Alaska - Ketchikan

So  I guess since summer has officially ended, I should finish documenting our Alaska trip. It seems so long ago.

Welcome to fall.

Welcome to Ketchikan.

We finally got see a bear in the wild. I know that's one of the big reasons Tyler wanted to see Alaska. Sometimes I "clearly" see some reasons for owning and knowing how to use a nice camera. This is a picture of our bear.
Ya, pretty hard to see the bear for the forest. We just could not get our camera to focus where we wanted it too, but thankfully Tyler asked a couple who was on our tour if they wouldn't mind emailing us their pictures when they got home.

And you know what? They did. We were both pleasantly surprised to see those come through. Boy, what a difference a camera can make.

We got to feed some reindeer which I learned are nothing more than domesticated caribou. You can't put a reindeer out in the wild; they will just die.

The conclusion of our tour included an all-you-eat crab feast. It was a messy job, but I guess someone had to do it. I honestly can't remember how many plates Tyler put away. A lot??

One of my favorite things we did in Ketchikan was sit on the wharf and watch the float planes come in and take off. For some reason it just fascinated me how the water was nothing more than a runway. They say nine out of ten people in Alaska own a plane. It really is one of the best ways to get around.
Burger Queen? Possibly the predecessor to the Burger King?

And is there something wrong with that restaurant sign? Is it Mexican or is it pizza? Maybe you can get a Mexican pizza there.

Our last night on the ship, as we sailed to Vancouver, Canada. Alaska and Canada are just beautiful places. 
It was a wonderful way to celebrate 15 years. It was also nice to go home. There is just no place quite like home where my little family was still up at 11pm to greet us when we finally arrived home. Even Alex was awake and refused to sleep in his bed that night, so we tucked him in with us.

Some day I would love to go back . . . to Alaska, to Korea, to Ireland. Isn't traveling fun.

Alaska - Juneau

Juneau just happens to be the capital city of Alaska, but the catch is that the only way to get to Juneau is either by boat, plane, or birth canal. There are no roads in or out. At one point they tried to move the capital to Anchorage but that didn't go over too well.

Downtown Juneau, Very hilly

We were told that Juneau is where you go whale watching. Tyler and I tried whale watching in Anacortes, outside of Seattle, but never got to see anything. This time we were hopeful that this particular excursion would pay off.
And it did. There were also harbor seals and bald eagles, lots of eagles.

Okay, I just have to point out that if you go on a cruise to Alaska, chances are pretty good that you'll be hanging out with a crowd of old retirees. Proof is in the matching jackets.

Tyler and I fit right in! (Thank you CUNA Mutual for the matchy-matchy jackets we got in Ireland. They totally made our trip to Alaska that much more comfortable.) And, no, retirement is nowhere in the near future.

Mendenhall Glacier was next on our itinerary with its gorgeous ice. It's called calving when it breaks off and falls into the lake or ocean exposing a deep blue, almost purple, color. The waterfall next to it was pretty amazing too. Kind of put the Multnomah Falls in Oregon to shame.



After a long day of sight seeing, we were greeted in our room by this:
Apparently my books took precedence over Tyler's if you notice his is still laying on his nightstand. Also we always had a chocolate, but devouring that also took precedence over the picture taking.

Alaska - Skagway and Canada

After boarding our ship we hit the buffet where I had the most delicious flourless chocolate cake. It was like a dense brownie or fudge. I was quite bummed when they didn't offer it again all week, so I came home, found my own recipe, and made it. So good if rich chocolate is your kind of thing.

When we booked our cruise, we paid more for an exterior room but a little less to have a partially blocked view out our window. I think we scored the right room. On either side were the lifeboats. I loved being able to look outside when were coming into a port or just watching the scenery from our room.

Tyler's type of vacations are go, go, go, see, see, see everything. We paid for it, we're going to see it. I like the hit-the-beach-and-read-all-afternoon kind of vacation. This cruise was a perfect compromise. We saw, saw, saw on land but had to take it easy on the ship. I found my perfect reading nook where I could sit inside by the window and Tyler could watch the water outside. If he happened to see anything, he knew where to find me.

After two days at sea we arrived in Skagway for a day of touring. Skagway was the jumping off point for the gold rush in Canada's Yukon territory. When we got back from our trip, the kids and I watched White Fang where Skagway was briefly shown and mentioned. Our first excursion was to the dog sled mushers camp where we got to ride a wheeled cart while the dogs pulled us, much like a sled. These dogs do their training here with all the tourists that come through and are very ready to compete in the Iditarod, a highly competitive dog sled race of a 1000 miles in early March of every year. Tyler's not terribly fond of dogs and really came along with me for the ride in the unimog.
The dog sled ride was a ton of fun. Those dogs are not the typical Alaskan huskies you think of when dog sledding comes to mind. Huskies are used to pull weight, these other dogs are bred for speed and are often a mixture of different dogs.

