While the idea of traveling to the Yukon and Alaska by RV has been at the back of our minds for some time, we made a decision in 2005 not to buy an RV, obviously putting an end to such a trip. How things change with time. After much thought and deliberation, we bought our first RV, a 30-foot long travel trailer, in 2006, and immediately resurrected the idea again. Our plans were to take a fairly long shakedown trip to Glacier National Park in the summer of 2007, followed by travel to Alaska in the summer of 2008 with close friends who bought a travel trailer at the same time.

We did travel to Glacier National Park in 2007 via Buffalo, Wyoming. After 4 weeks and 4,000 miles, we were ready for Alaska. As fate would have it, the husband of the couple who were to accompany us to Alaska became ill, and doctors strongly advised him not to travel to Alaska by RV.

In the fall of 2007, we traded the travel trailer for a new 29-foot motor home with specific plans to drive it to Alaska solo. We continued to seriously plan, developing several itineraries, routes, and spreadsheets with pertinent data for the trip to be made in the summer of 2008. We purchased a slightly used 2007 Saturn Ion, with tow plate and lights already installed, to serve as our tow-behind vehicle (a.k.a. toad, short for towed vehicle). Once again fate intervened. Gasoline prices soared, and Dad fell early in the summer, breaking his leg. We postponed the trip, staying behind to assist with his care; regrettably, he passed away a few months later.

We got really serious about the trip in the ensuing months, planning a July 2009 start. A route was chosen, a detailed itinerary was developed, and information regarding RV parks and activities were meticulously identified on a spreadsheet; we were ready to go. While posting on an RV forum in March, we received a response inviting us to join a Gulf Stream sponsored caravan. Our response was basically that we had no plans to participate in a caravan because first, we had never heard of the Gulf Stream brand of RVs, and second, we had read unflattering stories regarding caravans. After a couple of personal emails, we decided to at least look at their itinerary and cost, and were surprised to find the itinerary practically matched ours, in terms of dates, locations, and activities. We communicated with Gulf Stream, and found their company representative to be both friendly and helpful, and the price was reasonable. After serious deliberations and prayer, we felt God was providing us direction to join the caravan; we paid the deposit, thereby making a substantial financial commitment. This jumps us from the planning phase to the trip preparation phase which we will begin in earnest tomorrow.