California to Alaska, by hire car, May/Jul-08						File =	USA-08
Introduction		We reckon this to be one of
the best car road trips, on this planet ! The roads,
scenery, wild animals, accommodation, food & booze
costs, rental cars, language (almost ?) make it very
convenient, cheap and thoroughly enjoyable.
I had done this before, with a mate on Motorbikes
in 1988, not seeing too much as it was a roadrace
most of the trip ! At that time, most of the Alaska hwy
was gravel, and very treacherous in heavy rain. Don't
know how we survived that trip ?? Didn't see much !
Yollie and I also did this in 2002, by hire car, at a more
modest pace and timing, enjoying it so thoroughly, such
that we decided to do it again, as follows :-
Start date, 23-May-08. End date, 6-Jul-08.
Total miles travelled=13,352 with no cop stops !!
Hire car=Pontiac G6, 3.5 lt with auto, air, etc.
Sat Nav=Garmin Nuvi 310……invaluable
This trip was planned at a more leisurely pace, as we
are getting older. Don't feel like doing 1000 km. or
600 miles in a day any longer. We spent more time in
National Parks, viewing animals, and just admiring the
scenery, than on previous trips. (old age catching up ?)
Managed to get to the "ARCTIC CIRCLE" this time.
The hardest task was which photos to discard. Yollie took 1,600 photos, which she edited down to
about 800, before she started fixing them with PhotoShop Elements 3. It was a very difficult decision
which magnificent photos of animals, scenery etc. to omit, to keep this report a manageable size !
Hire Car's	As usual, the ALAMO hire car service was superb. We pre-booked on the INTERNET
for a compact car, Chevy Cobalt or similar, for 42 days for about AUD $1,800, all inclusive with 24 hr.
roadside assistance, insurances, taxes, etc., being about :- AUD $43/day. When we got to LAX, we
took our pick of 50 or so near new vehicles in our rental category, and drove off.
G6 Pontiac, about 215 hp, lousy auto gearbox.					Front view of G6 Pontiac, with background.
In valley of the Giant Redwoods, California.					Even leadfoot averaged 25 mpg overall !!
Now USA rental cars are NOT allowed on gravel roads, I think mainly to avoid windscreen damage.
Therefore I made enquiries at Fairbanks, ALASKA, to rent a 4WD to go up the Dalton Hwy past the
Arctic Circle, to Prudhoe Bay on a superb gravel road. (we had seen this road on pay TV episodes)
No way could we rent a 4WD anywhere in Fairbanks, to do this trip! Anyway, once we got to
Fairbanks, we looked at the Dalton Hwy and decided to go on to the Arctic Circle, some 185 miles
north, in our 2WD rental car. No problems at all, can't understand what the fuss was about. While
doing this section, we heard on the radio, a motorcyclist had been killed here, a few days before.
On Dalton Hwy, heading for Arctic Circle.					Needed a wash after Dalton hwy trip.
Good gravel road, no problems at all, even					Would have been good for speed cameras !
with 2WD and low clearance car !
Returning the car took about 5 minutes, as usual. An attendant read all the car parameters with a
remote scanner, did a cursory visual examination, and after signing credit card dockets, we left.
Petrol prices, which the Yanks were screaming about, were still below Oz levels, at AUD $1.10/lt.
Satellite Navigation, Sat Nav. Garmin Nuvi 310					Even with excellent maps, and an alert
passenger, the Sat Nav proved invaluable. In the USA, if you miss a freeway exit, or are in the
centre of a largish town, you can easily get lost. With the Sat Nav, you get early warning of turns
and exits, and leaving towns for another destination is a breeze. I often wonder how I or we managed
before, without this aid, especially alone on motorbikes, when you had to :-
	1. Stop the bike and take off your gloves, put on your reading glasses.
	2. Find the map, figure out where you are and where you want to go.
	3. Keep repeating the above, every time you get lost.
	4. Finding your way out of towns, where accommodation is off the hwy, was always hard.
Even when you are travelling alone, the voice prompts warn you of all turns. Highly recommended !
Motels and accommodation.			We generally used medium quality motels, such as Best Western,
Days Inn, Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn and similar, whenever possible or available. These cost on
average between AUD $80 to AUD $110/night. In some of the more popular resort towns or cities
such as Lake Louise, Jasper, Fairbanks, Banff, you had to pay over AUD $200 to AUD $300/night.
