Planning an Alaska adventure in less than a week!
In July of 2021, I checked my email to find a great flight deal to Alaska! Now, this was one of the 50 states I hadn't been to yet on my quest to get to all 50 states before I turned 50 years old, so I was very excited to get a great deal offer. However, there's just one little problem...it was for exactly one week away. How do you plan a trip somewhere you've never been before in that short of time? First, I asked my husband if he could go, but he couldn't get off work. So, I call my sister, Cynthia, and tell her the deal and ask if she can get off work with that short of notice. Thankfully, like me, she can work from almost anywhere as long as she has an internet connection, so we decide to go for it!
Maybe there was more than just one little problem....
AFTER I've booked our non refundable flights, I start looking for rooms and rental cars. I did not realize that COVID had created a shortage of rental cars. There was not a single rental car available in Anchorage or Fairbanks for the following week. Then, I have a BRILLIANT idea! "Let's just rent an RV," I say. Now mind you, our only experience with RV's is a couple of trips with our parents in theirs. They did all the work, and daddy did all the driving. But, my sister tells me if we get a small one, she can drive it, so off I go, scouring the internet for an RV to rent. I finally find one we can afford that is small enough. HA! Little did I know that small enough really means WAY TOO SMALL...more on that later!
RV rented, I start planing the rest of the trip. I use Roadtrippers to plan most of my roadtrips. It really helps you find interesting spots you might not know about. It gives you times it takes to drive from point A to point B. It even recommends photo opportunities, points of interest, hotels, campgrounds, etc. You can put in what kind of vehicle you are driving so you don't end up on any roads you shouldn't (unless you turn off the route and follow a sign that wasn't on your itinerary...but we will come that later)!
One of the best things about camping in Alaska is there are so many places to Boondock! You can camp for free at pullouts and some of them even have the most amazing views. This allowed the planning to be a little less daunting, as I didn't have to try to get reservations in RV parks along the way! I planned a very loose itinerary since I didn't know for sure how far we would get each day and didn't have a ton of time to plan.
Trip planning done in less than a week, we pack our bags and set off on our sister's adventure! Subscribe to my blog to get Part 2, where the adventure really begins. I believe in sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly, so you don't want to miss the next part! LOL
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