 2023 budget tracker spreadsheet.  (What can I say?  I keep telling you I’m a numbers nerd.)  That’s not surprising to me due to a combination of inflation and just generally higher prices in western Canada and Alaska – areas where I expect that logistics can be challenging.  What bothered me was the level of difficulty I ran into in trying to secure things that we bought regularly – the worst of which was fresh fruits and vegetables.  It was often hard to find items in that category that were in relatively good condition.  More often than not, I’d look at “fresh” fruit and think, “No way.”  It wasn’t so much of a problem in Anchorage, but it was definitely a problem in smaller towns in western Canada and Alaska.  I remember the docent at Sullivan’s Roadhouse in Delta Junction, Alaska, telling us that their access to high quality fruits and vegetables had dwindled considerably since the COVID pandemic.  We ended up relying on canned peaches a lot – canned fruit is certainly not my preference, but it was better than nothing.  In hindsight, I wonder if the $3,000 spent on restaurant meals is, in part, a reflection of the poor selection of groceries we encountered.

Souvenirs – $906.72

This is WAY more than we usually spend on souvenirs, but it does include our rather costly “Bucket List Bear,” as we affectionately call him.  (“Bear” was a 45^th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves.)  Plus, we specifically chose a couple of places to support with souvenir purchases, and we wanted to bring certain items home for the kids.   Those items included Christmas tree ornaments from the Kenai Princess Lodge where they remember playing shuffleboard outside of our cabin 20 years ago, back when they were 5 and 10 years old.  Souvenirs, of course, are very subjective; some folks might be happy with just photos – and that’s okay.  To each his own!

The Ubiquitous “Miscellaneous” – $381.70

I try not to throw too many expenses into “Miscellaneous,” but sometimes I just have to because they really are, uh, miscellaneous – sort of “one and done.”  The expenses in this category include travel insurance, bug spray, an external hard drive as a backup for our priceless photos, tips at various service stations and car washes, a stool that Alan wanted to allow him to better access the seal on our slideout and a few truly miscellaneous items.  Normally, I would have just lumped the bug spray into groceries which is what I do at home.  But the Cabela’s in Kearney, Nebraska, happened to have the spray version of Sawyer’s Picaridin (my absolute favorite), and I haven’t found that locally where we live.  So, I stocked up.  The travel insurance (through Allianz Global Assistance) cost only $82.00 and covered us through the entire trip.  Both of us have Medicare Advantage Plans that would cover emergency medical expenses in both Alaska and Canada, but my understanding is that Medicare doesn’t cover medical repatriation.  If either one of us had been injured to the point where we had to be medically transported back home, I knew that would cost WAY more than the Allianz travel insurance that did include medical repatriation.

I think that about sums it up.  Are you ready for the Total Expenses for the trip?  A drum roll, please . . .

TOTAL EXPENSES for the 2024 RV ALASKA EXPEDITION – $21,422.29

KA-CHING!  Actually, I wasn’t surprised.  I had calculated a rough estimate of our trip costs when I first started planning, and I had come up with $20,000 to $25,000.  I had based my estimate on our “average cost per day” which is the main number I use to compare trip to trip expenses.  Each trip is a conglomerate of different types of campgrounds and different activities.  Some are almost three months long; others are maybe three weeks.  So the “average cost per day” is often the most useful number I calculate at the end of every trip.

Average Cost per Day for This Trip – $169.55

I calculated our average cost per day by starting with our total expenses, and subtracting out the souvenirs.  Then I divided that number by the 121 days we were on the road.  For the sake of comparison, listed below is the “Average Cost per Day” for extended camping trips we took in 2021, 2022 and 2023.  The totals below include all expenses with the exception of souvenirs.

2021 - $160.53 (Idaho – 41 days)

2022 - $152.50 (Southern States Loop – 39 days)

2023 - $181.41 (Southwestern States Loop – 61 days)

To those of you who aren’t numbers nerds, but who stuck with me through this post anyway, please accept my apologies, but I had to run just one more calculation . . . The average “Average Cost per Day” for all four of these major trips is $166.00 even.   So, the big Alaska expedition cost us less than $4.00 per day more than our average “Average Cost per Day.”  Considering how high inflation has been running in recent years, and considering the higher cost of goods in the remote sections of western Canada and Alaska, I’m thinking this entire thrilling experience was a downright bargain.

In Conclusion – An RV expedition to Alaska from anywhere in the Lower 48 is not going to top anyone’s list of “Least Expensive Vacations.”  The gas, alone, is a huge factor due to both the number of gallons needed and the cost of those gallons - and, especially, those liters in Canada.  However, Alan and I enjoyed the same camping lifestyle last summer as we did on our extended trips over the past few years, so this journey didn’t shake out much differently than any other – with the exception of the number of days we spent on the road.  An Alaska adventure isn’t cheap; you need to be prepared for plenty of pennies falling out of your pockets.  Truth be told, this is exactly the kind of travel adventure that we spent all those decades saving our pennies for.

Alaska . . . Absolutely.  No.  Regrets.