We also found self contained cabins very appealing, whenever available, usually in resort areas.
These had all the facilities of motels, handy parking, easy access and no noise issues. We refused
to use credit cards for accommodation, as a matter of principle, always using cash. Because of the
high Ozzie dollar, our  actual costs were well below estimated budgets, even with higher petrol costs.
ATM's, Credit cards etc.
The overall fees for using overseas ATM's for cash were about 3.24%, verging on usury ! This was
for using debit cards, withdrawing our own cash. We generally tried to find ATM's attached to banks,
so that you could draw at least AUD $1,000, but this was not always available, often AUD $200 was
the limit. I guess everyone took their cut, the ATM owner, overseas banks currency conversion,
Ozzie bank  ATM fee plus transaction fee…….can they think of anything else, Jesus wept ?? On my
return, my bank, refunded me 50% of the fees incurred, for what reason I don't know ? (shame ??)
We always prefer to use cash for all payments overseas, especially for accommodation, fearing
credit card fraud. This sometimes creates problems with a security deposit. If they don't accept a
reasonable amount, say $50 or $100, we go elsewhere. Whenever a cash deposit was required,
this was returned in the morning, with no room check carried out !! It was a nice change to hear the
Yanks whinging endlessly about their exchange rates and the cost of petrol. (gas)
National Parks Pass		They have a great deal for visitors to all the National Parks in the USA for a
yearly fee of USD $80. The average park entry was about USD $20, so we figured we were about
$100 ahead, counting all the USA National Parks we visited, including :-
Crater Lake, CA, Olympic NP. WA, Glacier Park MO, Yellowstone WY, Gunnison Black Canyon CO,
Monument Valley AR, Zion UT, Bryce Canyon UT, Yosemite CA, Sequoia NP CA, Joshua Tree CA.
Roadside leading to Crater lake. This was					Crater Lake, Oregon. Talk about picture
in May, gets some snow here !					postcard. Some exit roads were still closed.
Olympic National Park, Washington State.					Olympic National Park, Washington State.
Great views from above the clouds.					Looking down on clouds and roadway up.
Approaching Glacier Nat. Park, buffalo farm.					Glacier Nat. Park. We had to approach this
The large herd was far away. Montana.					from both East & West, as the thru road
					was still blocked by snow, in the middle.
Yellowstone, Geyser area. The whole park is					Yellowstone, hot mud pools. Drive thru the
vast, full of interesting features & animals.					park at your own speed and convenience.
Gunnison Black Canyon, Colorado.					Gunnison Black canyon, again.
Monument valley, Arizona. Drive thru yourself.					Monument valley, Arizona. Western movies.
Long tunnel into Zion Nat. Park, Utah.					One of many Zion amazing views.
Bryce Canyon, Utah.					Bryce Canyon, Utah.
Yosemite, California, rock climbers.					Yosemite, California.
Sequoia Nat. Park, giant trees. General					Sequoia trees. You can only get in about
Grant & General Sherman, 2 largest on earth.					1/10 of full height of tree into a photo.
Joshua tree Nat. Park, California.					View west from Joshua Tree Nat. Park.
	Wildlife seen on the trip, photographed from inside or beside the car !
The number of animals we saw on this trip was unbelievable, mostly on the roadside. Many main
roads in USA and Canada have about 20 to 30 metres cleared on each side of the road. This allows
sunlight thru and permits good grass to grow, and draws the animals in numbers. They don't seem
too alarmed by traffic, if you slow down on approach. Our prize sighting were a black bear with 2 cubs
and a brown Grizzly bear with 2 cubs, talk about luck !! A small selection of animal photos follows :-
Seals on California beaches, beside hwy 1					Friendly squirrels, they are everywhere.
Wild deer, near Ho forest, WA state.					Orcas, near Seattle, Pt. Townsend.
First black bear, near Whistler, Canada.					Bear Crossing please STOP.
Another black beauty				Fox eating roadkill.			Grizzly + cubs
Grizzly + cubs, Yukon, Canada, wow !!					Black bear + cubs, Skagway Alaska.
Two beautiful moose. Kiss me baby ?					Elk beside car window.
Big horn sheep charging car !					Mountain sheep, beside road.
