New to us

Jack Bauer · 08-31-2009, 07:00 PM

We are a retired couple and took a trip to Alaska in our van. It was a six week, 11000 mile trip and after about 2000 of them, the van started to shrink.
After we got back we purchased a 1987 saturn Sunline T1550. It needed a good cleaning but it is pretty much original. I just replaced the curtains and valances and we're are looking forward for our road trial with our new sunny.

Jack & Joyce Bauer

**JohnB** · 08-31-2009, 07:59 PM

Welcome Jack and Joyce.

11,000 miles, that is a road trip....

Also noticed your location. I think we have some neighbors of yours here in the club. Expect them to pop in any time now.

Good luck in your new sunny.

John

kanyonkitty · 08-31-2009, 08:03 PM

Joyce & Jack,

WELCOME to the group and wonderful world of Sunline ownership. Gary & I had the pleasure of meeting Joyce & Jack on saturday evening. We sorta just "dropped in" on them. They have picked up a WONDERFUL, super excellent condition T-1550. Really doesn't look like it had much use. And Joyce is doing a fantastic job with the new curtains & valances.

Gary & I are trying to talk them in to attending the 2010 SOC Rally.

Keep posting Joyce, we love to see what others are doing with their Sunlines.

Kitty

**JohnB** · 08-31-2009, 08:43 PM

Yup, that Kitty is right on que. And she already met the neighbors...

H’mm another mod’er in the group. Cool

Go Joyce go!

Honda03842 · 09-01-2009, 04:56 AM

We have a similar model, a 1982 Sunline 15.5 SB and absolutely love it. This year we are returning to the Southwest with a return trip to Newfoundland and Labrador next Spring.

Safe travels,

Norm

Honda03842 · 09-01-2009, 04:57 AM

We have a similar model, a 1982 Sunline 15.5 SB and absolutely love it. This year we are returning to the Southwest with a return trip to Newfoundland and Labrador next Spring.

Safe travels,

Norm

MOKID · 09-01-2009, 07:49 PM

Jack

Welcome to the Clubl. This is really a good place to find out about Sunlines. We have a T 1950 and plan on pulling it to Alaska in the future. Was 6 weeks long enough for you and did you have any major troubles. All we have heard are horror stories and advice about not doing it.

Honda03842 · 09-01-2009, 08:05 PM

We went to Alaska and three months was enough but not too much. There was never a moment when we had any fear except for possibly the fear of meeting a grizzly on a trail. We did carry bear spray that we bought at a Walmart's in Alaska.

Three pieces of advice.

1. Stop at Cottonwood campground on Kaulane Lake in the Yukon. If you call ahead they'll bake a loaf of bread for you. Kaulane is 46 miles long and two miles wide, surrounded by mountains.

2. Make reservations at Denali National Park and if you can camp at mile 30. The road in the park is 90 miles long. Mile 30 is as far as they normally let you drive in. Come with a full tank of water, It's dry camping. From there you can take busses thru the park for a nominal fee. The mountain is magnificent, you'll remember it forever. The bears are also a treat, we saw 18. There are no sources of food out there. When you take a bus ride you must take all your food. Not even a stick of gum is sold at the visitor's center at mile 62.

3. Go to the little town of Esker outside Fairbanks for the Northern Lights Show; it alone is worth the drive to Alaska.

Most important buy the Milepost book, available at many Barnes and Nobles. It details every mile of the trip, so complete you just won't believe it.

There is so much to see and do you'll want more time. I could go on and on. It is a wonderful place with much to do. We went alone and felt very safe. People up there are realy into helping.

You do need to recognize that you can't drive like you normally do. It takes longer to cover ground there. Some times the road slopes the wrong way in a curve.

Buy the Milepost before you leave and read it now.

Safe Travels,

Norm

Jack Bauer · 09-02-2009, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOKID

Jack

Welcome to the Clubl. This is really a good place to find out about Sunlines. We have a T 1950 and plan on pulling it to Alaska in the future. Was 6 weeks long enough for you and did you have any major troubles. All we have heard are horror stories and advice about not doing it.

We drove a van and were not pulling a camper with us. We went to Prince Rupert and caught the ferry for part of the trip. We exited at Haines and drove the rest of the way. We stayed in the Kenai for two weeks for some fishing. If you like fishing one of the best excursions is the fly out from Soldotna. They take you over a glacier for an up close and personal with the ice, land on the water where a guide meets you with a boat, we fished for salmon and shared the fishing spot with bears. It was a little pricey but not as bad as if you take three separate trips. (sightseeing, bears, fishing)
Like Norm, I would recommend the Milepost as a must have. I enjoyed the Kenai and Valdez better than the inland places of Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks but that's a personal choice. The roads were actually better than we anticipated but the freezing and thawing takes a toll on the roads. We didn't have any specific problems. We did get new brakes put on as a precaution in Soldotna. Along the road people were saying to stay off the Campbell Highway due to the road conditions. People pulling trailers actually had to turn around an go back it got so bad. We took their advice and stayed off it. Great place to visit but you leave knowing you only had a sampling of what Alaska has to offer. The road from Watson Lake to Muncho Lake had the most variety of animals.

Honda03842 · 09-02-2009, 05:41 AM

I forgot about Watson Lake and the sign post forest. Bring a little sign with you with your name and town you live in. We used a piece of beach drift wood that had our names, town and mileage from home to post. The place is a hoot.

Norm

Jack Bauer · 09-02-2009, 07:00 AM

quote="Honda03842"]We went to Alaska and three months was enough but not too much. There was never a moment when we had any fear except for possibly the fear of meeting a grizzly on a trail. We did carry bear spray that we bought at a Walmart's in Alaska.

1. Stop at Cottonwood campground on Kaulane Lake in the Yukon. If you call ahead they'll bake a loaf of bread for you. Kaulane is 46 miles long and two miles wide, surrounded by mountains.

We were there June-July 2009 and we did stop at the Cottonwood campground. Whether it was the draw of the water or the unusually warm summer, they had massive amounts of mosquitoes. They joke that the mosquito is the state bird of Alaska, but the Yukon had them beat hands down this year, so don't forget the bug spray.

Honda03842 · 09-02-2009, 08:24 AM

That's an interesting comment about Kaulane Lake.

In our travels we've only seen significant mosquitos in two places. One was mile 90 in Denali at Wonder Lake. The other was at a Provincial park in the Northwest Territories. Part of it is due to our off season (non summer) traveling schedule though we obviously were there in the summer, actually a particularly warm year in Alaska.

Thanks for the info,

Norm

Jack Bauer · 09-02-2009, 07:29 PM

I have to agree with the mosquitoes in Wonder Lake and the last stop Kantishna but they were also very plentiful in Glennallen AK. After a night in Glennallen, we stayed in a campground in Palmer called the Grand View and their advertisement said "virtually mosquito free". That sealed the deal for me and they were right.

Not to be missed: Moose is Loose Bakery in Soldotna