After spending weeks in the remote portions of Canada and Alaska we both welcomed a few days of city life. Don’t get me wrong, we both love nature and all, but we hadn’t been to a major city in weeks! We decided to solve this road trip dilema by visiting the Pacific Northwest. We spent a few days in Vancouver, BC before we left Canada and made our way to Portland, OR. We spent a total of 4-nights in the area and had a wonderful time exploring two new cities and experiencing the city life.
Our latest update on our Florida to Alaska road trip takes us through the remainder of Alaska’s Interior on a route going from Fairbanks to Anchorage and the coastal city of Valdez. We weren’t originally planning on spending so much time in Alaska but the combination of it’s immense size, beauty, exotic location, and so many things to do, made us stay for as long as we could. We covered 1000 miles over 6 days and had such an amazing time that we’ve added Alaska to one of the places we would consider living!
Driving on most American roads today is anything but a challenge. They are mostly smooth, well lit, and generally safe. Alaska’s Dalton Highway, which takes you from Fairbanks, Alaska to the town of Deadhorse, is 414 miles of the exact opposite! While portions are now paved, it began as a gravel road designed to bring oil field equipment to the edge of the Arctic Ocean. The road is bumpy, icy, has many steep grades (over 10%), no guardrails, and takes you through Alaska’s Arctic Tundra! If you ask me that’s a perfect recipe for an exciting and challenging road trip!
We’ve spent the longest time in Alaska than we have in any other state this trip, but for very good reason. It makes up about 20% of the United State’s land mass. This state is HUGE! Considering that we made it up here we decided to spend some time touring the entirety of Alaska’s interior, in addition to hitting our goal of driving the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse, Alaska. Our road trip route took us from Tok, AK to Fairbanks before hitting the Dalton Highway to the North.
While driving through rural Idaho on our 35-Day trip we stumbled onto what turned out to be one of my favorite National Parks. The terrain is so different than what we are used to in Florida. We felt like we were in outer space when we landed in Craters of the Moon National Monument. It’s one of the most exotic things I’ve ever seen on vacation, and a definite must see.
