Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway may be the ticket to visiting Alaska in 2009. Gas prices have fallen to acceptable prices, the US Canadian Dollar exchange rate is back to to a favorable pre-recession level and there is an expected low number of Americans traveling the Alaska Highway in their motorhomes this summer.

What should this mean to you, well, if you're one of the ones that decides to drive to Alaska in 2009 you should find plenty of the best campgrounds and many of the top attractions available on a drive up and check in basis this summer. When the RV traffic is high, there is often a need to make reservation if there accepted or to stop early if you hope to find many campsites open. Reservations at many of the Good Sam Club member sites can be made through their website and should be done at least one day in advance. We always carry a laptop as most private campgrounds have wifi available as do many of the public libraries along the way.

Driving the 2,300 miles of the Alaska Highway is always an adventure but don't let the stories of the past scare you from experiencing this fantastic journey. The highway is kept in excellent shape compared to any far northern highway. Yes, there is still the occational whoopty-doo, pot hole and in some areas of construction, a short patch of gravel road but it's a far cry from the old military road it once was. On any stretch of the highway you are likely to see sports cars, RV's, trailers, motorcycles and bicycles all experiencing the same adventure, The Alaska Highway.

2009 Alaska Tourist Season Looking Bleak

What's happening with the summer 2009 tourist season? If the news about the poor Alaska salmon fishing season forecast coupled with the rash of canceled reservations from visitors wasn't enough, now we have the cruise industry pulling some of their cruise ships from the Alaskan market this summer and many other Alaska cruises that would have visited Seward from Holland America are being rerouted through Kodiak, Homer, and Anchorage in 2010. The disturbing side of this comes in the fact that these Seward cruise ship visits either begin or terminate at this port bringing tens of thousands of tourists to Alaska each year that go on to visit other areas of the state. The new routes have round trip schedules returning to Seattle with their passengers and eliminating the massive shore based tourism markets in favor of short dockings of mere hours in these new ports. The changes in the Alaska cruise industry are a direct result of the "challenging" economic climate put forth to the cruise industry by the Alaskan government. Citing an increase to the already high port fees, the new Alaskan cruise tax of $50 per passenger and tax on corporate earnings and gambling revenues as factors for effecting 73 sailings by five cruise lines starting in 2009 and 2010 with the possibility that even deeper cuts could come in 2011, OUCH.

Possibility the hardest part of this dilemma with the cruise industry is the fact it was self inflicted. Yes, a direct result of the the 2007 Alaska Cruise Ship Initiative, Ballot Measure 2, voted on by, yes you got it, Alaskans, the cruise industry can no longer fill all the vessels with the new pricing that reflects the additional taxes.

And now, if this above combined with a very week economy wasn't enough, Mount Redoubt is again rumbling, spitting and spewing it's threats of even more spectacular eruptions in the next few days. Alaskans are preparing for another round of flight delays at the Anchorage Airport as well as our small municipal airports here on the Kenai. We were caught and stranded for days in the turmoil of the last group of canceled flights, rebookings, and more canceled flights while trying to get our son back to college in Seattle in January. He finally arrived three days late, and missing the first two days of his spring semester.

For travelers arriving or departing Alaska on the airlines this summer, this translates into some great uncertainty about itineraries, schedule dates, deposits and just getting back home in time for work. Not a good scenario to plan a relaxing vacation around by anyone's standards. We feel sorry for those calling to cancel their vacations after loosing their jobs. And we also feel for those effected by this corrupted society of business CEO's and government officials looking to profit at the expenses of a country in peril. But our thoughts and prayers also are extended to the small business owners like ourselves that are becoming worried about what the future holds and how we are going to keep the lights burning in the near future.