How Much Gas to Alaska? Our Gas Log

Here's our gas log for our first Alaskan road trip:  Ann Arbor, MI to Alaska and back.  [Click on images to enlarge.]

For long road trips, the gas log is a helpful resource to keep track of your miles, money spent, cost of gas, and prepare for the future or the returning route of your journey.  It helps you plan, especially if you might need to make additional money on the road.

Here are some estimated stats from our gas log:

$1555.19 total spent on gas 

$626.77 spent on gas from Ann Arbor, MI to Alaska border

+13,000 miles traveled over 3 months

30 mi/gal average in 2006 Chevy Aveo FULLY loaded with gear and 2 people

$5.36 / gal - Dawson City, Yukon - Most expensive gas.  Gas is more expensive in Canada and as you travel further north

0 flat tires.  The majority of roads are pretty good!

If you're thinking of an Alaskan road trip, we hope this helps!

Do it!

Hanging Drywall with Volcanoes. Lost and Found Camera Gear

If you missed these, here's 2 stories with photos from our Alaskan trip on Marty's blog:

Change in Competence: From a Second Story Ladder in Alaska

Change in Karma: Camera Gear, Lost and Found

Coming up soon is a video from our rafting trip on the Green River in Desolation Canyon, UT.  We'll show you how awesome it is to poop on a river (not pooping in the river, but on the "groover").

Bears + How to Sleep Comfortably in a Loaded Chevy Aveo

Marty packing up shortly after a bear cub pawed our tent.

It's morning and Kelly and I are laying in our tent.  We're camped just off the highway south of Anchorage, AK.  We're thinking about starting the day when Kelly hears a light rustle in the grass.  I don't hear it... but all of a sudden we see our tent wall caving in with the indentation of a paw print!  I jump up and immediately yell, "Hey!  Hey!" as I pull a knife out from the top of our tent.  There's a quick instant where I think I may have to wrestle a bear off our tent with a tiny knife...  Our tent pops back into shape and Kelly looks out the window of our rain fly and sees a black figure running off in the grass.

We stay still.  We listen.

We hear a few nearby campers who were sleeping in their trucks get out and yell, "Hey!  Is anyone in the tent?"  "Yes..."  "Well a black bear mother and 3 cubs were just surrounding your car and tent..."  We get out of our tent.  "Ya, we kinda figured that..."  The guy looks at us like we're crazy, "And your okay with that?"  Well no, we're not totally okay with this... but what else are we suppose to do?  Run back after them and say, "Hey bears!  That wasn't cool, alright?  You could have ripped our new tent!"  We certainly didn't invite them over for morning tea and they already scurried off... so the only thing left to do was pack up and move on.

I think the problem was that we pitched our tent too close to the grass where there was a nearby trail.  The black bears were just passing through, our tent was kinda in the way, and the bear cub was a little curious.  Black bears are usually pretty timid- at least from our experiences.  When I did yell, the bear cub and friends scurried off quickly minding their own business.

So after almost receiving a cozy bear hug that morning... we were both a bit timid the next few nights.  Kelly later invented a great and comfortable way to sleep in our over-packed Chevy Aveo- check the video below.  We eventually started sleeping in our tent again, but this was also a great way to sleep in crowded areas such as suburbs or cities where pitching a tent may not be feasible.

Here's the video:

Car, Gear + Tips for Traveling on the Road

This video is about our car (the Chevy Aveo) and all the stuff we could fit in it while still sleeping inside. [Sleeping comfortably in an Aveo? Seriously? Yes. Video coming soon!] We mostly car camped for 3 months while traveling 10,000 miles to Alaska and back. It worked out quite well. Our over-packed tiny car should dispel the myth that the roads to Alaska are really bad - it was true back in the 60s but not anymore. You can make it! You should still look out for potholes though...

So check out the video below for tips on gear, cooking, living in a car, etc.

Any feedback or questions? Leave us a comment. Thanks!

(P.S.  Sorry the video turnaround is a bit slow... We meant to post this in October...)

How to Make Cool Postcards from Your Travels

Kelly making post card collage at Sitka, AK library.

Marty looking for material.

While traveling 10,000 miles over 3 months with our most recent Alaskan adventure, we (mostly Kelly, ha!) managed to collect several tourist magazines, maps, brochures, etc... while stopping at several visitor centers.  It's a good way to familiarize yourself a bit when you arrive in a new place.  But, it's a bit problematic when you have a BIG bag of magazines that are no longer very useful when you are living out of a tiny car.

Instead of recycling all of the materials, Kelly had the great idea to collage the materials to make postcards.  Although it takes a while, the end result is much more interesting then a typical postcard with a cheesy font.  It's also a fun way to re-contextualize the popular reoccurring icons that define a place while reflecting on your experience.

All you need is:

-A bunch of travel brochures

-Thick white paper or post card stock

-Scissors

-Mod Podge glue (and small foam brush to apply)

First, we cut out the magazines and sorted elements by background, text, people, animals, etc...

For white paper stock, we had a book of water color paper that we used to cut several postcards from.  We went to a library to borrow their paper cutter and set up a work station.  You can use several different papers as long as it's thick enough and you can write and address it.    Make sure you cut your postcards to the right size by USPS standards.  That way you save on the reduced postcard stamps.  If you're mailing a lot like us, it adds up.  Or, if you don't have any paper already to use/reuse, you can try to find blank post card stock to make it easy.

Next: collage!  Your imagination's the limit!  A few ideas: We really enjoyed sending people "bear tips" which were found in several of the travel mags.  Another approach is to cut out a map and write notes about your route and the places you visit.  This gives a better visual description of your adventure and is much more personal.

When you've created your collage idea, glue it down with Mod Podge.  Your average glue stick won't cut it.  We tried a few post cards and the pieces fell off.  You can pick Mod Podge up from a craft store.  Get a small foam brush for applying the glue.  Glue the backs of your pieces first with a nice coat.  Once it dries, apply a coat over the entire top of the postcard to give it a nice seal.  Mod Podge also gives the post card a nice texture.

Although it's fast drying, the longer you can wait, the better... then write, address, stamp, send, boom!

We mailed nearly 65+ post cards for our Kickstarter backers.  It took Kelly and I 4-5 full days to do everything.  We had a lot of fun with our work and would like to share below!  Some are fun, some ridiculous, and some may not make any sense!

Enjoy!