August Alaska expenses, Instagram posts and current status

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After six weeks working in Skagway, Alaska, we will be hitching up and pulling out tomorrow, September 22!! We were originally scheduled to work until 9/22, but the cruise ships scheduled to arrive in port both today and tomorrow, have cancelled due to storms. And speaking of storms, we did have several people ask if we were in the path of the large storm that just struck Alaska. Just to give you an idea of the size of Alaska, the storm hit over 1,000 miles North of where we are. But it is affecting the ships out at sea.

We spent today packing up and getting ready to depart. Tomorrow we will be crossing back into Canada, and heading down to the lower 48. Our final destination will be Yuma, Arizona, 3000 miles from Skagway. We need to arrive by October 13, for a work campers meeting at Westwind Golf and RV Resort. We will be back working at the Golf Pro Shop two days a week at the resort.

We have enjoyed our time working for Corrington Enterprises at the Skagway Outlet Store, and it was nice having money go in to the bank account, instead of coming out. Our friends Tom and Ellen, along with Rodney and Susan will also be leaving tomorrow, and we will be traveling together for about 5 days. Rodney and Susan are going to work at the Beet Harvest, as they enjoyed doing that last year. Tom and Ellen will also be heading to Yuma, and we will be traveling with them on and off. We have an oil changed scheduled in Conrad, Montana for the motorhome, and they have some other appointments scheduled as well, but will eventually meet back up in Utah at some point.

Originally we planned on taking the Cassier Highway down through British Columbia, but have changed plans and will be taking the Alaska Highway back through Canada. It will be the same way we came up. A few weeks ago, there was an accident involving a tanker truck that caught on fire and heavily damaged a bridge on the Alaska Highway. The bridge is back open, but tractor-trailers are still not allowed to cross over the bridge. That means the Cassier Highway will be the main route for the semi’s coming up north. We decided to avoid that road as a result.

Even though we have been busy working six days a week (gotta love the overtime!), we did manage a few fun nights out with Tom and Ellen at the local Eagles Club, where Tom is a member. Skagway has the oldest Eagles Club in Alaska, and is club number 25 in the United States. I believe this branch was founded in 1898.

Tom, Jonell and Ellen

Many people think Skagway is owned by the cruise ship companies, but only two stores in town are owned by the cruise ships. The majority of the town is owned by the National Park Service, as it is home to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The park service has been working to restore many historical buildings and has a very informative movie on the origins of Skagway and the Klondike Gold Rush.

And with it being a national park, there is also a Junior Ranger program, so I spent some time completing the program, and getting my Junior Ranger Badge!

As I have mentioned before, I am woefully behind in my Alaska blogs. Once we cross back into Canada tomorrow, we will be back on 0.5 GB, courtesy of our Verizon plan, so I won’t be doing any further blogs until we cross back into the United States at the end of the month. But I will try and do some Instagram updates.

AUGUST GAS EXPENSES

We travelled 811 miles in August in the motorhome, spending $698.14 on gasoline. Gas dropped over $1.00/gallon since July, which was helpful on the fuel budget. And we have sat still for six weeks, which also helps out.

AUGUST CAMPGROUND EXPENSES

For the 30 days in August, we had 10 nights of paid camping, at a cost of $491.56 ($49.16 night) and 20 nights of free camping as part of our work camping compensation. Overall, this works out to a cost of $16.39/per night.

AUGUST ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSES

We spent a total of $235.90 on museums in Fairbanks and a bus tour in Denali National Park for the month of August.

AUGUST INSTAGRAM POSTS

For those not on Instagram, these are the posts that I made in August.

Quote for the day: “Work, save, travel, repeat!” – Anonymous

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