Alaska

Alaska 2012

The middle of June 2012 my wife and I, towing a 1999 Tow Lite 21T with our 2005 Toyota Tundra, left our home in Southern California for a six week trip of 9719 miles up through Oregon and Washington and into British Columbia. Going north to Beaver Creek, we crossed into Alaska and went south to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, via Tetlin. From the south we drove to Denali National Park and then on to Fairbanks. While in Fairbanks I did buy new tires for the trailer, which I had planned on doing based on all the information I had read on road conditions. Leaving Fairbanks we drove the Alaskan Highway back to Dawson Creek and crossed into Alberta, going to Jasper National Park and then down to Calgary and over to Drumheller for there huge dinosaur museum. From Drumheller we drove back down into Yellowstone and found our way back to smoggy Southern California. The Alcan Highway was everything we expected with so much dust at times visibility was reduced to several hundred feet. Heaves in the highway were usually marked with a small red flag on the side of road, but if you’re driving too fast you will be on top of them before you have time to slow down. Overall the trip was great and we hope to do it again.
This past year (2013) we drove to South Dakota, and when leaving Lewis and Clark State Campground in Yankton, we drove to the dump station and when we arrived, our Tow Lite, due to human error, was in flames and was totaled. Thanks to the quick response of other campers and park personnel, the only injury was our pride.
January of this year my son and I drove to Oregon and picked up a 2005 Tow Lite 27T from the good folks at Johnson RV in Sandy, Oregon.

Garry, if I may be bold as to ask "What caused the fire?" And also, how did you keep it from spreading to your TV?

A burner on the stove was on so low it did not get turned off, and to compound the matter, yours truly forgot to turn off the propane tanks. The fire was confined to the cabinets above the stove and some surrounding area, including the ceiling vents. The dump station had a water hose that was long enough to reach around to the trailer door which enabled me to pour on the water. The Yankton fire department was also on the scene, but the fire was just about contained by the time they arrived. After everything was contained and smoke blown out of the unit, the fire captain was kind enough to lead me to a salvage yard in Yankton, where we salvaged a few things and left the trailer for the insurance company.

Thanks, Garry. I just had our refrigerator repaired and the tech lit the burner on the stove to get the gas up to the fridge. You guessed it, he didn't even turn it down, much less off. Top was dropped, I towed it to my shop and stored it. I just happened to check the gas valves, then got in the trailer and it was 88 degrees. Burned up the face of the vent-a-hood, the cabinet facing and smoked up the ceiling. Darned lucky it didn't catch full-fire and burn down my big boat right next to it and the louver company on the other side of it.

scary fire stories

Thank goodness you had insurance. I will be sure to check our stove knobs to make sure they are turned off. Glad you had no loss of life and you were able to save your tow vehicle. Seems like you were able to upgrade your hilo to a bigger better unit. Good always comes out of bad situations.

I had a similar mistake with a slide in truck camper.
Now on my propane tank cover I have a red dot painted on one side. When I turn on the propane I put the red dot forward and when I shut it off I turn it around as a reminder.

Alaska 2012

When I posted information on our Alaska/Canada trip, which was June 2012, I failed to mention that when checking the underside of our trailer I noticed there use to be a light weight plastic tubing about 3 feet in length with electrical wires enclosed, but the tubing had been trashed by the rocks and gravel on the Alcan Highway. The tubing was located on the passenger side of the trailer, so those that have recently made the trip might want to take a look at the underside of your trailer for exposed electrical wires.