Alaska – Trip Recap

This is how we got there...and back

Whew, calling this an amazing trip would be an understatement. It's easy to say"we went to Alaska" but the places we visited and things we saw is much longer is lengthy indeed. The map above is the route we took from Ohio to Alaska and back to Ohio again. If you've read through the post, you already know our travels took us across, the northern U.S. and across 2,000 miles of western Canada just to get to Alaska. We saw waterfalls, mountains and valleys, glaciers and a lot of wildlife along the way. We try to remember the trip begins when we leave home and not when we get to our destination.

Here is a look at the numbers.

Days traveled - 53
Miles driven - 11,299 (7,178 in the U.S. - 4,121 in Canada)
Gasoline - 805 gallons*
Miles per gallon - 14.0**
Cost of gas - $2318.40***  (Ave per gallon in U.S. = $2.49. Ave per gallon in Canada - $3.40)
Oil change - $35.43 (Fairbanks, AK
Camping - 11 nights in campgrounds, 43 nights boondocking, 0 nights in motels.
Camping cost - $167.44
Groceries - $187.82 (doesn't count full fridge and cupboards when we left home)
Eating out - $150.69
Misc. tours and souvenirs - $1,120.31

Total cost of trip - $4000.09

*     Includes approximately 12 gallons used by running the generator.
**   We normally average 15+ MPG but mountains, head winds and generator use reduced MPG.
*** Average Canadian cost includes the 3% out of country charge by Visa and MasterCard.

Three items that were broken on the trip are not included.
1. Side door catch that was broken when high winds caught to door.
2. Broken elbow in fresh water line. The new elbow was only $1.00 and an hour of my labor.
3. Most costly...the windshield took three hits so it will have to be replaced.

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We are asked how many miles we would drive per day. We averaged 213 but that's deceptive since we would travel long distances some days and almost none on others. Here is a chart of daily miles.

Miles traveled per day