magicfan3

I'll be flying to Alaska on March 20th to help my friend move home to Florida. We will be driving in his WRX the whole way back. Our trip starts in Anchorage, we will be driving through the Yukon, and British Columbia, stopping in Vancouver. Our next stop is Seattle, then down to Portland and stopping at my aunt's in Medford, OR for a night. We are then driving to the redwoods, then to San Francisco, through Sacramento, detour to Lake Tahoe, then through Reno to Salt Lake City, then the route has us going through Wyoming to get to Denver. Then we are driving through Kansas City to St. Louis, through Nashville, Knoxville and Asheville, stopping in Greenville, SC to see my friends mom and my aunts and uncles . Then, finally back to Florida. I've been all over the southeast and have seen quite a bit, so as far as places to see I'm looking for things more in the central US and out west, Canada as well, as I have never been. Feel free to mention things that may be slightly out of the way but well worth the stop, even in the southeast. I've already been told that red rocks is one must see place. Thanks in advance.

This is our list of supplies that we are bringing, please suggest anything we may be neglecting.

Power inverter
Pillows
Blanketssssss!!!!! (Will be sleeping in the car some nights)
Toiletries (tp is included in that general mentioning)
Flat tire kit
Road worthy playlist
Sunglasses
Cooler
Water
Drinks
Coldcuts
Chips
Dslr camera
Laptop and charger (with plethora of downloaded tv shows and movies)
Passports
IDs
Two 5 gallon gas tanks
Ratchet straps

Oh and by the way we are doing this in 10 days.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

awesome trip!!!

may I suggest a full sized spare and a full sized aluminum jack? if it will fit.

coming back from Florida and into Texas, I had gotten a flat an hour away from my house.

iCrap

Sounds like a lot of fun. I did a similar type thing but we planned it around stopping in hotels for a day or 2.
WRX is a good choice too.

I agree with justin on the full size spare and jack.

Also a proper GPS if you don't already have one. Don't plan on using your phone.... You will find that when your driving out in the middle of nowhere the crappy phone GPS won't pick up a signal and you may not have any cell service.

musty hustla

I think you got everything covered. Good luck! I would add..

Car fluids: motor, power steering, transmission
Basic tool set with duct tape and electrical tape

magicfan3

That's horrible that it only happened an hour from home. Comical but horrible. Unfortunately my friend has no spare and I don't think he even has a jack so I will forewarn him.

I only wish I could take more time off from work, thats really the limiting factor in this situation. My friend's mom said she'd pay for a hotel for us for the night, we will crash a few nights at relatives' houses as well. The rest we will be roughing it in the car.

I truly got lucky that he owns an AWD car, I agree. haha

Also, I forgot his dad bought him a GPS strictly because we won't have phone GPS in Canada.

Thanks, didn't consider the fluids. Also, whats more purposeful than duct tape, never know what you could need it for, good suggestions.

BattleofXs

don't forget:

-piss bottles
-toothpaste/gum/deodorant to keep the bros smelling fresh
-microfibers
-dryer sheets to keep the car smelling fresh
-towhook

magicfan3

toothpaste, gum, deodorant, razors, and cologne all fall under toiletries. Piss bottles and a towhook are a must. Dryer sheets are a pretty good idea ,as well, thank you.

What's the purpose of the microfibers?

nj2pa2nc

went on 3 cross country road trips-packed clothing to cover different temperatures, made sure the donut spare tire and all the other tires had enough air. Never needed the spare, thankfully. We would stop at welcome stations when we entered a state to get the discount book on motels. We would look for one that included breakfast.

iCrap

I always keep one or two in my car in case i spill something on my dash or seat or whatever and need to clean it up.

PyroDave

beef jerkey, drugs(advil and stuff, the rest is up to your preference lol), headphones, ear plugs. you will get annoyed of each other and want to kill each other, this will last short periods of time and blow over often lmfao. bottle mouthwash. road flares. good knife. saran wrap isn't a bad idea, good at quickly covering/protecting stuff. could make your phone semi waterproof in 20 seconds.

if you dont have anything in terms of auto survival, i'd grab this. decent kit http://www.statgeartools.com/auto-survival-kit-1/ you never know wheel you'll god forbid need to bust the windows or cut something including seatbelts

i've been on roadtrips including nyc to montreal, to tennessee, to DC and philly and boston repeatedly. i'd bring a paper map for shits and gigs if you know how to read one, weather has a hard effect on roads people roadtrip on for some reason.

oh and idk why you'd need the 10 extra gallons of gas, i've never taken any. i would maybe go with 1 5 gallon tank, make sure it seals and everything properly.

