6/10/13

After an early breakfast this morning, we walked down to the main lodge lobby for our nature hike.  Unfortunately, Lana wasn’t feeling well so she stayed behind.  Our guide was a free spirit who had been a massage therapist/ski bum in Colorado.  He was quite knowledgeable about the flora on the walk though.  The trek was not for sissies, however.  We donned rubber mucking boots and he handed out walking sticks.  Much of the trail was uphill and muddy and it rained off and on.  If Lana had to miss an excursion, this was the one to miss!  We saw lichen, mosses, windflowers, many flowering berry bushes (blueberry, lingonberry, currant), and bracket fungus.  The locals used to hollow these out and put their embers from the fire in to carry from hunting spot to hunting spot.  We came across a stream where the ice was still quite thick – we could see the stream running below the ice.  We got back just in time to board the coach for a short ride to the train station.  Our group had a glass-topped coach and the views on our way to McKinley were great!  Kelly and I stood out on the open platform for a while taking shots of the scenery.  I can see how people can fall in love with the beauty of this state.  There is only one problem here and this is spelled: W I N T E R!  In Fairbanks, the temperatures ranged from -65 to +95 this past year!  The local college kids have a tradition of donning their bathing trunks and bikinis and having their picture taken in front of the large thermometer on campus when the temperature reaches -60!  The other thing about the cold temps is the stress on the cars.  All of the local cars have a plug hanging out of their grills.  At every parking lot, there are electrical stands where you can plug in when you park.  There is a pad in the car, which warms the engine block, radiator and oil pan.  At any rate, we had a lovely train ride and got to Talkeetna around 5 PM.  We then had an hour bus ride to our hotel, which is located just 40 miles from Mt. McKinley (Denali).  The views were terrific, but the mountain was obscured by clouds a bit.  We are hoping that they will clear away.  We had a lovely dinner in the Mountain View Restaurant and then came back to our rooms.  Lana and Kelly are going to do laundry tonight, but I think I will do it tomorrow

6/9/13 Denali National Park

We got up early this morning to have breakfast before our Denali Tundra Tour.  The weather was cold, but clear so we had great hopes of both spotting wildlife and seeing Denali (only about 30% of visitors see it as it frequently is hidden in the clouds).  What a fabulous day we had!  The weather was perfect and we saw so many animals!  There were moose, including a female and her calf who came right next to the bus, caribou, Dall sheep – the males with their curly horns, ewes and some lambs, a willow ptarmigan, the Alaska state bird, a red fox which ran right next to the bus for a while, and grizzley bears.  The first time we saw one from a distance – it was chasing a moose and her calf, but fortunately did not catch them (probably didn’t want to put in the effort).  We saw a few more from a distance, but then we spotted one very close to the road.  He was digging in the ground for roots or insects and paid us no mind – we watched him for quite some time.  We also saw ground squirrels, who looked like prairie dogs and are, along with the arctic hare, the main prey in the area.  The wildlife was amazing, but the wildflowers were also wonderful, although the peak is probably a week or two away.  The most amazing thing though was to see Denali – it was majestic!  We were able to see both the north and south faces before the clouds obscured the peaks.  Our tour guide/driver, Rebecca, was fantastic and since today was her birthday, I think she brought us good luck in seeing all that we did.  This was the best day ever – we saw much more than I dreamed we would.  When we returned, we had an hour before it was time to go to dinner.  Dinner was fabulous!  I had Alaskan King Crab – delish!  The chocolate cake for dessert was good, but the homemade huckleberry ice cream that was the ala mode was absolutely scrumptious!!!  (this endorsement from a non-ice cream person).  I am looking forward to our train trip tomorrow – we are headed closer to Denali and am hoping for the same wonderful weather we had today.

6/8/13 Denali National Park

      

