A day for sights

I may be wrong, but I think we figured out where mapmakers came up with the term "scenic byway." Good lord, the entire drive from Anchorage to Seward was just one panorama after another. Mountains, bays, reflecting lakes, glaciers. Pretty much everything. Two and a half hours of awesome.

The highlight was Exit Glacier in Kennai Fjords National Park. Not that it's a huge glacier (pretty tiny, relatively) but we could get so close. Turns out, the area surrounding glaciers is several degrees cooler than everywhere else nearby. Who knew?

Tomorrow we're spending the day on the water with a 9 hour tour of the fjords. That word never gets old to type. Bummed we only have 2 more days, but it's been great. Now, I need more fresh seafood.

Success

It was sunny! Well, for part of the day yesterday. We actually caught a glimpse of the big mountain. It was just the top, but still impressive. Considering we were at least 60 miles away, it's hard to believe we could see anything. From what we heard, our experience is more normal than getting a clear shot of Denali. I'm just happy we got the glimpse.

After we left the park, we headed back to Anchorage, where we went to look for salmon heading upstream. We did see 4 or 5, but I think it's really early for that kind of thing. Those guys were huge. Maybe half as long as a baseball bat the circumference a little less than a dinner plate.

Today, we drive down to Seward. We'll stop to look around, then our last big adventure is tomorrow. A 9 hour boat tour around the Kenai Fjords, in search of wildlife and glaciers. Should be fun.

Sled dogs on gravel

Ah, weather. No control and nobody cares. It sounds like whining, and it is, but man do clouds suck. We were 30 miles from the tallest peak in North America and couldn't see a thing. Awesome. But we still got to see wolf puppies, a bear pooping and a demonstration on sled dogs. They did a short practice lap on gravel, then we got to pet them. Oh friendly doggies, you're always so cute.

We also saw the posted sunset and sunrise times for tonight and tomorrow. Sunset: 12:45 a.m. Sunrise at 3:45. I guess those clouds hanging around have a use. I don't need the sun coming in at 4 in the freaking morning.

We'll be attempting to load a few photos shortly. Hopefully they work. The size of this area is disconcerting. Just Denali National Park is the size of Massachusetts. We were there on an 8 hour bus ride and probably saw a tiny percentage of things. I'd want to go back, but don't really have the experience and equipment for backpacking.

The Grizzly Burger

I shall now be forever immortalized via photo on the wall of Rose's Cafe in Healy, Alaska. I tamed the mighty Grizzly Burger, a one pound burger topped with a fried egg, ham, two slices of cheese and tomato. Plus a side of fries. Honestly, it wasn't even hard. That part scares me.

We really didn't do or see much in our first day here. Drove 3-4 hours up from Anchorage to Denali, but it was covered in clouds the whole way and irregular rain. The highlight was the female moose at the salt lick in the back yard of our B&B.

Tomorrow, we've got a 7 a.m. bus ride into Denali National Park. Hopefully, the rain, clouds and wildlife stop disappointing us. I want to see the big mountain. What's the point of Alaska without mountains? Not even the cheesy Sarah Palin T-shirts could salve that pain.

No shoes...

We've arrived in Alaska! I think it would take more than a week for my body to adjust to all the daylight here. Even when we went to bed, the sun was shining as if it was 6am.

We brought a GPS this time to avoid those driver/navigator conflicts. I've determined that the GPS only adds one more 'person' to argue with.

We're heading up to Denali today after a night in Anchorage. Apparently it's a custom to remove your shoes upon entering a home. I thought that was only the Japanese. Maybe it's because we're so close to Asia...

Off again...

We really do try to keep our economy on the road to recovery, one travel experience after another. Save so we can retire before 70? Or for any future offspring to attend college? Those are problems for Future Scott and Future Elizabeth to worry about. We’re spending that housing tax rebate (if it ever freaking gets here, MR. IRS jerks) on a week of sun and...snow.




Tomorrow we board a plane for a week in the great white north. Next time, we’re going somewhere warm. Last year, we hit southern hemisphere winter, this year we go to the land of near-permanent snow.


However, we are both very excited. And to make things more interesting, we’re taking the mother-in-law! Yes, a week vacationing with my lovely wife and her mom. Because sometimes things just aren’t difficult enough, so you gotta add a challenge or two. Given the way we travel, I’m guessing the MIL will be in for the bigger challenge. Prepare for a week without much downtime, Char. Hope you don’t mind an 8 hour school bus ride!


I’ll try to update this as much as possible. The point of this blog isn’t to brag, just leave me with a record of our trips and hopefully other people don’t mind reading. A semi-public diary, basically. Yep, I’m a 12-year-old girl at heart

Alaska-bound

So our next big trip is to Alaska. I know what you're thinking... 'didn't they just go to New Zealand last year?' And yes, we did. Somehow I've talked Scott into another trip, although not quite as far.



Our plan is to fly into Anchorage and hit Denali and the Kenai Peninsula. It will be a lot to do in a week but I think it's manageable. We'll keep you posted!