Managing editor Kris Valencia makes the trip in a Volkswagen Eurovan, which has a pop-top sleeping platform, a fold-out table and a drawer-size cooler under one of the seats, but no other camping accessories.
"It’s a good compromise for me," she says, "because it allows me to camp fairly comfortably and gets about 23 miles to the gallon."The van’s cooler comes in handy for snacks and drinks, but for meals, she prefers to eat out. "I like to stop in at the highway lodges, or walk around town and find a place to eat."
With a 300-mile range, the van is reliable even on remote highways, where gas stops are farther apart. With lots of stops for photos, traveling at no more than 50 mph, Kris averages anywhere from 150 to 250 miles a day when she drives the Alaska Highway.
Field editor Judy Nadon drove about 6,200 miles for The MILEPOST in 2008, all of it behind the wheel of a comfy 2003 Pontiac Grand Am.
"I put on really good tires and I carry a good spare," reports Judy. "Front-wheel drive seems to be all I need. I tend to drive the thing as if it were a truck, checking out side roads and going where no car really should go, but it's happy. It gets almost 600 klicks (kilometers; that’s about 370 miles) to a tank, so it is very economical as well."
Judy spends her summer either "roughing it" at her cabin outside Whitehorse, or out on the road, enjoying the comfort of her car and motels and hotels with their "mod cons" ([that’s Canadian for modern conveniences).
Long-time MILEPOST field editor Earl Brown lives in Fort Nelson, BC, Historical Mile 300 on the Alaska Highway, so in a sense, Earl drives the Alaska Highway almost every day of the year just by running errands around town. But he doesn’t always use the same vehicle on his travels that he uses on his errands.
"In a quarter-of-a-century of being the 'Milepost Man,’ I've used a variety of vehicles to 'make my rounds,'" reports Earl, "including a truck and camper for several years, both 2- and 4-wheel drive vans, and a 28-foot Class C motorhome."
"When traveling with family and friends, the extra space of the motorhome is a must, at least for my crowd. More fuel is consumed by the bigger rigs, no surprise, but there are other advantages: Your bed is there whenever you pull over and park for the evening!"
Earl has found that traveling by motorhome is valuable in another way. He can experience first-hand how the majority of tourists experience the Alaska Highway, and put that knowledge to good use when it comes to updating The MILEPOST.
