New Here - Saying Hey

[TravelChick-WO]

Just found this forum so thought I'd join since I love to meet other RVers.

Hubby and I have been RVing for many years, but just local stuff, like camping or weekend music festivals. But, he retired in January 2021 and we bought a bigger RV (2003 Winnebago Itasca Horizon 40ft Diesel Pusher) and loaded the dogs up and heading out for a 2 month get out of the cold trip.

Being from Minnesota, it's been a dream for many years to escape a chunk of the winters. And, because I am a travel blogger/social networker, it is also a dream to see more of the USA.

Our first voyage in our new RV was awesome, with a few hiccups but we got thru them.

So glad to have found this forum as it's nice to have a place to ask questions when things arise.

Can't wait to read all your great tips and trip info, as well as RV insight.

 

[Waterbug]

Welcome from Sunny Florida. Come on down!!!

 

[Wyatt-WO]

Living the dream! Welcome!

 

[akeagle]

We're transplanted Alaskans now living in New Mexico. We made the move in part to travel more in the Lower-48 too.

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[TravelChick-WO]

Thanks. We are trying to decide if we will RV to Florida in January or drive our Mustang down and just hotel/AirBnB/VRBO it for a month.

We really want to buy a place in Florida in the next few years, just for winter use, so are wanting an easy way to hop around here and there in the state. Having the RV is good as it's our home, but yet, RV parks are crazy expensive, and hard to find openings on the fly.

 

[TravelChick-WO]

Oh that is awesome. So do you miss Alaska?

 

[Waterbug]

We came to Florida from Michigan, 8 years ago in our RV, just for the winter. The wife was bored in the RV and said "Let's look at some homes, just for something to do." The housing market was depressed nationwide and especially so for the Space Coast. The shuttle program had just shutdown. The banks were nearly giving homes away, just to get them off of the books. We bought a place, intending for it to be a winter residence. When we went back to Michigan, I had to do winter clean-up on 10 wooded acres. Between that and Spring start-up, we decided to make Florida our full time residence. We now RV in the other 47 states during the summer.

 

[akeagle]

Oh that is awesome. So do you miss Alaska?

All total we spent around 35 years in Alaska, thus there will always be a little of us left there. But, we're no longer spring chickens and the cold winter weather literally hurts the knee and hip joints. That, and the urgent desire to travel in the Lower-48 to check off a lot more locations on our bucket list spurred our move to Southern New Mexico.

Alaska is absolutely spectacular, especially in the summer months. If you're a cold weather, outdoorsy type, the winter would be great too. One important thing to remember about Alaska is that humans are NOT the top of the food chain!!!

On a map of Alaska, the road system may seem to be very limited, and you would be right. But those roads are LONG and often a bit on the wild side. Travel time isn't measured so much in miles but in driving time. For example it takes a pretty solid 8 - 10 hours to drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and about 5 hours to Seward and 8 hours to Homer.

Another oddity: The total population of Alaska is about 700,000. Nearly half of those people live in Anchorage which is the hub of EVERYTHING in Alaska. Most of the rest of the state is as rustic as you might imaging, but there is very little difference between Anchorage and any other U.S. city of 300,000.

Tourism and RVing are big business in Alaska and hundreds if not thousands of RVers travel there via Canada and the Alaska Highway. Instead of me trying to tell you about travel to, from, and in Alaska, I highly recommend getting a copy of The Milepost. It will tell you EVERYTHING about travel in both Canada and Alaska.

Best of luck to you in all your future travels!

 

[Waterbug]

I spent 6 months in Alaska, out on Adak (1,200 miles west of Anchorage), as navy aircrew, back in '66. Had the opertunity to visit Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kodiak. Even flew over Point Barrow at 200' altitude. Same for Mt. McKinley. Saw a lot of the state from the air.

 

[akeagle]

If you haven't heard, the Navy is seriously thinking about reactivating Adak

 

[Waterbug]

Deactivating it was a crazy idea. Terrible duty station but a very stratigic
location.

 

[backtrack2015]

I lived in Anchorage for six years (left 12 years ago). Even though I wasn't born there, and only lived there for a few years, I still consider it my spiritual home. I loved my time there. Our house had great views of the mountains. I used to take evening drives down Turnagain Arm from Anchorage to Girdwood. I'd frequently see Beluga whales fishing along the shore. The seasons, the wildlife, the scenery and unending public land... each day was special.