Alaska vacation

Our trip to Alaska was so much fun. We had such a great time. Koby and I seen lots of country and put a lot of miles on the rental car. We started our trip by flying into Anchorage. We picked up our rental car (which by the way if you go to Alaska they are not cheap and neither is a taxi.) We spent this first afternoon and evening looking around Anchorage. We went to the Native Heritage Museum in which we learned a lot about the Native people of Alaska and the way they still do some things. They are definitely a people that live off the land and don't waste a thing. Including the intestine of water mammals to make rain gear. I guess it repels quite well.

On day 2 we headed North to try to see Mt. McKinley and went through Denali Park. This was pretty much a full day of driving but we did see a lot of beautiful country. The mountains are so big and amazing in Alaska and everything is so green. On the way we made stops at the look out points and tried to catch a glimpse of the tallest mountain in North America. We were told the chances are very slim to even see it while you are in Alaska. The mountain creates its own clouds! Go figure! I guess it is a little shy. There are only very few days that it is not usually clouded in. These are pictures of the South pull out on the way up through the Park. Of course Mt. McKinley is not visible, but Koby kept trying to tell me if I got a chance to see it I would know it. It stands way up above all the other mountains in the mountain range.

Here are just a few other pictures along the way. Sorry this may be a post on picture overload so be prepared.Once you get up so high the mountains no longer have trees because you are above the treeline. It is mostly just the tundra, but still beautiful in its own way. Once we got into the Park we stopped by the visitors center and paid for a bus ticket hoping to see Mt. McKinley the next day. They only allow their tour buses in to get a close look. That way you don't have lots of motorists disturbing the wildlife, etc. Everyone had told us if you don't see Mt. McKinley it is still a beautiful ride and the wildlife you see is well worth it. So we planned for the 6.5 hour bus ride through the park the next day hoping it would be a good day and hoping we could see the mountain. We spent the next few hours just looking around and watched a dog sled demonstration and met some of the huskies they use for dog sledding in the winters. This night we stayed up by the park at the Perch. It was fun little place that had little cottage cabins down by the river.

The next day we headed back over to catch our bus at the visitors center. This was quite the experience. The people on the bus were more entertaining than some of the sights. We did get to see some wildlife like this caribou or "reindeer" as some might call it. We seen around 5 or 6 of these. We also did see a grizzly bear but only from a far distance through binoculars. We were bummed that we didn't see more bear. People that had gone in the day before said they seen like 6 grizzlies. I guess they were all hiding or we didn't have very good spotters on our bus that could find any. It was still a very beautiful drive into see Mt. McKinley. But as you can see the mountains hovered around most of the day and we did not get to see Mt. McKinley.

After our tour we walked around some and went through all of the visitor center before heading on the road again. We were not sure where we were going to stay this night but wanted to get back towards Anchorage so that we could head further South down on the Kenai for the next few days. On our way driving back we noticed the clouds were starting to clear some and I kept thinking just maybe there would be a chance that I could see that mountain. I wanted to believe what everyone told me as far as it being this great big mountain that just stuck out above all the rest. I watched the mountains while Koby watched the road and if I thought I could see it I would tell Koby and he would look quick to see if it really could be it. I really didn't know what I was looking for. All the mountains blended in and looked pretty much the same. I kept thinking I could possibly see it, but then it couldn't be because it looked like all the others. However, as we got closer to the pullouts again I told Koby to stop and lets take a look. I was sure between the trees and glimpses across the mountain range I could see something that might be it. So we pulled off at the North end and sure enough you could catch a glimpse of it. There was a camp host that stays at this location and he said that we were lucky to have seen what we did of it. The clouds were still around it some but you could see the tip of it. We stayed and visited with him for a little while and watched to see if it would clear more and it did. So I was able to say that yes I did finally get to see it. Hopefully you can see it in the pictures.

Once we got down to the South end lookout you could really see it well. I was so excited to know that I was one of the few that make it to Alaska and get to see Mt. McKinley. And yes it does really stand out above the rest.

That night we ended up getting as far as Wasilla at about a quarter to ten so we decided to stay there before heading any further. The hardest thing about Alaska is you could drive and go all night without realizing what time it really is getting to be. It never really gets dark there during this time of year. So we kept feeling like it wasn't really that late. Something I never quite got use to. I am sure the fisherman love it though.

The next day as we went down South of Anchorage we went through Potters Marsh and Turnigan Arm which winds around the ocean. It was such a pretty day and everything was so beautiful. While in Alaska a lot of tourists will travel by train. I thought it would have been pretty cool to have been on the train at times. The top is all windows and you can see out in all directions.

