Thinking about driving to Alaska next year if I am feeling up to it. I know I could do it in my Jeep but I would really rather do it in my Model Y with FSD just because it is way more comfortable and relaxing. We just did a 6,000+ mile trip in the Y across the US and Canada a couple of months ago. Although I have seen videos from other people that have done it, there is a stretch where I wouldn't have the luxury of superchargers and would have to charge via CCS or mobile charger. I am even thinking about trading the Jeep for a Cybertruck to make the trip in and although that would be slightly more capable (bad road condition, light off-road) than a Model Y I would still have some charging risk. I could at least carry a generator in the bed for a backup.
Another possibility is to drive up to Seattle area and hop on a cruise ship. I've never actually been on a cruise before and I do really like to travel the country by car, especially over flying so this would be a secondary option. I did check off the last few states that I hadn't been to in the lower 48 a couple of months ago so Alaska and Hawaii are the only two I have left. I've been all over Canada and Mexico the last few years as well. I covered a lot of Europe when I was stationed over there but don't have a huge desire to go back. Also spent a little time in Saudi Arabia back in the early 90s. But I think Alaska is the next thing I want to check off the list. Maybe I'll suck it up and fly to Hawaii the following year if I am still kicking.
Anyway, just looking for advice/suggestions.
I have a friend who drove up there. He tells quite a story about stopping at a bar out in the middle of nowhere. He and his buddy went in for a beer and mentioned that they noticed that they were burning back some brush outside the bar. The Bartender (owner) said WHAT? and ran to the back door and saw the fire. He came running back in and said that was a wildfire and please help! The few people that were in there grabbed some shovels and buckets and built a fire break that saved the guy's place. They got free beer and food for as long as they wanted to stay and for whenever they might come back. The bar was only open in summer and the owners lived in Tahiti the rest of the year. if you find it, tell him Bobby Henrich sent you. Might score you a beer and a sandwich.
Wow, great story! You don't know the name of it or where it is do you?
I will call him today and find out. He's an x major leaguer. Played for Cinci back in the late 50's.
Pete Rose?!?! Just kidding, that's a little early for Pete.
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Cruising the Inland Passage sounds like the ticket.
It's in a town called Chicken in Alaska. He was on his way to the Arctic Circle. This is probably the place. He said it was 25 years ago. His good buddy that he went with just died.
Click the link and goto Destinations, then Fairbanks and scroll down. You will find Chicken.
https://alaskaitinerary.com/
I did think about that as an option. Have you ever made any part of the trip via ferry? It looks to me like it is possible to ride a ferry from Washington to Alaska for a few k but I'll need to do a lot more research. Maybe Bellingham to Whittier. It looks like it would be a fairly long trip (several days).
It looks like it is just over the border on one of the routes I was thinking about taking (southern route (1) one way, northern (5/9) the other way). I will definitely stop in if we drive by there, especially if they would let me plug in.
Never got to cruise it on civilian ships.
I’d imagine an actual Alaskan Inland Cruise would be pretty affordable…? From Seattle to Sitka/Juneau/Skagway would be pretty damn nice.
If I were gonna drive it? I’d take my Ford Hybrid F150 with it’s 650 mile range and ability to power a nice trailer (7,200 watts of power/70 amps in the bed). You can ferry a few “short cuts” if you’re feeling the urge.
That's not a bad idea either. I have owned a couple of 150s and they definitely drive better than my Jeep, but man I'm hooked on the FSD. I just do not want to drive manually any more. Long trips are way more relaxing and pleasurable. I'd buy another F150 right now if it had FSD.
We’re planning the same thing ! So Cal to Alaska in the camper, meet the kids / grandkids (flying up) in Alaska for a cruise, then back home. That’s the “plan” as of right now. Me and my wife in our Lance towing a trailer with our dual sports, and our in-laws driving an A class towing a Jeep. Haven’t worked out any routes or exact dates yet but I’ll follow this thread for sure. Be fun to cross paths at some point if it works out.
Yeah, that would definitely be cool!
We’re thinking about 60 days door to door and roughly 7,500-8,000 miles. We’ll be taking this with dual sports and emtbs in the trailer. In-laws are into off roading so we’ll be doing some excursions along the way. We can ride or back seat it in the Jeep These are from last years Washougal trip. I’ll post any “Cool things to check out” we get on the list.


