PACKING ESSENTIALS

We have been frequent fliers at Wal-Mart and Sam's Warehouse getting items for our trip that we know we will be needing.  Paper goods, coffee, grits, snacks, bottled water, beef jerky, etc.  Last year, we couldn't find any grits or biscuits in Canada.  We almost called the trip off and headed home for our southern comfort food.  This year will be different.  The moho has greatly increased our storage capacity.  The refrigerator and cabinet storage space is much larger than what we experienced with the Truck Camper last year.  The added space is definitely being utilized.   

Last year, we only had room for 4 changes of clothing each, and couldn't purchase any additional items due to lack of space.  This year, we have ample space to store a week's worth of clothing for each of us that will accommodate  hot or cold weather. That will be a luxury. 

Motorhomes are comfortable for 2 people even though they often are set up to sleep more than that. The Itasca came equipped with a foam mattress and after several trips we found this was not going to work.  It was replaced with a innerspring Euro-top mattress that is much more comfortable.  The fitted sheets were modified to fit the "short-queen" mattress so they go on wrinkle free.  Clothes hooks were added to the wall to hang hats and other items needed quickly. 

Extra supplies such as dog food, distilled water (for dogs), spare tire, tools, etc. were loaded in the tow vehicle to help reduce the weight in the moho.  I just hope we don't have to take the dogs anywhere in the tow vehicle, otherwise we will be unloading and reloading each time. 

Here's our "Trunk" picture.  The paddleboard is to use as a kneeling pad in the event of a flat tire or other mechanical issues along the way.

Purchasing bags of ice last year in Canada became very expensive when you paid $5/day for 10# or less of ice.  This problem was solved by purchasing a portable ice maker that makes ice continuously whenever the generator is on or when we are connected to shore power.  Having this convenience allows us to have more freezer storage capacity since we aren't putting ice in the freezer.

Only a few more days and we will be on our way.  We still have a few last minute details to attend to before leaving, but everything seems to be coming together nicely.  More about final prepping the Motorhome and loading the tow vehicle in our next post on 7/3/15.  

PREPARING THE MOTORHOME

We've spent months preparing for this journey. If we were just driving a car we'd probably just jump in the car and go with minimal planning. A good bit of time has been spent refining the route for the GPS. We use an RV GPS that allows and limits routing for weight (bridges), vehicle height (underpasses and tunnels), width( narrow roads), fuel locations etc., and RV parks for overnight stays. The routing is planned on a web site that compensates for the various factors to be considered in routing the vehicle, such as tunnels, restricted bridge height and weight limits etc. Its then loaded into the GPS .

The big issues facing us are gross vehicle weight and individual axle weights. While our individual axles have been underweight we have been slightly over or barely under gross vehicle weight much of the time with this rig. Vehicle weight is critical for several reasons. First and foremost is safety, being overweight isn't just illegal- it impacts braking and vehicle control- especially on steep grades .  We fought vehicle weight problems on the trip to Alaska last year when we were using the truck camper. To compensate for this we stripped equipment from the vehicle and limit water in the storage tank of the camper to 1/2  of capacity thus saving several hundred lbs. Our goal is to keep the gross vehicle weight under 16000 lbs (including gas and fresh water in tanks). We have also shifted some of the load to the tow vehicle to get the weight out of the moho and on the axles in the empty toad. Hopefully the weight in the rig is now under control.

Our experience last year with the truck camper rig educated us on the problems with insects in the far north. Yes, Florida has its love bugs, but they don't hold a candle to the way mosquitoes and other creatures of the far north can cover the front of an RV. The front of our white truck and camper last year became a solid mass of black bug carcasses literally leaving no white showing when we arrived in Anchorage. This year our frontal surface is roughly 13 high by 8 1/2 feet wide. We have loaded the entire vehicle up with lots of wax and elbow grease- especially the front-  in hopes it will help ease the pain in washing/removing the insects that sacrifice their life for our trip.

A few other systems needed attention in the motorhome in preparation for the trip. As mentioned earlier the hydraulic systems on these rigs can be finicky and ours is no exception. The recommended fix is a type of hydraulic fluid additive that can correct some of the operational weaknesses. The particular additive is made and marketed by Caterpillar. Surprisingly we could not find the fluid in LaGrange even though Caterpillar has a significant manufacturing presence here. We managed to purchase a quart of the fluid in Columbus at quite a premium. The jury is still out in whether or will make a difference in the operation of the hydraulic leveling jack system.

