THE TOURS WERE EXCEPTIONAL. THE FIRST TOUR SAW PLENTY OF BEARS AND, OF COURSE, NUMEROUS CUBS.  ALSO, ONE LYNX WAS SEEN, NOT TO EXCLUDE ALL THE OTHERS: MOOSE, CARIBOU, ELK TO NAME A FEW. THE MARINE MAMMALS WERE ALL REPRESENTED TOO. THE WEATHER STARTED OFF WARM, AND SPRING CAME IN FAST. THE FLOWERS WERE IN BLOOM WITHIN DAYS. ALL THE TOURS AND ATTRACTIONS WERE UP AND RUNNING, EVEN THE YUKON SPRING BREAKUP CAME BEFORE WE ARRIVED. THE LUXURY OF USING THE GEORGE BLACK FERRY WAS APPRECIATED. EVEN MT. McKINLEY SHOWED ITS FACE ONE AFTERNOON. THE KING SALMON DERBY WAS GOING ON IN ANCHORAGE AND SOMEONE IN OUR GROUP CAUGHT A 40 LB. HALIBUT. MANY PHOTOS AND SHARED FILETS FOR ALL.      THE SECOND TOUR FOUND US CELEBRATING THE 4TH OF JULY IN SKAGWAY DURING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE KLONDYKE GOLD RUSH. THE WEATHER WAS WARM (WHEN NOT EXPLORING GLACIERS AND SUCH). WE SAW ALL THE SAME ANIMALS AS BEFORE WITH THEIR YOUNG A LITTLE OLDER THIS TIME. DENELI WAS WET AS THE ALASKA RANGE WAS HOLDING SOME WATER THIS YEAR, AND OLD McKINLEY WAS HIDING. BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED ON THE KENAI PENINSULA ALL WAS BRIGHT AND SHINING AGAIN. EVERYONE CAUGHT THEIR LIMIT ON HALIBUT DAY, AND SALMON BBQ'S WERE GOING ON EVERY NIGHT.      THE THIRD TOUR STARTED WARMISH. THE BABY ANIMALS WERE ADOLESCENTS. THE SALMON WERE RUNNING UP EVERY CREEK AND STREAM YOU LOOKED. OF COURSE, THE BEARS WERE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT, BIG AND FAT. THE FIREWEED AND ALL THE ARCTIC FLOWERS WERE IN FULL BLOOM, CARPETING THE WHOLE COUNTRYSIDE. WE FOUND GOLD WHILE PANNING ON BONANZA CREEK IN DAWSON. FAIRBANKS TOURS WERE GREAT, AND WE ALL WENT TO THE ALASKA FAIR IN PALMER. JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WENT ON ALL TOURS AND HAD A GREAT TIME. NO ACCIDENTS, TWO FLAT TIRES (WE REPAIRED THEM ON THE ROAD WITH OUR HANDY TIRE REPAIR KIT.) MT. McKINLEY WAS SHOWING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM WITH A FULL MOON IN THE BACKGROUND (A REAL KODAK MOMENT).  NEAR THE END OF THE TRIP WE COULD TELL FALL WAS IN THE AIR. THE SHORT AND FAST SUMMER HAD COME TO AN END. AS WE DROVE BACK DOWN THE ALCAN, EVERY TREE AND BUSH HAD TURNED TO GOLD. IT WOULD BE A SAD OCCASION NORMALLY, BUT WE KNOW WE ARE GOING BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR. I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT SUMMER AND ALL THE NEW FRIENDS AND ADVENTURES IT WILL BRING.  WE KEEP OUR CARAVANS DOWN TO 16 RIGS SO WE CAN SEE AND DO MORE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS LIMITED SPACE. I HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE TOUR, SO MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW. (GOOD SAM, FMCA AND AARP, WHEN SIGNING UP, DON'T FORGET TO ASK FOR YOUR FREE VEST.)

 SPIKE & LINDY,  WAGONMASTERS 

Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA)

Article on the rising gas costs and RV Travel:

Study: Motorhome trips cost less

Aug. 2, 2005

Motorhome owners enjoy the advantages of traveling in a vehicle equipped with all the comforts of home ...

Avoiding airport lines and luggage restrictions. Having the flexibility to go where they want, when they want. Not having to pack and unpack their belongings in hotels or meet hotel check-in and check-out times.

Now, they can also bask in the glow of reports that RV travel costs less than other modes of travel such as car, train and plane.

Despite this summer’s record-high gas prices, RV trips remain the least expensive type of vacation, according to the results of a new study comparing vacation costs.

PKF Consulting, an internationally recognized consulting firm with expertise in travel and tourism, concluded that “typical RV family vacations are on average 26 to 74 percent less expensive than other types of vacations studied.”

For example, the study showed that a family of four traveling by type C motorhome from Washington, D.C., to Dennis Port, Mass., for 10 days would save $974, or 34 percent, over going by car.

PKF analyzed major costs that would be incurred by families taking nine different types of vacations to popular travel destinations such as the Grand Canyon; Orlando, Fla.; Cape Cod; Napa, Calif.; and Alaska.

PKF selected three types of RVs typically used by families for vacation purposes, including the type C motorhome.

“In all cases, RV trips were more economical than other vacations analyzed, regardless of trip duration, distance or region of the country,” said Kannan Sankaran, PKF’s lead researched for the study. “Even if fuel prices were to rise by up to 50 percent, our data show that each RV vacation would still be significantly less expensive.”

Vacations using a personal car, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants — the least expensive of the non-travel options — were found to be 36 percent more costly on average than going by RV.

The study showed, for example, that a family of four traveling by type C motorhome from Washington, D.C., to Dennis Port, Mass., for 10 days would save $974, or 34 percent, over going by car.

On a trip from Atlanta to Orlando for the week, a family of four would save $1,658, or 53 percent, by traveling in their motorhome and staying in campgrounds averaging $27 per night, instead of flying, renting a car, or staying in hotels averaging $125 per night and eating in restaurants.

Shorter getaways also were found to be more economical by RV. A family taking a three-day motorhome trip from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Lancaster, Pa., would save $1,049 – or 62 percent.

“While fuel costs are a component of the overall vacation costs,” Kannan said, “fluctuations in fuel prices aren’t significant enough to affect a family’s decision of whether or not to take RV trips over other types of vacations.”

In addition to major expenditures required from the start to finish of each vacation, PKF factored in an estimated cost of ownership of the RVs analyzed. Research included documenting average ownership periods, residual values, annual days of use, insurance and applicable IRS interest deductions for second-home mortgages.

Visit the FMCA Magazine article:

http://www.fmca.com/motorhometravel/features/2005/costsless_0805.asp

 

 

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