Home and whew

Gustavus Relic

I got home on June 18th, and have been at pretty much a dead run since then. All of the photos I took in Alaska really weighed down my computer, so I bought a new desktop to accommodate my photos. Now, I should be really be able to manipulate them without the chugging from my old computer.

Alaska was wonderful, and I am still almost in awe of the trip we took. When I go back someday, I want to go to Sitka, Petersburg, Kodiak Island, Seward, Homer and the Arctic Circle and tundra. This trip was amazing. We saw everything from rainbows to eagles to a wolf. But it was just the beginning.

Traveling with Marilyn was delightful. She and I are able to communicate our needs for time and quiet. If I had it to do again, in this case, I would build in more relaxed days. Those days were necessary and lovely. They gave us a chance to breathe and to gird ourselves for the next day's activities.

Golden Eagle in Gustavus

So, expect to see more photos as they unfold. In the meantime, here is a taste of some of the best.

Rainbow in Fairbanks

Jiggity Jig

Otter

Whale tail

Sea otter yawning

I arrived home last night about 7:00, EST. I was glad to get home, and I was grateful for the opportunity to have gone on such a wonderful trip. The first order of business was to get laundry done. Now I am in the process of downloading about 6000 photos. Above are a few of my photos, more will be available at my facebook page. I plan to cull through the photos and share as many as I can, but some extra special photos will be printed, matted and sold.

Panning for gold

Panning for gold is back-breaking work

After the Alyeska, on our last full day in Alaska, we went to Crow Creek Mine and observed a couple panning for gold. They said they hadn't gotten much, but I am sure they hit the big one after we left. The vegetation in the area was lush and vividly green. It was another gorgeous Alaska locale.

Someday, I hope to return to Alaska but for now, I have memories of a trip that was amazing and those memories will last a lifetime. Keep posted for more photos and more information from the trip as I look through the photos.

Going out in a blaze of glory

We dined at Seven Glaciers Wednesday night, but saw no moose or bear, instead we watched the clouds come and go. We rode the tram up the mountain. It was Marilyn’s first tram ride, and I think she really enjoyed it. We passed kettle ponds, and beautiful green vegetation.

It was a wonderful dinner, worthy of the highest praise. We had an amuse bouche (a one-bite hors deurve) which was made from eggplant and had aged balsamic vinegar, bacon and pine nuts. Then we had wild mushroom and asparagus risotto, followed by a dish of halibut, cooked perfectly on a bed of carrot paprika puree and a parsley pesto with ground pistachios. A salad was next with butter lettuce, blue cheese, prosciutto and sweet tomato relish. Course four was salmon on a bed of quinoa with a green pesto sauce with cilantro (I did not eat the sauce). The fifth dish was wagyu beef tenderloin cooked perfectly on a bed of purple mashed potatoes and some kind of pointy spinach. The dessert was a terrine of passion fruit, green tea and mango with pistachio dust, there were edible flowers decorating it along with spun sugar ribbon. The entire meal was luscious. I think it was a perfect way to begin the final wind down of this lovely trip.

Yesterday, on the way home, we stopped at Crow Creek Mine in Girdwood and took a walking tour through the old mine and down to the river where people were panning for gold. It was a good walk with lots of hilly terrain, so periodically we would stop to take photos.

After we left there, we headed back to Anchorage and stopped at the bird sanctuary on the way home. We saw nesting arctic terns and mew gulls. Arctic terns have the longest migration route, every year they fly to Antarctica for their summer, and then back. They have been determined to be the creatures that see the most sunlight in the world.

Then we checked back into the hotel, and went out for our last Alaska dinner. We went to an out of the way place called Kinkaid, the food was wonderful. We had Alaska oysters done two ways and luscious salads.

This afternoon, we begin the trip home. I will be glad to get home, but I will always remember this trip. What a wonderful way to travel. I saw many “Stepford” cruise ship people, and was reminded again why traveling on your own is so much better. They have to live by rigid schedules. We had so much more flexibility. I will post more photos when I can get online reliably.

Turnagain Arm Pits

Bald eagle on nest as viewed from the train

Spenser Glacier from the train

A whale of a tale

Yesterday, we were up and out the door by 5:30 for a 6:30 train ride to Seward. It took about four hours to travel down, but the scenery was beautiful. The train took us down by Turnagain Arm, one of the parts of Cook Inlet that surrounds Anchorage. Anchorage is a peninsula very much like Portland, but much wider.

The train ride included sights of glaciers, a canyon, several tunnels, many moose, a bear and other flora and fauna. We passed an eagles nest where pairs have raised their chicks for many years, it is about 12 feet across, 6 feet deep and weighs about 500 pounds. We went through a town called Moose Pass, every year there they hold a vote on whether to build a gas station, and every year it is defeated. After all, the natives do not want a large sign saying, “Moose Pass Gas”.

The Alaska Railroad is the last full service railroad in the nation, meaning that they haul both passengers and freight. The trains have been delightful. We bought the Gold Star Service, which I recommend. We rode in bubble cars with assigned seats, an in-car bar where all non-alcoholic beverages are free and with private dining facilities. The food was good, and the views could not be beaten.

The trip to Kenai was to take a cruise of the Kenai Fjords National Park. What a gorgeous place it is, with huge mountains and knobs rising from the ocean. We saw a lot of whales, puffins, an oystercatcher, a sea otter, glaciers and rainbows.  We got back to the hotel at 11:00 after a long, but delightful day.

