Map of our Travels We left in the Fall and headed south to Louisiana, taking the Blue Ridge Pkw and the Natches Traces Pkw down, then west along the Mexican border to spend a few Winter months in the southwest deserts of Arizona and California. In early spring, we started our trek north to Alaska, first visiting Death Valley then east to Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, then north to Alaska splitting BC via the Alaskan highway on the way up, and the Kasiar Hwy on the way back. We did a "lazy 8" in AK and Yukon crossing over in Tok, AK and finally headed east cross Canada back home.

Truck and Trailer

The battle between a trailer and a fifth wheel is forever and there is no right or wrong.
For us, the considerations were simple...
1) to bring a canoe along made the decision easy, as the best combination that would allow us to carry the extra camping gear was a pickup with a lockable toper and the canoe over it. This forced us to choose a travel trailer. It also made life easy, as the rear of the truck offered vast storage for items we could not stuff into the trailer, especially the camping gear. On the road though, we found most travelers were using fifth wheel trailers in the 28-30 ft range and, that combination is good if you are traveling relatively light....
2) we knew that when we stopped traveling we were going to relocate in Northern Ontario and we would be needing a trailer for the bush. A high fifth wheel is useless due to trees.

Most travelers we met down south, had larger RVs. Most in AK had smaller ones. We feel that, generally, using a smaller trailer paid off. We ended up being able to go places and down roads that a larger unit might shy away from. The other consideration was fuel cost and because we got good fuel mileage, it made going "the extra mile" an easy decision. Many travellers we met restrained their traveling to major points only, skipping the "out of the way" points. It's those out-of-the-way places that make traveling such a rewarding adventure. Many travelers also frowned camping some National Parks as there are quite a few with size restrictions and some are quite "tight" maneuvering around in.

As far as the truck goes, it's either diesel or not, but either way it should be a 3/4 ton - 2500 series / model. The 3/4 ton trucks are much safer due to beefed up suspensions. You'll most probably need a 3/4 ton, if you're going for a 5th wheel.  In so far as diesel or gas, that boils down to simple mathematics and over the years you intend on traveling. If your calculations are close or even slightly in favour of gas... I'd still go diesel. The pulling power of a diesel will make life easier.

After discussions with people in the know about diesels, I decided to buy a slightly used Dodge diesel truck. It was rumored that the Cummins engine was bullet-proof, and after many years and over 500,000 kms on it, I have to say there's some truth to it. Make sure you can verify the owners service records before buying any used diesel.

I also joined an Internet Dodge Diesel Truck group called the TDR - Turbo Diesel Register. A great place where thousands of Dodge owners discuss and help other Dodge owners. I'm sure GM and Ford have their clubs too. From this experience I did a few modifications to the truck and engine.

I had my Cummins fuel pump "plated" with a performance modification, and then had the automatic tranny "bullet proofed" by tranny specialists Goerend Transmission Inc, out of Ohio.

Other good places for RV travel information on the Net are Google group, "rec.outdoors.rv-travel", and the RV.net WEB site, both have many seasoned travelers. Good things to know and discuss are items such as gross weights and towing capacities. I decided that it was prudent to stay within the limits of the truck's towing capacities and very happy I did. It's not only a safe thing to do, it's easier on the equipment and yourself, especially in the mountains.

Electrical Considerations

Over the year plus we took to plan and prepare, we had decided to experience the desert the same way as others we read about did. This meant we had to prepare for what's called "Boondocking" or "dry-camping" or camping in the boonies!  The other way is what I call, traveling from "plug to plug"... ie: needing electricity all the time.

In order to boondock comfortably, there are preparations required either before you leave, or when you get down south. I opted to be ready before leaving. Among the many items needed, the major ones are having a generator for times when the solar panels would not supply the power required and batteries, installed properly, with a good charge controller. Then there's the electronics such as a 12v radio, CD player, DVD player, the TV for all those Y&R episodes, and of course a satellite dish! All keeping in mind you're going to be running all this stuff off a 12volt solar system!