Ford Blue Cruise…
https://www.ford.com/technology/bluecruise/?searchid=579918132%7C1295225832926656%7C80951866182428&searchid=579918132%7C1295225832926656%7Ckwd-80951866182428:loc-190&fcid=pse_579918132_bing&s_kwcid=AL!2519!10!80951669385776!!!!80951866182428!!579918132!1295225832926656&ef_id=17654225bc8b1450ac222a873cf5b26e:G:s&gclid=17654225bc8b1450ac222a873cf5b26e&gclsrc=3p.ds
I have a friend who drove a Suzuki Samurai to Alaska to watch the Iditarod (sp?) dog sled race. I asked him how that was, “Slow” 😆
All due respect Manny fuck that 😆😆 I don’t have that much faith in technology plus I’m not good passenger already. I’ll drive the mountain roads myself thank you very much lol.
Void likes the auto-pilot and has had good experiences with it. Tho, I don’t know how much it helps north of Vancouver.
I'm sure it would be helpful on the highways. I like FSD because when I get in the car I just punch in a destination and push the start button and it drives me there without touching anything, at least not until I get into the parking lot of my destination and I want to pick a specific parking spot. It pulls right out of my driveway and I don't have to touch anything and it works everywhere, on highways, city streets, country backroads with stripes or no stripes. It's pretty cool. I see Blue Cruise has a map of highways where it works. Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think it would drive me all the way to Alaska like FSD would?
Pit Row
Yeah….. just figured that out and went to delete that post. Sorry Void, when I get my foot out of my mouth I’ll buy you a beer 🥴
Actually I do not like Autopilot but I love FSD. It is WAY better than Autopilot. It just drove us across the US to the East coast to DC, up the coast through downtown Manhattan, up through Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine to the Eastern part of Canada, from Halifax, up into PEI, across to Niagra, and popped out in Michigan where we went up and around the north end of Lake Michigan and back down through Wisconsin. We did over 6,000 miles, all on FSD. Worked perfectly. Even saved us from an Accident in Toronto from someone who cut in front of us and immediately locked them up.
I was just up in Vancouver last year, drove up 99 and around BC through Kamloops and Revelstoke over to Banff in the Jeep (didn't have the Tesla yet or would definitely have used it). FSD would have no problem whatsoever with that and I know it would take me all the way to Alaska. It's pretty amazing. It is definitely a much better driver than me. My wife definitely prefers me using FSD than driving manually and after getting used to it I have 0 desire to drive manually any more.
Nice! I just got back from a 6,000 miler. Did a 5,000 and a 6,000 miler last year. I think I'm ready for the Alaska drive.
I call FSD “Autopilot” 🤣
Well, they are actually two different things. Autopilot comes standard. You have to pay extra for FSD (I paid $8k extra up front but you can subscribe monthly if you want) and it's a completely different software stack. Before they allowed FSD in Mexico my car switched over to Autopilot when we crossed the border and it sucked. They now allow FSD in the US, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and China. Europe should be allowing it soon.
Actually I can see the advantages of reducing static from the passenger seat lol.
Ha ha, and believe me, I sleep better in the passenger seat when she's using FSD.
We bought the car in November and already have over 25,000 miles on it. I would be surprised if we've driven more than 10 miles manually out of all of those miles.
Been YouTubing the Alaskan highway. There’s tons of cool stuff. Sounds like you’ll be hoteling it but there’s some cool free places to camp and lots of neat looking campgrounds. We usually hotel it when we want a luxury night lol
Two of my cousins took a couple old BMW motorcycles from Illinois to Prudhoe Bay and back a few years ago. They've also done Atlantic to pacific on same bikes and been most everywhere in US on them. They are single with no kids and are self employed so it's really not fair..... one of them sometimes rides a 1200GS nearly identical to the one my dad was killed on to honor him so that's pretty cool.
Damn, vacation of a lifetime right there. Nice.
We haven't done it (yet), but friends have done Alaskan cruises that start in Vancouver. And have highly recommended it. I gotta think an EV trip up to there would be on the highly adventurous side, thinking chargers would be few and far between once you get north of say central BC/Alberta. But always a chance I could be wrong. The Territories are the only part of the country I haven't been to yet.
Just got back from an Alaskan Cruise. You get to see the coast, but that is about it. I want to go back to see the interior of Alaska.
Void, you're living the dream!
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