Texas to Alaska to Texas. 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid driving on the Dalton Highway and the Dempster Highway. July/August 2023.

[PetitFrereArmada]

I changed my car and look forward to new adventures with my new car. But no more offroading on the Dempster or the Dalton.

Today I bought a 2025 Toyota Camry XSE.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

After 10 months of owning my 2024 Accord, I made the decision to get a Camry. My main reason for the switch was because the Honda seat is not very comfortable for me. I have endured it for long e ough. I also miss having XM satellite radio.

I purchased a 2025 Camry XSE today.

I never wanted an XSE, nor did I want a red car.

Initially, I was going for the LE trim, but it is so stripped down, and the drive out quotes I got were too high and closer to the SE. I wanted LE for the best mpg numbers since I enjoy hypermiling

I then decided to start looking for an SE, but I was not happy that the mpg number was lower. I got some decent offers but not all the options I wanted. The ones I wanted were priced very high.

I went to this dealership. They had only XSE in stock, and they wanted to get rid of them. They had Blue, Black, Ocean Gem, and Red. I picked the Red.

We went back and forth until we settled on $38,000 OTD. That includes TTL.

I then presented my trade. My 2024 Accord, which is paid for. It was a hassle then until they accepted to buy my car based on CarMax's offer. They then tried to make it fit in the price, and so my balance is $11,500.

They asked me to finance through Toyota. Toyota rates are not good. I have the Tier 1 interest rate of 5.25%

My loan is $11,500 for 60 months @ 5.25%. My monthly payment is $220 a month for 60 months. My goal is to try my best to pay off the car in 12 months or less since I will be paying at least 3 car payments each month.

Too bad my XSE has 19 inch tires, so my chances of hypermiling to get great mpg is greatly reduced. I honestly wish to buy the oem 16 inch wheels and tires to put on my car for some serious hypermiling. But I will never sell the oem 19 inch wheels and tires.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

This one was on the showroom floor, and I did admire it a lot. Someone may get confused with the pictures and think it is the one I bought.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Nice. I've always kept cars for 13 yrs or more. Used to like the Accord and Camry, but when i get in them now, I hate the reclined seat positions, lack of headroom, and sitting so low you can't see around cars in front. Last time I shopped, I went out for an Accord... came back with a Tacoma.

 

[ITTOG]

Congrats, they are very nice cars.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[AggieOE]

That's a nice looking new seat!

 

[checkmate]

I have a 2024 crv hybrid and I agree Honda seats are not comfortable at all

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Wow, you got a great fantastic deal. I am planning on selling my 97 LX-450 Overland built...and presently shopping for a good gas milage vehicle that I can sleep on...so I can just go like you!!!

 

[the deputy]

Enjoyed your trips. Just returned from Alaska a week ago. About 10,000 round trip from Michigan. Alaska is certainly on a level of its own. I'm not much of a "picture taker", and if l put together a topic about my trip...it certainly won't be anything like yours. Your pictures are top-shelf. Enjoyed seeing your pictures of places l just visited, too. The Dalton was my favorite part of Alaska, still had an "Alaskan"feel to it. It kind of made me sad, when a local was telling me that they plan to eventually path the whole thing. Anyhow, thank you for sharing.

P.S. Kind of smiled a little bit about you complaining about your seats in the Honda. I'd have traded you for them, any day of the week.

 

[oneenv]

Love following your trips, they are refreshing. I always read with a smile. Question - during your long haul legs, do you listen to music, audiobooks or something? Just wondering what you're doing in there...

 

[the deputy]

How did they come up with the name of this town called Sexsmith?

Same folks from Wisconsin would be my guess...

 

[alanymarce]

Great story - thanks for all the posts.

The posts on Cameroun reminded me of my time in Central Africa.



A couple of thoughts;

PS Just remember there is nothing east of Calgary or the Rockies worth the drive.

Nothing?

How about (a few at random):

- Lac la Roche
- Algonquin Park
- Gros Morne National Park
- Cartwright Labrador
- Cabot Trail

(I suppose these would mean a bit of a deviation from the Texas to Alaska route, admittedly)

My crossing was smooth, though the Canadian border patrol agent asked me very many questions. Do you have any kind of weapons with you? Do you have any cannabis products? Any alcohol or tobacco products? Are you carrying cash more than $10,000? What do you do for a living? Are you traveling alone? When do you resume work? I answered it all, and I was on my way.


Gas prices have been very high up north compared to Texas. But driving my Accord hybrid and maintaining the speed limit, especially here in Canada yields good results. Since I left my hotel this morning, I have been driving on the highway for over 2 hours now and getting 50 mpg. This car is a great gas saver. It is a good compromise to the high cost of gas in Canada and Alaska.

Try answering the questions they ask entering the USA - "What social media accounts do you have? What are your screen names? "...just for examples!

Good to hear your experience with the hybrid. We travelled around Central Europe (Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia) a couple of years ago in a hybrid and the fuel consumption was amazing - had to refuel only every fourth country!

I drove from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake. Absolutely no cellphone service during my drive. I did not like it. If someone has an accident or a breakdown on this stretch of road, it would be a really long time before you get any help, so drive very carefully on this road. There are very few cars on the road.

Yes indeed. The last time we used our satphone was to help a young guy whose vehicle had broken down about 60 kn outside Dawson City - no cell service, and very little traffic - he used it to call his father to come and rescue him.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I have a trip coming up and would just continue on here than try to start a trip report.

In exciting news, I bought a flight ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. I leave the US on April 2nd. Nonstop flight from Houston to Frankfurt. The flight takes off at 3 pm and lands the next day at 9 am. I am going to visit friends in Germany. I plan to also go to Italy during my stay.

This will be my first time visiting Germany and Italy. I plan to share a lot of pictures. I will share pictures on this my thread instead of starting a new thread. It will just be random pictures of places I visit and things I do. Anything I feel might be interesting.

As of now, my wish is to rent a car in Germany and drive to visit the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Italy. I do not know if I will rent a car for sure or not, but this is a wish of mine to do during this trip.

I am also wondering if I am allowed to take my drone to Europe or not. I will appreciate some advice or tips.

Another goal of mine is to visit car museums in Germany and Italy. I hope I get the chance to visit Ferrari and Lamborghini. I also hope to visit Porche, BMW, and Mercedes.

I have always wanted to drive on the autobahn. My friend promised to take me on the autobahn and let me drive his audi. We will see how that goes. I just told him to make sure his tires are brand new and his brakes can stop his car on a dime.

I leave Germany on April the 13th for a nonstop flight back to the US to land on the same day.

This will be my first time visiting Germany and Italy and the other countries. That is if I make the time to go to those countries. I am excited about this trip and look forward to it. I am just busy now trying to figure out my itinerary and working to save the money to pay cash for the trip, which should cost about $5,000.

 

[Dave in AZ]

If you write it, I will read it you're an interesting guy!