We stopped off at the Alaska Conservation Center. Here we seen several animals including the moose, (which after this stop we ended up seeing a total of 10 just in the wild along the roadside. I guess you could say they have a LOT of moose.)

grizzly bears,

black bears, (including this little guy up in the tree taking a nap)

and several other animals like caribou and musk ox. Sorry didn't get pictures of everything. I forgot to take my camera charger so I was being very careful with my picture taking so the batteries didn't die on me. Then we headed to Portage Glacier. This was probably one of my favorite spots. The water was so blue and definitely cold to the touch. You can kind of see the glacier in this picture.

After we left Portage Glacier we drove through a one way tunnel that goes right through the mountain over to Whittier. It is a 3 mile tunnel and they only let traffic through on the hour and half hour depending on if you are coming or going. The tunnel made me a little nervous when you got into it and it was dripping water. And every so often you would pass what they call a safe house in case there was an emergency. I had just had to tell myself don't think about the what ifs. We spent some time over in Whittier just watching the boats come in and out and had ourselves a picnic before it got too late. Here are pictures from where we were sitting down by the ocean having our picnic.After leaving Whittier we traveled to Saldotna. We had originally planned our trip with the intention of staying with some of Koby's extended family down on the Kenai river, but last minute they ended up having to leave for a funeral in Washington State. So we just found us a place to stay down on the river and that is where we would stay the next few nights. This was a fun little cabin and the people who rent them out were so nice. It was equipped with a kitchen and living area so that was really nice.

The next day we headed down to Homer and out on the Homer spit. You can kind of see the spit in this picture as it sticks out into the water. This is the place to go if you want to go out Halibut fishing. We unfortunately did not do any fishing. I KNOW... we went to Alaska and did not fish. Curse us! We had planned to go out on the Kenai and salmon fish with Koby's relatives and like I said things got changed a little. So due to the circumstances we did not go fishing. We did contemplate whether we should pay a fishing guide to take us out fishing while there, but then we decided we would just wait and come again sometime and do the fishing part of Alaska. There was plenty to see and do besides the fishing. In Homer, we did watch the fisherman bring in the fish and hang them up and cut up a bunch of the Halibut right in front of us. Not my favorite thing to do when you like the taste of Halibut. Koby thought I would never eat Halibut again after watching this, but I did. I actually had some for lunch while there. Not exactly what I wanted as far as Halibut goes. It was pretty much what you would get at Arctic Circle with a fish and chips basket (other than it was fresh) and it still cost us $20.00 a meal. For a real nice sit down dinner with Halibut the price was not what I wanted to spend on a meal so we settled for this. The rest of the time we were there we just walked around the boardwalk and seen the little shops, the famous Salty Dog Saloon, and Lost Seafarer's Memorial. When we got back to the cabin that night the owner of the cabins brought us over some fresh cooked halibut right off the grill that had been caught that day and that is what we ate for dinner that night. It sure did beat the fried stuff I had at lunch. I was in heaven.

On our second to the last day we ended up driving to Seward. We decided to go to the Alaska Sea Life Center. There we saw lots of sea life like puffins, harbor seals, the Stellar sea lion, etc. We also learned a lot about several unique sea life critters.While in Seward on this day we also decided to hike to Exit Glacier. This is a glacier that you can actually get quite close to. It was a nice day for a hike and the glacier was really cool to see. It was so blue and the mountains were so big around us. At one point you could actually reach out and touch it. Now it has shrunk back quite a bit so you can get close but not necessarily feel it.

The following day, which would be our last day before flying home, we had scheduled a glacier tour on the Kenai Fjords. So again we drove to Seward. Trust me we saw a lot of country and put a lot of miles on the car. But this ended up being a fun day. The tour lasted the majority of the day. They served us lunch on the boat and we were able to see lots of sea life including a humpback whale, orcas, killer whales, sea lions, puffins, otters, and seals. We even got to see a black bear. We also got really close to a glacier called Holgate Glacier. We had the chance to slowly move in close and listen to it calve. That is where the ice breaks off from the glacier and falls into the sea. It is a little freaky being that close to it and hoping the captain of the boat can get you out of there without having a Titanic situation. He was a great captain though and well experienced. The glacier waterfalls were also very pretty. Talk about a neat adventure, but very wet and cold. Here are some pictures of it. Definitely something worth the money if I were to go again.

This would conclude our trip. That night after our glacier tour we drove back to Anchorage where we would stay before flying out the next day for home. If you ever get the chance to go to Alaska it is a beautiful place and well worth the visit. Here is some fun footage I took out on the glacier cruise. Some of it might be hard to see because of the rain coming down on my camera.

Thanks to my mom and dad and all the rest of the family that helped care for Lizzie while we were gone. I was missing her and looked forward to getting home to see her. She had a great time playing with all her cousins while we were on our trip. Every time she sees an airplane now she says "mommy daddy trip Alaska." I guess she understood where we had gone. It is great to have such good family that helped out.