Alaska

[PeterH-350LE]

We took the easy route, Airstreams with wings, to visit Alaska.
Once we landed in Anchorage and taxied to the terminal, Catstream my co-pilot, shouted out in exitement: "Look, I see polar bear." Half of the passengers started laughing and looked with pity at that fresh tourist, about to be unleashed upon the wilderness.
Little did they know that Polar Bear was Curtis's 1979 Airstream Motorhome, driving into the parking lot of the Airport.
Curtis and I met at this very forum, when he was preparing to drive his newly acquired Airstream from Seattle to Anchorage.
Upon his safe arrival in Anchorage, we discovered that we have sequential Airstream serial numbers.
The last 4 digits are 5142 and 5143.
That was a good enough reason for me to plan a visit. Curtis and his family were kind enough let us stay in the Airstream at the Anchorage RV Park for the duration of our visit.
And what a visit it was. Alaska is truly the last frontier. Friendly people and overwhelmingly beautiful scenery!
In the picture:
left: PeterH
right: Curtis
back: Polar Bear

[PeterH-350LE]

Anchorage RV Park Aug 2002
This was the only Airstream trailer in this huge, beautiful park (250 sites). It had Texas license plates.

[PeterH-350LE]

like I said, it had texas license plates and its a long, long way.

[PeterH-350LE]

Airstreams look good on the road, but even nicer set up for camp. Check out the vegetation, its all huge and mushrooms everywhere.

[PeterH-350LE]

We saw about 10 Airstream trailers during our travels, no Motorhome. (must be the rockguard symptom)
tucked away somewhere deep in the woods of Alaska
$2000.-

[PeterH-350LE]

Visit Alaska!

[InsideOut]

WOW! These are great...thanks for sharing them! Looks like you've had a terrific trip...

Shari

[Chuck]

I saw more moose than airstreams on my recent trip to Maine. Almost hit one...jumped out of the woods and right in front of me. (a moose, that is. not an AS;-). Usually only see them early morning or around dusk. Broad daylight is not that common, although not unheard of. Amazing how you can just walk right up to them and take their picture, isnt' it?

[gwsullivan]

I just read somewhere that you can take a ferry from Bellingham, Washington to Alaska. The maximum combined length allowed is 70 feet. I am thinking of taking the ferry one way and driving the other. Anyone know any details about this??

[Larry Brown]

Sure looks like you had a great time. Thanks for the pics. Were just a little south from you in Van.Wash hope you didnt see to much rain.It might have been a little cooler than what you are used to this time of year. Nice moose I take it as a female(no horns) probaly the 2nd most deadly animal you could come across next to a grizzly bear. I don't think you would like to tick off either one.So were glad to see ya made it back in one piece.

[Chuck]

nah...moose are pretty harmless. sure they "could" be deadly, but they are most likely to just run from you. It wouldn't be wise to interefere w/ a female that has a baby...same rule applies to just about any species. In the fall, the Bull Moose will get aggressive; they've been known to attack cars. Usually "vans" or other large vehicles. They think its another moose. (not very smart). They seem to only be concerned w/ things that are "large", as they have no natural preditors. This is why you can get this close to them. They take a look at you, see that you're not another moose, and then just ignore you. I've paddled right up to them in a canoe and taken pictures like this. Once, I saw a young bull in the middle of the road, and stopped to take his picture; he just casually walked up to the car, looked in the window at me and the wife, then just casually waltzed off into the woods. I might think twice about driving around w/ a polished A/S in some areas during the rut. Yikes!!

because of this nature, they were hunted to near extinction in Maine. When I was a kid, it was rare to see a Moose; since they've been protected, they've made a great recovery, and are now almost "pests". People are always hitting them with their cars. We're even seeing them occasionally as far south as MA.

They started a limited hunting season on them (in Maine) probably about 10 years ago. I dont' get the desire to hunt moose, though...no challenge at all there. I can tell you spots where you are guaranteed to see Moose, and what time of day they'll be there.

[davidz71]

One of the guys on the pickuptrucks.com forum hit a moose then some trees. He totalled his brand new Chevy 2500HD Duramax diesel. The pictures were incredible.