Today we got on the bus after breakfast to head to Denali National Park.  We drove for a while and stopped at Nenana Cultural Center for a rest stop.  The locals have a lottery going to pick the day and hour that the ice will break-up in the Tanana River.  We each bought a ticket – my choice was 5/1/14 at 8:08 PM.  This year was the latest the ice has broken and it happened on 5/20!  As we traveled along, our tour guide told us about a little town close to the park called Ferry.  Ferry only has about 50 inhabitants, but the town is split by the Nenana River and to get to the other side you have to drive 12 miles up to the bridge and then drive 12 miles back.  The people of the town used to cross on the railroad trestle (in the middle of town) with their ATV’s until the railroad decided that it was too dangerous and stopped that custom.  People continued doing it until a large fine was imposed on anyone who crossed the trestle.  The town decided to get back at the railroad company so every day when the train went by, the entire town would stand outside and moon the train!  This continued for 17 days until finally the railroad company caved and built a small bridge for the residents of Ferry!  The funny thing was that our bus driver was from Ferry!  We got to Denali National Park and found that we have a beautiful hotel right on the Nenana River and looking at the mountains – it is quite spectacular.  Dinner tonight was a dinner/show: The Music of Denali.  It was a bit hokey, but the young actors/waiters looked like they were having a good time.  The two pictures for today are the view from our hotel window and a shot of the sky from the bus.  As you can see the weather is very changeable – it started pouring about 2 seconds after I took this shot!

6/7/13 Fairbanks

Last night we drove about 60 miles to Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum.  On our way we picked up a couple with their adult daughter from Ohio.  The daughter had just graduated with a teaching degree and this is her graduation present - a trip to Alaska.  The other young lady that joined us works at the hot springs.  She was one of those people who is not sure what she wants to do in life so is trying everything.  Her last job was in Hawaii working for a Boys and Girl's Club and now she is working at the desk at the resort on the hot springs property.  At any rate, we had dinner when we arrived (around 8 PM).  The salad was very fresh as the veggies are grown hydroponically in the greenhouse on the property.  Dave and I had halibut for our main course while the rest of our group had salmon.  Have I ever mentioned that Lana is the Salmon Queen?  She eats it at every opportunity - she even had a salmon omelet for breakfast yesterday morning!  After dinner, we toured the Ice Museum.  We donned parkas and saw the workshop where the ice sculptors (a husband and wife team) work.  There were tons of ice blocks being stored in there also.  The next room highlighted some of the art work - all made of ice!  There were full-sized statues of horses, knights, samuri, animals, etc.  There was also a bar all carved of ice where you could sit on an ice stool (covered with reindeer hide) and sip appletini's poured into glasses carved from ice.  Lana and Kelly tried them out - very cold, especially on the lips!  At the back of the museum were hotel rooms carved into the ice.  You can stay there for $200 a night.  Of course, the beds would be covered with reindeer hide and heavy down comforters!  There was even an ice outhouse in the room!  I was happy to get back outside after the tour to warm up!  The setting here is quite woodsy and the mosquitoes were out in force - some of them were quite large (in fact, the mosquito is the unofficial state bird).  From the ice house, Kelly and I went to the hot springs, which felt wonderful!  The funniest thing happened though.  As we walked down the ramp to enter the hot springs, there was a goose on the other side of the fence who honked as we went by - it seemed that he was laughing at us in our bathing suits!  What a rude bird!  We hopped back into the van and arrived back at our hotel at about 1 AM - yikes!  It was still light out though.  It doesn't ever really get dark.  In Fairbanks, you can golf and play baseball at midnight!

This morning, we got up early and had a welcome breakfast where we met our guide for land tour as well as our fellow passengers.  We then boarded a bus and visited a goldmine that was active until the 1950's.  It is now a tourist attraction and quite well done.  We had a talk about the Alaskan pipeline (Aleyska, meaning great land).  We could see a bit of it right near the mine.  There are 800 miles of pipe that runs both above and below ground and presently carries about 600,000 barrels of oil per day.  They have something they call a stupid pig, which runs through the pipe scraping the sides to loosen the petroleum products that clog the progress of the oil.  When they run through the pipe, it is the only time you will hear any noise emanating from the pipes.  There is also a smart pig, which runs through and takes measurements and images to make sure the pipe is not damaged in any was.  The above ground portions of the pipeline are situated so that they can take an 8.5 earthquake and not be damaged.  It was very interesting.  Each Alaskan gets a subsidy from the pipeline of between $300 - $2200 each year.  We then took a train to the mining operation.  On the way, various methods of mining through the years was described and demonstrated from the used of pick-ax and shovel to the dredge method.  We were each given some gravel to pan at the sluice way.  Everyone found at least a few flakes of gold.  Each of our findings was weighed.  Lana and I each found $6 worth, Kelly found $9 and John was the big winner with $21!  It was great fun and Lana and Kelly purchased glass pendants, which included the found flakes.

