Reviewing the Trip

Our journey to Alaska consisted of many different modes of travel.  We were on airplanes (6), shuttle buses, tour buses, the cruise ship, whale watching boat, a narrow gauge railroad train, explorer coach (a bus outfitted with more comfortable seats, TV monitors, and “facilities”), paddle boat, McKinley Explorer (a double deck-er domed-top train), cars, school bus-type tour bus, and ferries.

There were a few days that were mostly travel.  2 long days on the coach and 1 1/2 days on the domed-top train.  Once we were there it made sense since there were so many miles to cover between stops.  We stopped at places like Tok and Rika’s Roadhouse.  We crossed the borders between British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory several times and so we had to keep our passports handy.  Holland America was very good at keeping us supplied with water and regular rest stops.  I had planned to use the travel time to read or get caught up on our sleep. But no, I was afraid I’d miss something.  So, like most of the tour members, my eyes were glued to the windows, watching for wild life.  The advantage to being on the tour bus, rather than driving ourselves, is that there were 44 pairs of eyes on the look out for animals and the driver was very willing to stop and let us watch the animals and take pictures.  On the train, there were about 90 pair of eyes… but the engineer wouldn’t stop!  I think Jerry actually enjoyed looking at the scenery instead of the highway, since he is the main driver on any family trip.

Our 4 hour trip from Fairbanks to Denali was beautiful and relaxing.  It was also gray, foggy and drizzling as were many of our days in Alaska and the Yukon. After you adjust, you find a certain kind of beauty in it.  One of the best decisions we made in getting ready for the trip was to invest in  good rain jackets.   They almost became our uniforms.  Denali is the National Park which surrounds Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America.  Despite the 2 days we spent there, we never actually saw that mountain.  It was shrouded in clouds.

The accommodations at Denali were wonderful.  The hotel rooms were more like cabins and we were near a river and could hear the sound of rushing water.  Alaska is a great place to buy t-shirts and there is a gift shop every time you turn around.  The seafood is wonderful.  Denali had all of these… it was just a great place to visit.  Dorothy/Rauline had a long lost cousin Phil, who is the Park Geologist.  He brought his family to meet us and take us into the park.  We went to the learning center, where he has an office and saw a presentation about the fossils that had been found there.  His wife Barbara took  Jerry, Jack and Rauline on one of the park trails.  I decided that there was no more hiking for me until all my bruises were healed.  Their daughters, Ana and Emily, were charming.  Ana is Alaska’s Junior Miss and will be starting college at the University of Alaska this month and Emily (a sophomore in high school) just returned from a 2 week trip to Korea, representing Alaska along with other students from other states.  Their family took us out for dinner and I had a lot of time to ask a lot of questions.  For example, what is it like during the short days of the winter season?  how many students in your class? (8 and 17) and what do you think of Sarah Palin?  I couldn’t help but notice that while I was bundled up in layers, they were in light jackets and flip flops.  They said that they hold on to summer as long as possible.

After a good night’s sleep, we (along with our box lunches) boarded what appeared to be a converted school bus for our 8 hour trip into the park on narrow roads with no guard rails.  We were fortunate to see Golden eagles, a wolf, trumpeter swans, dahl sheep, and a moose which was just a few feet from our bus.  The longer the day went, the muddier the bus became.  Every 2 hours we would stop and the men would squeegee (sp?) the bus windows.  It would have been more practical to stop in town and buy better tire flaps.  Of course there was no town of any size near by.  Our bus was shared by a Japanese tour group who had just arrived from Japan and half of them slept through most of the tour. We later talked to some people who were on a different bus who did not see one animal.  Hopefully they enjoyed the scenery, which was spectacular.  We learned a lot about the permafrost and the tundra.  The colors were starting to change into the fall reds and oranges. However the changes were in the low lying bushes on the tundra, rather than on the trees.  Beautiful.  One of our disappointments was that we didn’t book a flight on a small airplane to see the park from above.  People who did go said it was the highlight of the tour… and worth the high ticket prices.  Oh well, always leave something for next time!

The eight hour trip on the domed-train car was relaxing.  We saw more swans and a black bear.  We ate dinner in the dining room, below where our group was seated.  It was luxurious and delicious.  When we left our train and settled into our hotel in Anchorage, we said goodbye to Jack and Rauline (aka John and Dorothy) and Maryanne, our faithful and fun guide.  She had quickly learned all of our names and took good care of each of us.  I wonder if all guides are this capable and knowledgeable?  We had to put out our luggage at 3:00 a.m. and be ready to get on the shuttle to the airport at 4:00!

Our flights to Vancouver were uneventful except for the coughing woman who gave us her cold.  And then there was customs in Vancouver–our second time through and it seemed even longer than the first time.  We think they better work on their procedures before the Olympics next year.  Our friends Paul and Joan were there to meet us and take us back to the lower 48, where they live in Bellingham, WA.  Nothing is better after a long trip then relaxing with friends.  We didn’t expect to do much on Thursday and Friday but they turned out to be delightful days.  We went to Glen Echo Gardens, where a retired landscaper has turned a former coal mine property into 16 acres of more than 10,000 bedding plants.  “In the garden grows far more than herbs and flowers; kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind, and  joy for weary hours.” We found that to be also true of Paul and Joan’s garden.  The meals at their house are always memorable– seafood fresh from the dock, wild berries, vegetables from their garden.  And during the day when we were out and about, Joan would have packed a picnic lunch.  No fast food for us!  Hooray!  We visited the garden of one of their neighbors who has been given a difficult path in life.  He has a deformed body but a wonderful spirit, gifted hands and the soul of an artist.  He carves great logs into interesting shapes and plants around them.  Most people with his condition would live out their lives in a rocking chair but his is busy creating a beautiful world to live in.

Hopefully in the next few days, I’ll record the remainder of our time in Bellingham and on Vancouver Island.

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