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.