Buffalo, no longer an endangered species.					Only way to see a mountain lion these days !
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	Trip report, stage by stage			LAX California to Seattle, Washington State.
We picked up the rental car from ALAMO, near LAX, about 9am, after landing about 7am. We were
entitled to a "Compact" car, which was Chevy Cobalt or similar. In the row of about 50 near new
eligible cars, we found a G6 Pontiac with Nevada plates. This was supposedly in the next category
of "medium" cars, but created no problems on return. The Sat Nav. guided us faithfully out of LA,
which was often a problem in the past, if you got off the InterStates. Being the first day after a long
flight, we headed north along hwy 1 to Morro Bay, a delightful seaside fishing village. Good tucker.
Then we did the magnificent coastal section, to just past San Francisco, after crossing the Golden
Gate bridge. Stayed close to the coast till Eureka, when we headed east towards Mt. Shasta. This is
a magnificent volcanic cone, but this time we could not reach the ski village because of low cloud
and bad visibility. Continued into Oregon's crater lake, with heaps of snow and poor visibility, until
the clouds cleared just before we left. Back to the coast, until another  diversion west, to an
aeroplane museum, which include the Spruce Goose. Crossed the mighty Columbia river, near the
Oregon/Washington border, heading north to Port Townsend, near Seattle, to view the Orcas.
Morro Rock peninsula, fishing village.					The famous hwy 1, LA to San Francisco.
Coastal hwy1  Bixby bridge, top road.					Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, no fog !!
Ave of the giant Redwoods, Nth California.					Climbing Mt. Shasta, had to bomb out.
	Crater Lake, inland Oregon.					Crater Lake, inland Oregon.
Oregon coast					Part view of Spruce Goose. Top museum.
F102 Delta Dart in Spruce Goose museum.					Russian MIG 29, I believe.
Bridge over the mighty Columbia river.					Olympic Nat. Park, just got above the clouds.
Border between Oregon & Washington States
Boeing Factory museum. Not allowed to					Boeing factory landing field ! Its awesome
take photos inside factory. (Airbus spys ?)					watching a 777 or 747 getting built.
Tacoma bridges. (one fell down years ago)					Pleasure boats, San Juan Islands.
Seattle, Washington USA to Arctic Circle, Alaska, via British Columbia & Yukon, CANADA.
After the ORCA watching in Pt. Townsend, we visited the Boeing factory near Seattle, before heading
north to Canada. The Boeing factory, where they assembled the giant 747, 777 and more, was
absolutely awesome to behold. It was NOT permitted to take any photographs inside the factory, all
personal bags/cameras/mobiles, had to be left in lockers, before being personally scanned/searched.
Next into CANADA, heading to Whistler ski resort, via the edges of Vancouver, then Prince George.
Then onto the Cassier hwy, heading to Whitehorse, via Stewart and Watson Lake. More and more
wildlife was seen, it being very difficult to choose which photos to put into this report. The Cassier
Hwy is mostly paved now, but still not sure if USA rental cars allowed on it ? Really no problem.
The scenery was just terrific, traffic was light, mood was great, what else do you want ? We tried to
rent a 4WD to go from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, via Arctic Circle, but not allowed. Took our rental
2WD with no problems. We had seen this road on Pay TV and knew it was OK, even for motorbikes.
Entering CANADA customs, from USA.					Vancouver in the distance. We went around.
Scenery near Fraser River, BC.					Near Stewart/Hyder villages.
Salmon Glacier, north of Hyder.					Picnic time in Alaska or Yukon ?
Cruise ships in Skagway, Alaska.					Alaska hwy, great road, great scenery.
Oil pipeline, Dalton hwy, nth of Fairbanks.					At Arctic Circle, no problems with 2WD.
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		Return trip, Arctic Circle to LAX airport.
Having reached the Arctic Circle, we commenced our return journey to LAX. Washed the car at
Fairbanks, and headed south towards Homer, via Denali. We gave Denali a miss, as you can only
visit there in a tourist bus. It was unlikely we'd see better wildlife then already experienced, and in a
tourist bus, you are a captive audience to compulsive talkers and "question askers". (not rare in USA)
From Homer, we headed for Dawson City in Yukon, CANADA, via the Top of the World Hwy. This was
a good gravel road, from Tok to Dawson City. Dawson City still looked like a wild western mining
town, beside the Yukon river, with replica bars and taverns with "loose women serving wenches".