Novichek

Just make sure to have a credit card (or three) and some cash. Don't over think it in terms of stocking up, there are walmarts almost everywhere. I have driven cross country several times and through the places you mention except Ancorage-to-BC and don't remember seeing gas stations farther than 100-120 miles apart so 2 gas cans is probably excessive.
Your greatest dangers probably falling asleep, hitting an animal and wanting to kill each other at the end of the trip.... In that order.
Good luck!

magicfan3

My buddy was told that there are gas stations roughly every 100 miles from anchorage through BC but he was also told that during these months it's common for several to be closed or close early (8pm) and we intend to drive through the night some nights especially in the nothingness of the Yukon.

iSeeYouTwo

You'd probably get a ton more responses/suggestions if you would have posted this in the Car Talk section of the forums. There's my suggestion. Lol

kball

Places--in utah try the national parks even if u only have 1/2 a day especially if youre gonna sleep in your car may as well be in some magnificent scenery. Arches NP is a must. Canyonlands NP if u have time. If you guys ski or snowboard theres a bunch of places off i70 in colorado that should still have snow etc.

I'd think about protein bars and energy drinks for the roadie. Especially something like 5 hour energy. Even if u only sip 1/2 a bottle at a time like i do...coffee works too but i have to stop and piss n poop more with that.

Worth driving around lake tahoe (one of the prettiest drives in US) and stopping and hiking or renting boats/jetskis if you have the $. Tons of trails. Also casinos there. Plenty of cheap motels around casinos in s lake tahoe. Camping too.

magicfan3

Well I suppose there's still over a week before I leave. Mods will you please move this to the Car Talk section. Thanks for the suggestions kball. My friend actually was a snowboard instructor, that's originally why he moved out to Alaska, so we may stop for a few hrs to catch some slopes. But that's some good info about Lake Tahoe, I appreciate it. We will have to check out those national parks if we have time. Amen to the protein bars and coffee. I heard of this amazing coffee place throughout Canada, I want to say its tom hortons or something like that.

neuronbob

Epic trip, you will remember this the rest of your life! I am a veteran of almost 30 cross country car trips now and agree with the advice in this thread. Real GPS is a must! Food and water for a few days in case you're stuck in the wilderness. Spare tire!!!!

Otherwise, just don't push yourself too much, share driving, and you'll have some awesome pics to share in this thread when you get home to Florida.

Travel safe!

Slpr04UA6

Coffee place is Tim Hortons..good donuts too...sounds like a fun trip! Take lots of pics!

kball

2 more tips.

Get some foam earplugs. I use the blue ones that are 33 db. They block out a ton of sound to help you sleep better. Noisy hotel guests, rooms near elevator or vending/ice machines. I never travel without them now. Its one of those inexpensive items that can really make a difference.

In Lake Tahoe theres a restaurant on the west side of lake called Sunnyside. Its got great outdoor seating and a dessert called Hula Pie. Google it. Then gobble it. We rented boats right around there too. They have or had, all these colored umbrellas so its easy to find after a day of boating on the lake and you have to find your way back.

RPhilMan1

Did you total out the mileage of the trip?

I wonder what the gas expense will be with the WRX.

magicfan3

Total mileage was 6530, and that was prior to deciding that we would be driving around the entirity of Lake Tahoe. I'm just lucky his dad is paying for the gas and using his miles for my plane ticket.

Don't worry though guys, I will take insane amounts of pictures. I just wish I had my TSX with to put in all the amazing shots I'm going to get.

1StGenCL

Sounds awesome, enjoy it but def. get a spare tire! I would pack a small tent and camp out in some of the warmer areas if I were you.

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

Other than what's being said, for a road trip me that I would also keep in mind the car maintenence. I know subies tend go eat oil so I would also keep that in mind. Also checking with your insurance company to see if you are covered in Canada. Bring some baby wipes just in case you can take a bath or it gets too hot and sticky. I'm not sure if this applies on the route you are taking but I know driving on the 10 fwy from LA to Florida, there are patches where you don't have any reception on the one in case of an emergency. Hopes this helps and have a safe trip.

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

Magicfan,

I did a trip similar to this last year when drove from Pensacola up to the Arctic Ocean (bucket list trip). My route was from west Florida to Las Vegas to Vancouver to Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Prudhoe Bay). I did a similar trip in 2010 to the Arctic Circle in the Yukon. Its a trip that you will remember for a lifetime....

With that said. youre going to have a hard time doing everything you listed in your original post in 10 days without feeling rushed. A direct route from to all the places listed in google (Anchorage to Vancouver, then SF, Denver, Greenville, SC, Gainesville) is 106 hours, or 10 hours a day for 10 days. Even if you all alternated driving, you wont spend much time doing anything else. I drove a direct route in the 2010 version of my trip, and it was 7 days of averaging 10-11 hours.

