Don’t get rid of your car, especially because it’s paid off, ask the locals about it when you get there and if necessary rent a 4wheel drive while you’re up there.

As for yellowstone – study the roads in Yellowstone – we would have been absolutely FUCKED if we took our 35ft fiver up those “hills”. It was ridiculous even in our 4×4 suburban with just a popup behind us. I felt so bad for the cats with the MHs – they were probably getting less than 3mpg! The inclines are LOOOOOOOOONG. Also make note of all the run off ramps just in case you can’t down shift enough (we shifted to 1st and our poor brakes were used for 15 minutes straight, it’s like they wanted you to have a REALLY exciting time while in Yellowstone!)

If I were to do it again I would have took a tour via google earth first – you can get in some very sticky spots, so don’t speed. Oh yeah, just remembered one more thing that REALLY pissed me off we went off-road for a while! There were NO signs or warnings from the booths until we were already there and NO WAY to get around it! They were doing construction and I guess they had no other option but to divert people off road. You would not have made it with your MH. Check EVERY SINGLE ROAD before you go and ASK the booths! Our Suburban & the popup were COVERED with MUD and ROCKS and people were slamming on their brakes every five seconds because of the huge holes in the mud. Bleh. Also be prepared for dumbasses to stop in the middle of the road for no reason. Don’t speed or you’ll end up in a geyser.

Three days is not enough! We stayed for a week and we didn’t see jack! Yellowstone is a place that you need to…sit back and absorb. Yeah the buffalo are awesome, but there are so many other things – soo many trails too

If you’re going through the north entrance, stop and have a swim at the hot spring! We stopped but we thought people were nuts cause it was too cold – little did we know what we were missing!

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=44.991852,-110.69127&num=1&t=h&sll=44.99155,-110.691547&sspn=0.003414,0.006899&gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=44.99155,-110.691547&spn=0.003414,0.006899&z=17

I’m so excited for you! I love it when a plan comes together!

Yeah! Another one! Are you going to blog? Are you RVing alone? With family? RV-Dreams was definitely one of my first stops, but I need to get back there and review my numbers against all of their information. I’d love to hear more and more about your plans, so tell me anything and everything. ; )

Oh, and thanks for saying hello.

Jennifer

I’m hoping to do the Dempster mid-August, once the seasonal rush is over. It’ll be really weather dependent.

Yes, hotels and food are super expensive along the Dempster. Factor that against how much you’d be spending in fuel. Round trip, I’d be looking at about 1,600km, which translates to three fills at 200$ each. So, I’m already at 600$ for the trip just for gas. If I do get to go for 10 days, I will reconsider taking the motorhome so that I can do my groceries in Dawson and eat better, but if I have time constraints and can only go for a few days, I’ll be better off driving my car.

That’s another tip for the north; be flexible. So many plans are weather-dependent.

I’ve done the Dempster as far north as Tombstone Territorial Park. Just search for Dempster on my blog in the box in the upper right hand corner.

My motorhome is a 31′ gas puller class C Glendale Royal Classic while my tow vehicle is a 3 door hatchback Hyundai Accent. The car would cost me about a hundred fifty bucks in gas to get to Inuvik and back.

Most people who do the Dempster do it in two days, stopping over at Eagle Plains, which is the halfway point. I wanted to take longer do do some hiking, but I managed to do a lot of that hiking last summer as its in the southern part of the highway, which I’ve done. There’s not much in Fort McPherson, but it’s worth stopping to see the tenting industry (of all things).

Make sure to stop in at the Dempster Information Centre in Dawson City. It’s on Front (main) street across from the Dawson info centre.

BTW, I found your blog while checking out where people were visiting me from.

Dear Bob, Thanks for the links! But, actually, that is why the site is truly picking on you. There is some auto-spam filter and it doesn’t like links, but I can push them through. And, no, I never feel like I am getting too much help. I love it!

