Yup, we are prepping for a trip to Alaska, making our lists and getting things ready! Just call us preppers. I am not new to this; I used to be a preppie. Pressed khakis? Check. Pink, button down cotton shirt? Check. Penny loafers? Check. Izod sweater? Check. Honey, I think we are ready to go to Alaska!
If you know my bride, you know she has been thinking and planning for this trip to Alaska for a year. I, on the other hand, started thinking about it yesterday. Yesterday afternoon. OK, last night. Fine. Are you happy now?
Nonetheless, I have managed to take a few precautions, mostly related to the truck and trailer for this adventure. Will these preparations be effective? I have no freaking idea. But I’m feeling pretty fly right about now!
My goal is to avoid exactly this! I hate clutter, and I hate having to move three things to get to one.
So in order to avoid this situation I have made some accommodations in the truck and have taken some precautions for rough roads for the trailer.
On the truck:
- Oversized fuel tank (total 76 gallon capacity). The truck holds 26 gallons and with this 50 gallon TransferFlow auxiliary tank we can go a long ways between fueling stops.
- Extra spare tire for the truck. This is in addition to the normal spare tire – just in case.
- Extra spare tire for the trailer. Yup, that’s two spare tires in total for the trailer.
- Mud flaps. These things really do catch stuff from the road that you don’t want reaching your trailer.
- Kayaks, hiking gear, bear spray
- 5 gallon water jug
- Generator (for electricity)
- Gas for the generator
- Shelving to maximize space
- Spare parts bin (for trailer parts)
- Ladder (I hope I don’t need this – I hate ladders)
- Shovel (who the hell knows why)
- Beer cooler (we all know why)
On the trailer:
- Wrapped propane gas lines (to help avoid rock puncture).
- Shrink-wrap on the front of the trailer (to avoid road debris damage). Remember kids, always practice safe Airstreaming, and wear white at night!
- Padding under the trailer to help protect the tanks from rock damage
- Blackout curtains in the bedroom (nearly 24 hour sunlight). This was Karen’s idea and I think it will work great.
We have one more special stop next week before we head north and west towards Alaska. For the time being, we continue our prepping!
Brad – fun & informative post. I’d love to hear more about the shrink wrap. Did you really have that done? How far will that remain? Never occurred to me to have that done even though I know you’ll be traveing some rough roads.