I have so many photos to share when I get home. I am down to the last 8 GB card I brought with me. Alaska is scenic, fascinating, huge and unique. The people here are so friendly and gracious. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and will be a little sad about leaving. Tomorrow is our last full day, and tonight we are at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. It was recommended by my friend Becky.

Tonight we will go up the mountain on a cable car to dine at the Seven Glaciers restaurant. I am excited. Becky says you can see moose and bears going about their business from both the restaurant and the cable car. I will be bringing a camera with me (I know you find that shocking).More photos later, after I fight with this damn computer!

Numbing experience

Yesterday we spent a butt numbing 12 hours on the Alaska Railroad. Today, we slept well into the morning, and then hopped onto the Ulu trolley into town. Ulu knives are a native Alaskan women’s knife (their term, not mine) that are used for scraping, chopping and other activities. The factory is next to our hotel, and they have a free trolley that runs round trips to the Visitor’s center on 4^th Avenue. It is the cheapest, most convenient way to get up to town.

We ate breakfast (okay, really lunch) at Show City Café in downtown. It is a funky, popular little restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, and their coffee was delicious. Then we walked and eyed the kitsch in the tourist trap stores.

http://snowcitycafe.com/

We went to the museum in the Federal Building and while there watched three videos, one about bears, one about National Parks in Alaska, and the last one about the March 27, 1964 earthquake. Then we moseyed over and caught the Ulu trolley back to the hotel.

After yesterday, we are both tired and ready to rest before we hop onto the train in the morning to go to the Kenai Peninsula for a boating trip into Kenai Fjords National Park. We anticipate seeing more wildlife, more glaciers and unexplored (by us) parts of Alaska. So, in the interest of going to bed early, I bid you adieu.

Fairbanks

Light Pole in North Pole

Marilyn meets North Pole

Today we were in Fairbanks and general environs. I want to come back in the winter and try to photograph aurora borealis. We went to the University of Alaska Museum of the North today. They had exquisite artwork, items made by the Inuit, animals of Alaska and amazing videos. We watched the video on aurora borealis, and it was exceptional. It explained the science behind the magnetic fields and aurora borealis and borealis australias. The two are mirror images because of the magnetic fields of the earth. http://www.uaf.edu/museum/

Then to follow the beautiful culture and art, we went to North Pole for some kitsch. Yes, there is a North Pole, Alaska. They have candy cane street lamp posts, there are Santas everywhere. Some streets eschew the candy cane lamp posts in favor of year-round decorations.

Back in Fairbanks, we shopped at Material Girls fabric shop for Marilyn to have some fabric for her krewe outfit. She and Aubrey are members of Krewe de Kincaid as part of Mardi Gras in Alexandria. The 2012 theme is bears, so where better than Alaska to find good bear fabric?

Tonight we dined at Big Daddy’s Barbecue (a Guy Fieri feature). The food was very good. The cornbread was sweet and cake-like, which is a disappointment for us southern girls. Then when we walked out of the restaurant, it was pouring. But from the west, the sun was shining brightly. I got some good rainbow photos.

We returned the rental car, and are now readying for bed. Tomorrow morning we go to the train station at 7:30, and face a 12 hour ride on the train. I expect fanny fatigue to be very great by the time we arrive back at the Ship Creek Comfort Inn.

Denali

Wolf - The best animal of the day

The legendary lounging Caribou

Magpie nest - my desk indicates I could be a magpie

Grizzly bear beating a hasty retreat from my invading camera lens

The park is one stunning view after another

Ground squirrel

 We came to Denali on Wednesday, by riding the railroad up from Anchorage. We had booked into the Gold Star seating which meant we were in a raised, glassed in car. We also had preferential seating for lunch. It was a gorgeous ride up, Mt. McKinley (Denali) was visible from many miles away. It is not always visible, so that was a bonus.

We had declared our hotel from Anchorage, so we caught a shuttle and the luggage met us at the hotel. That was a nice bonus not having to schlep the bags. We reconnoitered the area and bought provisions for Thursday’s green bus tour to Wonder Lake in the park.

The tour is an eleven hour tour. I think if I had it to do again, I would go with the 7 hour tour to the Eileson Visitor’s Center. Eleven hours in a school bus that was full to capacity was not fun. The high point of the day was seeing a wolf closely. That is a rarity because there are only 71 known wolves in the 6 million acres of the park.

We saw (at great distance) caribou, moose, grizzly bears, dall sheep, and mountain goats. We also saw ground squirrels, which were very cute. They stood up like prairie dogs. They are also world class moochers, so we were sternly warned not to feed them if we lunched at Eileson.

When we got back to the Wilderness Activity Center near park headquarters, there was a moose and her two babies right outside the center. When I spotted her, she was just about 50 feet from us. By the time I got into position to photograph her, a tour bus pulled up and she fled. Our sweet young driver from the hotel found her for us, and we got a lot of photos of the moose and her babies. Most of the photos are pretty camouflaged, but perhaps I can zoom into them.

Today, we will have a few hours to wander the area and then we need to catch our bus to the depot at 2:30 to transport us to Fairbanks. There, another adventure awaits us. I think I may rent us a car, so we can get around a lot more than relying on hotel transportation.

The wireless internet card on this computer is dying. That is a frustration, but I will figure out how to deal with it. The real issue is getting online to post to the blog. Maybe I will mail it back with some extra items that I no longer need.