My anti-motion-sickness patch helps, because the ship, as big as it is, still sways in the waves of the open water non-stop it seems. Onward through the Gulf of Alaska. Tina & Charly are served breakfast in the main dining room, while Kirk & I grab a light meal in the Lido Market (self-service). After a stroll through the ship, we all meet up again at the Crows Nest, the bar at the very front of the ship, and relax. … Read More

Our taxi pick up is at 8am, to get to the Major Marine Tours desk at the 360 hotel at the harbor. After check in and storing our luggage, we are soon boarding the Orca Song vessel, which will take us over and around the Resurrection Bay, looking out for wildlife. The first bald eagle sits on a concrete post sits the edge of the harbor, just waiting to get his (her?) picture taken. As we get more away from … Read More

It’s time to move on to our next destination – and the way there will be covered by train. We have to get up early to catch our 6:45am train, but are rewarded with beautiful views from our seats in the panorama car: glass ceiling! Despite the gloomy weather outside we see bald eagles, a porcupine, a couple of moose, salmon, as well as beautiful nature – mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers, as well as the open sea. We arrive … Read More

And off we go … back to downtown Anchorage for some more sightseeing. We’re taking the Red Trolleybus Tour first, and it gives s a great overview of the city, with our tour-guide/driver sharing historical tidbits, funny anecdotes and lots of interesting information. In just under an hour we see various neighborhoods, Earthquake Park, the waterfront with its statue of James Cook, who “discovered” in his search for the Northwest Passage, and more. After the tour, we grab a quick … Read More

When you have a bad experience with your hotel room, getting comped breakfast is a no-brainer. But when breakfast is bad too, you know why you should not pick Hilton. (In my defense – it was literally the only place I could get a room at last night at midnight!) In any case, I sent Tina and Charly out for sightseeing until noon, until we meet back up later. In the meantime, I get the hotel situation for the next … Read More

We’ve lucked out with the weather until now – but this morning is grey and drizzly, which keeps us from catching a farewell glimpse of Denali as we head south on Hwy 3 towards Anchorage. With no major stops along the road, we pull over or the little ones – the concrete igloo (which may have been a hotel many years ago?), view points with great vistas of clouds, misty woods and wet brush, and other roadside attractions. Before descending … Read More

It will be a long day today, as we board the Kantishna Transit Bus in Denali National Park at 8:30am, together with almost 40 other visitors plus our driver, Barr. Barr has done this for the last 18 years and still loves driving into the park every day of the summer season. She tells us that any visitor to the park has about a 30% chance to see “the mountain”, and based on the weather right now, we think that … Read More

It’s already time to bid farewell to Fairbanks, as we pick up our rental car and head out of town this morning. Just 15 minutes north of Fairbanks we stop along Hwy 2 North, at the Alyeska Pipeline Visitor Center, a display and above-ground part of the Trans-Alaska pipeline open to the public. 800-miles long and built almost 50 years ago, this is quite a sight to see and worth the quick detour. Soon enough however we are heading south … Read More

Discovering Fairbanks starts with a short walk to downtown, where we stop at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center, with its exhibits on the people, land and culture of Interior Alaska. And the moose antler arch – a must see. From there we walk along the Chena River, through parts of downtown Fairbanks towards the Pioneer Park, which has celebrated Fairbanks’ Past by showcasing the history in museums and historic cabins (moved here from their original locations) since 1967 … Read More

After 2 years of planning and 6 months after booking most of the trip, the day has finally come to get the Alaska vacation started! With Tina & Carly in tow, Kirk & I are heading to SFO, where we catch Alaska Airlines flight 1673 from SFO to SEA, and onto FAI on flight 133. Landing in Fairbanks just around midnight it is still light out. This comes after watching the sunset for the last 3 hours since leaving Seattle! … Read More