After having a great time in the Pacific Northwest we decided to take our trip to a much warmer climate. On our last trip in the area we took Highway 101 South along the Pacific Coast to Northern California. This time we decided to switch it up a bit and head towards the inland and made a stop off in Redding, CA before hitting Reno and Las Vegas in Nevada for a little rambling and gambling.
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!
The time finally came for us to kiss the USA goodbye and take our Florida to Alaska road trip across the border to visit our neighbors to the North in Canada! We clocked over 2020 miles as we drove across 3 Provinces and two US states. Our drive took us through Banff, AB, along the Alaska Highway, and ended in Tok, AK.
We managed to tour four National Parks while traveling from Rapid City, SD to Kalispel, MT. It was exhausting but we were able to see so much history and wildlife in one place it was worth it. If we weren’t on our way to Alaska we could have easily stayed in this area for another two weeks and seen so much more!