The Top of the World hwy from Tok to Dawson City is a must do, great views and stop at Chicken,
which has tripled in size since last trip. Rumour has it that it that the residents originally wanted to
call the town "Ptarmigan" after local birds, but couldn't spell this….hence  they called it Chicken.
The section from Watson Lake to Dawson Creek bought back memories of windy wet gravel roads &
rock falls which caused problems on previous trips. Many animals, sheep, bison, deer were seen.
From Dawson Creek, we headed for the magnificent section from Jasper to Banff, must be amongst
the top drives on this planet. Accommodation at Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff was expensive and hard to
get. From Banff, we headed south to Glacier Nat. Park  MO, then Yellowstone WY and then to the
Ski resorts in Colorado, Steamboat Springs, Vail, Aspen. We had skied there before, so it was nice
to see these resorts in summer. It is cheaper skiing in Colorado USA than Oz, even with airfares !!
From the ski resorts, we drove thru Gunnison Black canyon, then Montrose to Durango, via Ouray.
A quick dash thru Monument Valley, AR could not be resisted. Many western movies were made here.
From Monument Valley, went to Utah, Zion Nat. Park & Bryce Canyon, both special. Then towards
Salt Lake City via the Olympic Ski fields of Utah. The Mormons did their best to convert us at the
Mormon Tabernacle, but failed. After Bonneville Salt flats, we headed for Lake Tahoe in California.
This was a pleasant surprise. The lake was surprisingly at very high altitude, and very scenic.
From there, we had to change our plans as the forest fires were raging in California. We were lucky
to get in Yosemite and Sequoia National parks, before doing Joshua Tree park. Smoke getting bad !
Back in LAX again, the heavy traffic was a burden but the Sat Nav. proved invaluable again, here.
After we returned the rental car, taking about 5 minutes, we took a leisurely bus trip thru LAX,
including :- Venice, Farmers market, Hollywood, City centre and more. Flying home, the plane was
full as usual, but we had good seats from early bookings and seat allocations using the INTERNET.
View of Mt McKinley, now Mt. Denali					Well, fair enough, its good ole USA.
Seafood feast, crabs, at Homer, Alaska					Couldn't make it up this glacier, in 2WD ??
Top of the World hwy, Tok to Dawson City.					Dawson City, Yukon, old gold rush town.
Lake Louise hotel, Jasper to Banff section.					Banff hotel, bring plenty of money with you !!
Glacier NP, Montana, snow closed road in middle.					USA has great museums, crap cars !
Entrance to Yellowstone WY, terrific value					Steamboat Springs ski resort, Colorado.
Montrose to Durango road, via Ouray.					Great cabin, Silverton, 4WD and ski area.
Monument valley, Arizona.					Zion Nat. Park, Utah.
Mormon chapel, Salt Lake City, Jesus wept !					Utah copper mine, now owned by Rio Tinto
Looking down on Palm Desert, memories of					Venice Beach, very busy and lively place.
previous fast motorcycle rides up this hill !!
Hollywood Blvde, Marilyn Monroe clones.					Qantas jet, going home, end of great trip.
Summary.		This has to be one of the best car/road trips we have done. For all its faults,
the USA is a very nice and convenient place to travel by car. All the great views and National Parks
are very accessible and visitor friendly. The food and accommodation for average travellers, is very
reasonable, and most Yanks, especially out of the large cities, are quite tolerable. The museums
are excellent by world standards, the roads and scenery superb.
Having Ozzie window stickers on the car, made life easy at checkpoints, though most of these, on
major bridges and dams have disappeared, or are no longer obvious.
There's not much we would want to do differently, apart from perhaps doing fewer miles per day.
I would generally sit on 80 to 85 mph on country highways, until Yollie started screeching. This time
we did not have a single Police stop for speeding. Can't believe it. Most times I get a few "formal"
warnings, at least. These work as follows :- The cop stops you for speeding. When he determines
that you are an Ozzie, and not too objectionable, he gives you a ticketed warning, which is radioed
in to base. If you get another infringement in that state, you go for both offences, otherwise all OK.
Car + typical cabins.					Yukon river, near Whitehorse.
The mighty Yukon river, another view.					Relaxing in the sun after day's drive.