Dear Rae, Hey, I just added your blog to my reader yesterday, so am catching up on your posts! ; ) Thanks, so much, for the encouragement. Is that an RV park where you will be working? staying? Both? When (more specifically?) are you driving the Dempster? The hotels looked so expensive (close to $200 a night in Ft.McPherson, per CrazyGuyonaBike), so that was another thing that pushed me toward the RV. What are you driving?

Thanks!

Jennifer

I’m doing the Dempster in 2010, too. I work in Dawson City during the summer and I’m going to take ten days to do it. I’m not bringing my RV, but that’s only because I need a few days a year out of it, not because I’m worried about damaging it.

I hope you have a great trip; you’ll love the north. Stop in at Bonanza Gold RV park just outside of Dawson if you get a chance.

I mean, this is serious! How are you ever going to do without my golden advice?

If it doesn’t show up later, I may try to remember what I wrote well enough to repost. Or maybe I’ll have to just surrender to the unserendipity of it all.

“I’m melting! I’m melting!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfV_ENR5IZE

Bob

http://slopeofhope.typepad.com/.a/6a00e00989822288330120a735ee8d970b-500wi

Gypsysoul is giving you good advice. Take a season to get used to your rig, and see a little beauty in the country down here. You’ll get used to the way your used things run, and a chance to see what breaks in places where you can easily get them repaired.

And Clarke is dead on about the tires. If they are over 5 years old, replace them all. Doesn’t matter what they look like. Here’s a url on telling the date of tires:

http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/GripOnTires

http://www.teammiata.com/libs/tire_dot.htm

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4813029&page=1

And by the way, check the ones you are buying, too:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4822250&page=1

Read these carefully. There will be a pop quiz, later.

Bob

We haven’t started our RV travels yet [still have the last 2 of our 6 to get off to college!] but I read and [try to absorb] all the info I can from various blogs and a few things I have learned [or come to understand]:

I think it is going to cost more than you think. Sorry – but I don’t see maintenance or upkeep and I find that on all RV blogs. And it seems to be a chunk of change.

Also, mail forwarding service. Will you need this, or will everything go to your husband? [that would be cool and $$ saving ]

Being debt free going into this is a good thing [except, of course, for the RV since it is your home] will you be cutting up your credit cards before you go or taking them along? I, too, live credit card debt free because the idea of paying interest on purchases makes me sick – and that amount of debt that you accumulated for one person, with no children, amazes me [then again I don't know the whole story ]. I am not saying it is bad for you to do – your life – but I would hate to see you pay it all off and then run it back up while on the road. It is such an albatross.

Maybe one card, for emergencies, with a low rate would be good to have along?

Just trying to help a bit as I am very excited for you and your trip – and what a trip to pick FIRST! Very exciting and I am anxious to read more.

I would read everyone’s RVing blog [the fulltimers] that post their budgets for the year – you will see the extras not mentioned here.

If I find the ones with good budgets on them I will come back to give you the links.

Keep blogging – it is great!

Dear LadyDiga, Okay, I’ve looked at the links now, so am very tempted to take an RV. I mean, I guess it is only deadly when it rains, and, like him, I can just stop and hang out for days at a time if it does… I may take my RV. I WANT to take it!

Dear Wade, That sounds more suspicious than complimentary! ; ) One thing I worry about when I am on the road is being away from the Internet and being away from you guys. You are all so much a part of this for me. I think it will be pretty reliable, but as I go up the Dempster, I guess I’ll be off line for a bit…

Dear Rene, Your site is such a great resource of entertainment and information. I grabbed a bunch of new links from you today to check out. Thanks!

Your budget looks realistic. I used to post ours on our Resources page, but got lazy these last few months because I thought it was boring people. I still keep a monthly expense report, maybe I’ll update it. Meanwhile you can check out the template and year end expenses I have posted. Hope the help.

Don’t worry, we’ll be here when you get on the road. I’ll help as much as I can from here in my little cubicle. Well, it’s not as much of a cubicle as it is a small office with two people crammed in it.