 

I had to get a picture of this particular dog for Ashlyn. It isn't hard to tell that that dog has two different colored eyes, just like our Ash, although her's aren't as distinctive.

And no. Tyler wouldn't let me bring this little pup back. Holding that puppy took me back to my childhood when our dog "Lady" had a litter of pups. 

We arrived back at our ship in time to catch our next excursion to Canada and the expansion bridge which I learned was only built six years ago for the tourists. It's nothing more than a chain bridge that extends over the river below and goes really nowhere. It was kind of lame, but I did get a stamp in my passport and got to sample some yummy maple cookies. Tyler even spotted a black bear right next to the bus on the ride up, but our young, Utah bus driver didn't see it and didn't stop. The good tour guides will faithfully keep their eyes peeled for wildlife and will try to stop if reasonably able to because they know that's what people come to Alaska to see.

Back in Skagway we enjoyed a salmon bake for dinner where Dolly, a beautiful 9-month-old Alaskan husky, enjoyed it with us. I would have taken her home with me too.

Alaska - Land Tour

To celebrate our 15 year anniversary, Tyler wanted to cruise Alaska, so I packed my long pants, sweatshirts, and jacket. I was so excited to get away, do some reading, and have someone totally pamper me for 11 days.

We flew into Anchorage by way of Houston. That's right, Houston. It seemed so wrong to be going in the opposite direction for three hours to turn around and fly for 7 more surrounded by a 2 year old and 2 month old in front of us and a 1 year old sitting next to Tyler. To their credit those kids did amazingly well for such a long flight. The young mother sitting next to us was returning home after spending several weeks with her husband who is deployed to Afghanistan. I took her little guy from time to time to give her a break.

While we were waiting for our connecting flight in Houston, I told Tyler I wanted to try the Blue Bell ice cream that I've heard is supposed to be some darn good ice cream. Well . . . it was okay. Frankly, I thought Tillamook ice cream in Oregon was just as good, maybe even creamier. So that's my take on Texas's ice cream.

When we finally got settled in our hotel in downtown Anchorage (which really isn't much of a downtown) it was still light out and we decided to see Anchorage. When we came out of a store around 10:30 pm, it was still so light. I knew we should head back to bed, but it sure didn't feel like it. Living in Alaska would definitely take some getting used to. I'm afraid my internal clock would be a little messed up. There were many mornings when I woke up thinking we had overslept only to find that it was only 4:30am!

The next morning we hopped aboard the bus headed to Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. I happened to score the seat right over the tire wheel and was dozing, listening to our bus driver describe his life living in Alaska, when there was a huge pop right under my feet. I opened my eyes to see something black hit the window and I SCREAMED! I thought for sure we had hit a black bear.

No, it was nothing more than a blown tire. But for the remainder of our land tour I got more comments of where I should and should not sit from all the other passengers who were also on our bus.
Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali, is the United States's and North America's tallest mountain. It's tall enough to have it's own localized weather and is often shrouded by clouds. Not many people get to see the entire mountain. When we checked into the lodge there was an option for the front desk to call us should "the mountain" become visible. It is pretty cool to think that from the base to its peak, Denali is the tallest mountain in the world at 20,320 feet (Mt. Everest may be the tallest but it starts at a higher elevation). I was very surprised at how low in elevation Alaska is. I live at a higher elevation on the foothills of the Oquirrh mountains in Utah than most of Alaska. There were many times in our travels where we would come to a summit to find a sign telling us the elevation was somewhere in the 2000 foot range.
After a day at McKinley we headed to Denali where we were supposed to see grizzly bears. Sadly we got skunked. It was the only day of our entire trip where it rained and I think that kept the animals at bay. Also after talking to several others it looked like we should have paid a little extra and taken the 8-hour excursion that takes you deeper into Denali National Forest. That's where they saw the bears.

We did see a caribou and moose. For reals. This is just Tyler's pretend moose.
Alaska is unique in that you can go from forests, where they only have basically 3 types of trees due to the permafrost and very short summers, to tundras where there is little vegetation. There are no hardwoods like maples and oaks, only softwoods. There are so many lakes that many of them are not even named, and there aren't many roads. In fact the main road connecting Anchorage to Fairbanks was only completed some 40 years ago.

Our final day on land included a 9-hour train ride to meet our cruise ship. It truly was a scenic way to see Alaska, but I was ready to get off the train and experience life on a cruise.