So here's how we did it.
First off, you have to consider whether or not you're going to use the microwave while boondocking. If so, you need a 2,000 watt generator, and if you're going to use the air (which is not required), then you'll need at least 3,000 watts of generator. We decided to keep things small and quiet, and we found out that "quiet" was "the golden rule", because boondockers are mostly, very considerate of their neighbours. We used a Honda 1000 watt inverter generator and it ran quietly, and flawlessly throughout.
Then you have to decide on how much solar panel power you need. We decided to use a 12v TV. If you're going with a 24", 120v TV running on 120 volts inverter, then you will need a larger system. I installed 150 watts of solar panels along with 2 x 6volt go-cart batteries. For the larger size, I would recommend a + - 240 watt solar system with 4 x 6 volt batteries. Both systems are 12 volts. Friends from Montreal had the larger system and they never ran out of power boondocking with their big TV! I bought a BlueSky MPP charge controller and after 5 years it still works flawlessly. Here's a link to a great 2-part primer on 12v systems and inverters.
Lastly, we brought along a Star Choice (now Shaw) satellite dish and the DSR209 receiver, which runs off a brick which converts to 12v DC... Just snip the wire and connect it directly to your 12v system and you have satellite TV with Canadian content. With this setup, we were good for up to 3-4 hours of TV daily, from fully charged batteries.
 
Setting up the satellite dish took a while to get used to. At first it would take me about a half hour to align it, and within a month, I could do it in about 5 minutes or less. I see Star Choice now sells a SatFinder which should make aligning that much easier. In Alaska, the satellite is too low over the horizon for reception.

Trailer Hitch
Finally, after learning about trailer hitches, I opted for a "PullRight" hitch. These are very different for travel trailers, and what they do is make pulling a travel trailer as easily and as safely as a fifth-wheel trailer. They cost, but at the end of the day, I can say it paid itself. Once especially, when I had to slam the brakes for an emergency stop, all wheels locked in 4 lanes of "same way traffic" at 65mph! I stopped like a car and remained in the same lane! That incident, plus the fact that I never had to look back to see where the trailer was the whole trip, since it never swayed even when falling on the shoulders, made this trailer worth every penny..

Planning the Trip
Essentials we found were a laptop computer, GPS, software like WebCopier (you can save whole WEB sites to your laptop, burn them to DVD and search out parks and campgrounds while travelling the road) and a mapping software like Street & Trips. You can download from the Internet databases for things like all the Wall Marts, Flying-Js, campground clubs, etc. Plug these into Streets and Trips and you can locate these places while on the road. Having a GPS connected to your laptop with Streets & Trips will get you through any Town or City as if you lived there. The big screen is so much better than a dedicated trip GPS.

We spent time on the Internet, researching where to go. For example, at the last minute we found out about the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Natches Trace Parkway, two great American highways for travelers with time. They are a most enjoyable and informative way to travel through those parts of the US. A word of caution... the Blue Ridge Parkway is mountainous with many steep and windings curves and requires that your setup be in top notch running condition.

After reading other travelers' posts, we decided to simply plan a general outline of where we wanted to go. As it turns out, we never scheduled beyond the day ahead, and this ended being the best way for us to go. We only scheduled once when we booked a park in Tucson for the Xmas holidays, fearing they would be filled. We hated meeting that deadline as it caused us to travel past some sites, and we never made another schedule. The freedom of going where and when you want really makes life easier. Throughout the whole year, we never got refused because of a full CG!

Our general plan was to head south to Louisiana via the two Parkways, visit with friends, move west through TX along the Mexican border and Winter somewhere in AZ, then head north in early Spring for Alaska, and back home across Canada in late summer. Everything in between these points was planned as we traveled. For example; we had planned to see the Grand Canyon on the way down, but were soon made to realize that it would be too cold due to elevations. Elevation in the south means everything in the Winter.

So we moved the canyon to the Springtime on our way up to Alaska. That worked out very well as it created for us another great leg of our trip which started with Death Valley then east through Vegas, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Route 66, Grand Canyon, Navajo Nation, Canyon de Chelly, the Hopi mesa and unforgettable Monument Valley... all in one straight line east!. This is a travel corridor no-one should miss.

Finally, I highly recommend you buy a Federal Parks Pass. What a deal and what beauty you will see. The cost to enter the Grand Canyon alone nearly pays for the pass. And I have to say, one of the greatest things the USA will realized it did really well, was to create their National Parks and National Monuments system. If you were only to travel from major park to major park and see the others in between... I guarantee you, it will be a trip to remember.

What would I do different?
 I wore a rear tire off the trailer to the cord by the time we reached Whitehorse. Got a flat in AK with a small rounded stone pushed through the lack of threads! Make sure you have good tires. Mine were new but, you must also rotate your rubber every 10k miles - 15k kms. The rear trailer tires were worn, and the front ones were still OK.

I would also re-consider some camping equipment such as fishing rods and tackle, outboard motor, etc.! It created a lot of extra baggage for the few fishing days we had.... but the canoe itself did gave us many memorable moments.

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