What I would also tell you is that your driving days will vary because of the amenities in the northern section of the continent. Once you leave Anchorage, dont expect alot of gas stops, etc until you get to Tok, AK (recommendation 1: if you like Thai food, there a stand there where a lady cooks AMAZING food...do it). After Tok, distance between amenities lengthens until you get to Whitehorse. After Whitehorse, youre only going to have cell signal at Watson's Lake (3 hours away), and once you turn south onto BC 37 (Stewart-Cassiar Hwy), you wont have signal until you get within 60 miles or so of Prince George (about 8-10 hours drive). So, be prepared for that. Also note that if you opt to get a hotel that either 1. Youre going to pay alot of money for alot of nothing (like no air conditioning in most of Whitehorse's rooms) or 2. Youre going to pay even more just to get something decent.

My suggestions for this trip:

I cannot recommend this to you enough: Pick up a copy of the Milepost magazine. This guide (updated annually) gives you road conditions, places to stop, etc throughout Alaska/Yukon/Upper BC and is well worth the cost.

#2: Spare tire. Parts of the Alaska Highway in Canada are gravel. Also ,watch out for those frost heaves.

#3: Grab some octane booster, just in case. When I owned a Subaru and drove that on my first Northern Canada trip, there were stretches that did not have premium gas. I used a booster, and I was okay (even with a tune)

#4: Prepare for sticker shock. Alaska is about 4.00 a gallon for regular. Canada: You could be paying 5.00-5.50 for gas in the remote stretches.

#5: Check with your credit card company on Foreign Transaction fees, and let them know you will be traveling to Canada and Alaska. You dont want to end up with having to call them to tell them to unlock your card in Canada...or worse, being unable to call them at all because you in the middle of nowhere.


Heres the thread of the pictures I took on both of my ventures to the North: https://acurazine.com/forums/cameras-photography-44/road-trip-66-33-a-825372/

magicfan3

Great tips. I really appreciate. I wish I had more time but he said he wants to drive straight through most of Ak and Canada. There's only a few places we really want to stop, but we have a rough itenirary that has every hr accounted for. He also said he was going to get the milepost book because everyone in Alaska reccomended it to him. Would have never thought of the octane booster so thanks for that. And as far as expenses I'm really only paying for food, maybe a hotel room, and some souvenirs along the way. So I will need to check out the foreign transaction fee info, thanks!

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

If youre considering hotels - Whitehorse's Best Western is nice given the choices. Wasnt excited about my stay at Coast (a Canadian Chain). Lodging Options are cheaper in Watson Lake (no Chains). On the Stewart Cassiar, either be prepared to pay about $200 for Bell 2 Lodge (a great place to sleep) or sleep in your car. Not alot of options otherwise. In Prince George, I could recommend the Sheraton Four Points.

magicfan3

Just to update: we will have a donut spare and a jack. My friend isn't exactly the brightest when it comes to cars and didn't know that many cars come with a donut and jack in the trunk. (Yes, I'm now ashamed to call him a friend, to answer your question before you ask.)

1StGenCL

Glad to hear but keep in mind that donuts are good for what, 50 miles? How desolated are parts of this trip?

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

Really need a full size spare.

Some stretches are 200-250 miles apart.

magicfan3

Any suggestions as to where he might be able to get a full size spare cheap?

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

Try Nasioc? Craigslist?

RenoTL

I concur with both seeing as much of Lake Tahoe as possible and the NPs in Utah are special and should be uncrowded this time of year. Another suggestion, sine you are going to Denver is to take I70 rather then I80. It is a much more scenic route and it fits in with seeing the Utah NPs (I70 starts south of SLC and goes through amazing views of the Rockies).

Ken1997TL

I'm in Medford. If you want to catch a bite to eat, let me know. I'll bring out the S2000.

mrmako

You could also try a junk yard. Subaru are 5 x 100 and tougher to find. And you may find that they sell you a wheel and tire (decent tread) for $20.

I may have missed it, but do you have a first aid kit? Not just a few bandages, but something a little more robust just in case? Also, Those thin, thermal blankets may also come in handy being up in BC (think being stranded at night).

Subaru seats are pretty comfortable, but I would also look at stopping every 200 miles to stretch and maybe get some good air.

magicfan3

I only have three days left til I leave, is there anything anyone else can think of? My friend is scouring junk yards for a spare now.

Legend2TL

1) Leatherman Wave (or something similar)

2) 12VDC air pump

3) Full size lugnut wrench.

4) old blanket or towel to kneel on if working on vehicle

5) Those encapsulated hand cleaner/wipes (type you get at restaurants to clean your hands). I grab a handful at barbeque places and keep them in the glove box. Good for cleaning up after working or pumping gas.

6) assorted radiator clamps.

UA6

Mr Marco

Eh-um, you are either one hell of a good friend, or trying to get some from a smokin' hottie.

Either way, kudos to you. There is no way in hell I would drive that far to help a "friend."

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ You wouldn't partake in a free road trip with a friend? I can see maybe not doing it at 47, but at 22? Hell yeah.

Ken1997TL

magicfan3

Keep in mind, my birthday is the 25th. So I will be 23 for half the trip. It's a vacation for me, a chance to see many things I want to see. Then I'll know where I want to go later in life for longer vacations.