Alaska Archives - The Constant Rambler

Driving the Alaska Canada Highway – Guide & Road Trip Planner

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, Great Drives and Car Pics, Yukon 2 Comments

If you’re planning on taking a drive to Alaska there are only a couple direct driving routes that will take you there. You can either drive the Cassiar Highway, which is a small mostly rural route, or drive the Alaska Canada Highway (aka the Al-Can), which is a slightly larger, slightly less rural route. No matter which way you go you’ll be guaranteed two things: several days of non-stop driving, and miles of wide open spaces. Since we had the opportunity to make the drive last fall we decided to put together this handy dandy guide and road trip planner for driving the Alaska-Canada Highway.

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Pikes Waterfront Lodge – A Dog Friendly Hotel – Fairbanks, AK

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Fairbanks, Hotels, Reviews by Type 4 Comments

Finding a dog friendly hotel gets to be very difficult when you travel to remote regions of the country. We were having a bit of trouble finding a dog friendly hotel while visiting Fairbanks, Alaska when a new friend of ours recommended Pike’s Waterfront Lodge. It turned out to be exactly what we were looking for: fun, quirky, and friendly. We loved it so much we ended up staying there twice! If you’re planing on visiting Fairbanks AK, take a look at this Pike’s Waterfront Lodge review to see why Pike’s might just be the place for you and your dogs.

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Bald Eagles – America’s National Bird in Valdez, Alaska

by LaurenBassart Posted in Alaska, Critter Corner, Valdez 11 Comments

We traveled through the city of Valdez , Alaska and came across one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in nature. While entering the city, after crossing through Thompson’s Pass, we came across hundreds of bald eagles nesting in trees and fishing in the streams. It was very easy to see why these are America’s national bird. They are so majestic. There were so many of them, we just had to stop and take it all in.

Flock of Eagles

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A Mooseberry Inn – The Bed and Breakfast that converted me :)

by LaurenBassart Posted in Alaska, Hotels, Pet Friendly Hotels 7 Comments

A Mooseberry Inn in Tok, Alaska was the first bed and breakfast we have ever stayed in. Kenin and I traveled for many years and stayed in everything from a tent to the Ritz Carlton. Somehow, we managed to completely avoid B&Bs altogether. We always thought the idea of a B&B was a little odd. This is the bed and breakfast that converted me.

Welcome sign to A Mooseberry Inn

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All About Our Road Trip From Florida to Alaska

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Florida, Great Drives and Car Pics, Key West to Dead Horse, Road Trips, Travel Tips 11 Comments

When we told everyone that we were going to take a road trip from Florida to Alaska in a VW GTI, we received a rather mixed response. We heard everything from “Are you nuts!?!?” to “That’s epic! Take me with you!”. I have to admit that before (and during) our trip Lauren and I both questioned our own and each others’ sanity at certain points. Even now, after we’ve returned home, there are moments when I look back at our pictures and question whether or not it all really happened. When you want to do something big, or different, you usually have to go a bit against the grain to make it work, and to me, that’s one of the things that makes it all worthwhile. I decided, now that we’ve made it, to try and summarize (if that’s even possible) our entire Key West, Florida to Deadhorse, Alaska road trip in one post!

Road Trip from Florida to Alaska

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Why I Love Alaska – The Last Frontier

by LaurenBassart Posted in Alaska, Anchorage, Dalton Highway, Deadhorse, Fairbanks, Featured, Tok, Valdez 9 Comments

When we first decided that we were going to make a cross-country trip to tour Alaska, we had one specific goal, drive the Dalton Highway! This was our second trip to The Last Frontier, but it was the first time we had spent any real time in the state. Our previous visit was when we traveled on an Alaskan cruise quite a few years earlier, but being there for only a few hours a day did the state no justice. I knew we’d have a great time visiting, but what I didn’t know was that I would end up saying I love Alaska!

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Road Trip Update: Alaska’s Interior Route from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Valdez

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Key West to Dead Horse, Road Trips, Tok, Valdez 6 Comments

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!

Our Road Trip Route Through Alaska’s Interior!

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Great Drives: Alaska’s Dalton Highway | Fairbanks to Deadhorse

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Dalton Highway, Deadhorse, Featured, Great Drives and Car Pics, Key West to Dead Horse, Travel Tips 7 Comments

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!

Welcome to Alaska’s Dalton Highway!

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Florida to Alaska Update: Road Tripping Alaska’s Interior, Tok to Fairbanks

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Fairbanks, Key West to Dead Horse, Tok 1 Comment

We’ve spent the longest time in Alaska than we have in any other state this trip, but for very good reason. It makes up about 20% of the United State’s land mass. This state is HUGE! Considering that we made it up here we decided to spend some time touring the entirety of Alaska’s interior, in addition to hitting our goal of driving the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse, Alaska. Our road trip route took us from Tok, AK to Fairbanks before hitting the Dalton Highway to the North.

Our Route from Tok Alaska to Fairbanks Alaska

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Florida to Alaska Road Trip Update: Banff, Canada and the Alaska Highway!

by Kenin Bassart Posted in Alaska, Alberta, Banff, Canada, Grande Prairie, Kalispel, Key West to Dead Horse, Montana, Road Trips, Tok, Whitehorse, Yukon 13 Comments

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.

Kalispet, MT Banff, AB, Grande Prairie, AB Whitehorse, YK Tok, AK

Kalispel, MT Banff, AB, Grande Prairie, AB Whitehorse, YK Tok, AK

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