Last year's trip along the rough roads of the northwest and Canada took a toll on the plumbing of the truck camper we used. A broken fitting resulted from rough roads and shut down our water system. It took a day and many miles of travel to find a replacement part. This year we're packing some extra pipe, fittings and parts in anticipation of a plumbing failure.  Most RV's now are plumbed using a product called PEX. For a hobby plumber it's a wonderful product as it is  so easy to repair. Before we even leave we've had one valve failure that we have already had to repair.

The days can be very long with the sun setting very late at night and rising up in the wee hours of the morning.  This can make sleep difficult if you can't blackout sources of light around windows and skylights.  Our windows have room darkening shades, however, the moho has a skylight positioned over the shower stall in the bedroom area.  Using Reflectix (available at Home Depot), we customized a cover over the skylight.  This system reduced about 95% of the light coming in from the skylight and can be easily removed when light is desired from the skylight in the shower.  We also have similar removable coverings customized for the living area roof vent and entrance door.

These are the before and after pics of the shower skylight cover installation.

These are the before and after pics of the roof vent cover installation:

 Velcro holds covers in place.

We got this idea from following the goodsamclub.com/forum.  RV forums have been a daily read in our house for many months in preparing for the trip.  

ALASKA TRIP BACKGROUND & GETTING READY TO GO

We still have the 2 dogs, but the camper has grown to a 31 ft moho (motorhome) with a Ford Focus toad (towed car).  The truck camper was just too small for us to consider doing this trip again.  We have spent the last 6 months planning routes, making modifications to our new Motorhome, improving equipment, and making test runs to Florida and Tennessee to visit family while working out the bugs that are typical of any new Motorhome.  Stops along the way include Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Banff NP, Whitehorse YK, Valdez AK, and arrive in Anchorage 21 days - 5100+ miles later. 

THE RIG:

This year instead of a truck camper mounted on an F-250 Pick up, we traded all our equipment for a 2014 31foot Itasca Sunstar motorhome made by Winnebago. The coach sits on a Ford F-53 Chassis and has a V-10 Triton Engine and a 5 speed automatic transmission. As you may know there are basically two major types of Class "A" motorhomes - those referred to as DP's or Diesel Pushers with the a diesel engine mounted in the rear for power, or the front mount gasoline engine type with the engines sitting under a "dog house" cover in the front of the coach. This rig is a front mount gasoline powered rig. This rig is  comfortable for us, but it is not a high end model. Its rather basic for a Class A type rig. Front end gas mounted RVs tend to experience a lot of engine noise and the high RPM V-10 is no exception sitting between the driver and passenger- especially on long uphill grades.

This unit is fully self contained, meaning it can fully function on its own without being attached to outside water, sewer, or electricity. It  can sustain its own living area, cooking area with appliances, bathroom and shower, bedroom with a queen sized bed and wardrobes for clothing. There is a 62 gallon water storage tank with electric pump, black and gray waste water storage tanks of roughly the same size, central heat and A/C, cd/radio,--- and oh yea a color flat screen tv with amplifying antennae . It has a 4000 watt 110 volt Cummins generator, complimented by a battery bank for "boondocking" if one wants to camp "off the grid" without use of the generator or shore power for AC or microwave.

The Itasca 31KE  has a large slide out area on the driver's side which, when we are stopped and set up, opens up significant floor space for more comfort. In addition it has a hydraulic leveling jack system the automatically seeks and sets a level for the motorhome, removing load off the wheels and providing a solid setting, when we are in set up in a campground. Being able to push a button and having a level unit is a major improvement in RV'ing. But these two systems are the weakest link, the most likely failure point, and our major worry on the trip since they have a history of failure resulting in downtime and major repairs according to what we have researched online.

Overall the total vehicle length for the motorhome, tow dolly and "toad" (the Ford Focus we tow attached to the dolly) is about 50 feet, with the motorhome taking up 31 feet of that overall length. Along with routine maintenance like oil change for the vehicle engine and the Cummins -Onan generator, we've made modifications to the undercarriage of the Ford F-53 chassis to improve handling. These modifications have made the rig much more stable and controllable in high winds and when high profile vehicles are passing.