For our latest trip diary / blogs and lots of pics as the trip unfolds go to: www.travelpod.com/members/ronamoon

 

TRIP DIARY PART 4 - NORTH AMERICA - USA, Canada, Alaska

Link to Trip Diary Part 1 - Chile / Argentina / Paraguay / Argentina

Link to Trip Diary Part 2 - Brazil / Bolivia/ Peru / Ecuador / Colombia

Link to Trip Diary Part 3 - Panama / Costa Rica / Nicaragua / Honduras / Guatemala / Belize / Mexico

 

Link to CAMPING sites for North America

 

CAMPING sites for South & Central America

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USA

 

 

Southern Sunny California
May 7, 2012
PLos Angeles, Minnesota - Aviation Hall of Fame, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Mt Whitney, Death Valley, Majove Desert

After arriving in LA from Australia we went directly to the Birmingham RV Park in Van Nuys where we became the 'resident Aussies'. We'd recommend this friendly park to any overlander or RV traveller. ...

 

 

 

 

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Thru the Rockies & north to Yellowstone
May 31, 2012
Colorado River, Moromon Lake, Overland Expo, Monument Valley, Muley Point, Great Sand Dunes NP, Grasslands, Custer State Park, Devils Tower, Battle of Little Big Horn, Cody

From the Colorado River at Bullhead City we headed into Arizona and the red rock country around Sedona. From this delightful city we took Schnebly Hill Road which offers great views and then some delightful camping amongst the pine trees. ...

 

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CANADA

 

Into Canada - & north to the Yukon
June 28, 2012
Bear Tooth Highway, Colter Pass, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Going to the Sun Highway, CANADA - Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, Cowboy Trail, Bar U Ranch, Columbian Icefield, Dawson Creek, Alcan Highway, Watson Lakes.

From Cody we took the Bear Tooth Highway, one of the great drives on the continent. It's an 'All American Road' and many who should know class it as one of the greatest scenic roads in America -- it is outstanding! This route only opened in the last few weeks and as we got closer to the pass there were great amounts of snow around in the large bowl before the pass. Some of the cuttings were 15-20' deep with snow and they were skiing still at the top - extreme downhill! ...

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THE YUKON - To Dawson City & the Dempster Highway
July 5, 2012
Watson Lakes, Campbell Highway, Silver Trail, Dawson City, Dempster Highway, Inuvik, Top of the World Highway.

From Watson Lake, just north off the border and in the Yukon, we took the mainly dirt Campbell highway north stopping at the Frances Lake camping ground for a couple of nights. The view across the lake was to a thickly forested shore backed by rounded mountains that still had a trace of snow on them.

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ALASKA

Into Alaska - Chicken, Tok & Fairbanks
July 13, 2012
Dawson City, Top of the World Highway, Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, WEIO - World Eskimo-Indian Olympics

After leaving Dawson City we took the Top of the World Highway to Alaska. They tell us it is very scenic ... we didn't see much! ...

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Dalton Highway - to Deadhorse & the Arctic Ocean
July 14, 2012
Fairbanks, Alaskan Highway, Dalton Highway, Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay.

Finally headed out of Fairbanks and got on the road proper only to stop just out of town at the Alaskan Pipeline info display. Then we followed the Elliot Highway west - the country being much more hillier than I thought it would be - the road just going up and down continually. ...

 

 

Big mountains, bears, sea otters and giant halibut
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Denali NP, Mt McKinley, Nenana River, Denali State Park, Hatchers Pass, Anchorage, Brooks Lodge Katamai NP, Seward, Kenai NP, Homer

We had left Fairbanks and headed to Denali National Park, along with every other tourist - it's the place to be and one of the biggest tourist attractions in Alaska.

 

 

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Gold seekers, a misplaced capital & a Russian one
Monday, August 27, 2012
Knik River, Matanuska River, Chugach Mountains ice sheet, Kennicott mines, Wrangell-St Elias NP and Preserve, McCarthy, Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, Whitehorse, Carcross Desert, White Pass, Skagway, Juneau, Sitka

We headed north out of Anchorage (in the bloody evening peak hour .... bugger!) and picked up the Old Glenn Highway and found a spot to camp on the edge of the Knik River - a shallow braided stream fed by glaciers.

 

 

The Inside Passage & Vancouver Island
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Skagway, Inside Passage, Petersburg, Wrangell Narrows, Prince Rupert, Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, Telegraph Cove, Campbell River

Once we got back to Skagway we filled in a couple of days by taking a train trip on the historic White Pass Railway (www.wpyr.com) and then a bit of a scenic and history tour with Southeast Tours (www.SoutheastTours.com). Both really cater for the multitude of cruise ships and their pampered passengers that come into the historic port, but they were enjoyable.

Early one morning we again boarded the MV Matanuska, this time with the Patrol and T-van, found ourselves a cabin and settled in for a couple of days sailing the famous Inside Passage.

 

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