Our next stop was to the stern-wheeler (five decks high) on the Chena River.  We had lunch of miner's stew, cheddar and ale soup or vegetable pasta and then boarded the boat for a ride on the river.  Along the way, we had a demonstation of a small sea plane take-off and landing right next to the boat.  Small planes are very important in Alaska as there are people who live in isolated places with no roads.  We also stopped along the banks at a dog training facility where sled dogs are trained.  There were a couple of 5-week old puppies (absolutely adorable) who were trying to climb over a log on command - very amusing.  The older dogs gave a demonstration by pulling a tractor. They were very excited to be pulling and were extremely fast.  The woman who won the Iditarod Trail sled dog race an unprecedented four times with her dog Granite lived there until her death a few years ago.  Granite was a shy, scraggley pup, but Susan Butcher, the handler, believed in Granite and trained him to realize his potential.  His winning the race justified her time and patience.  Susan's husband continues with the training and has written a book about Susan and Granite.  We continued down the river and then turned around to head back.  We stopped at a mock-up of a native Alaskan village and fish camp.  Some high school aged native Alaskans gave demonstrations and talked about the life of their forefathers.  They all did a wonderful job.  We paddled back up the river, which is high at this time of year, past a variety of housing from small cabins to palatial homes until we got back to the dock.

Dinner tonight was quite fancy and featured five different types of wine - all of whom were described by the resident wine expert.  The meal consisted of salad, halibut in wasabi and coconut sauce, beef tenderloin, vegetables, fingerling potatoes and Bananas Foster.  I think the key here is to just have a taste of everything as there is just too much food!  Tomorrow we will head to Denali National Park so hope to see some wildlife.

6/6/13 Fairbanks

Despite being exhausted from the air travel, I woke up at 4 this morning.  It was, of course, bright sunshine.  I actually woke up for a bit at 2 AM and took a peek outside.  It was dusky out, but not at all dark.  In the winter they get a mere 3 and 1/2 hours of sunlight - I don't think I could stand it.  At any rate, Dave and I took a walk along the Chena River which runs right behind our hotel.  I snapped a picture around 9 PM last night (see photo).  As you can see it is still quite light out.  The other picture of the river shows a road next to the hotel.  When the river is frozen in the winter, cars drive across - it saves about 4 miles to go that way.  According to our bus driver, the road stays open until the first car falls in the river!  We met up with John, Lana, and Kelly and had breakfast at 7.  Everything was very good and Dave even tried the reindeer sausage (I took a small taste).  We then took the shuttle into Fairbanks, downtown.  Our first stop was the Visitor's Center.  The exhibits were quite well done and we saw a short movie on the Aurora Borealis, which was very informative.  We are not here at the right time of year to enjoy it, so it was nice to see the film of such a spectacular display.  We each had our pictures taken under the moose arch (shades of Jackson Hole, WY) and then walked along the river into town.  We visited a so-so craft shop and then a very nice art gallery.  The weather here changes faster than in New England (obviously, Mark Twain never visited Alaska).  We had bright sunshine one minute and then rain the next.  Fortunately, we were aware that this could happen and had packed our raingear with us.  We ate lunch in a little sandwich shop called the Fudge Pot and then walked over to the dog sled exhibit (see the parking sign).  We hopped back on the shuttle bus and went back to the hotel.  We will go out tonight to the Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum.  I will let you know how it went tomorrow.  Apparently, I am having difficulty putting the photos on the blog.  I will try to correct this.  Okay, I think I have it fixed now.  Talk to you tomorrow.

6/5/13 Alaska

We spent most of the day flying today!  We left the house at 9 AM to pick up Lana and John and then drove to Hartford.  We had lunch in the airport and then got on the first plane (small jet) to Minneapolis. Weather there was not optimum so we had to circle for a bit.  When we finally landed, we had to run to make our connection.  Thankfully, it was on the same concourse!  We flew across Canada (very flat) and then over the Canadian Rockies - beautiful! The Yukon Territories were brilliantly green and dotted with many glacier-fed lakes (the color was a cloudy blue).  As we were descending into Fairbanks, I was amazed by the green forests and the one road that leads to this city of 30,000.  It really is at the end of the road!  As we got closer, the forest gave way to villages and the outskirts.  Most of the buildings have blue metal roofs - very colorful!  We finally got to our hotel about 12:30 AM our time, 8:30 PM Alaska time.  We read for a bit and then went to sleep.  Lana and John waited up for Kelly to get in around 11:30.

Friday/Saturday 2/1 and 2/2/13

We didn't sleep too well last night - the bed was king-sized and not too comfortable - we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed!  We got on the road at 8.  It was chilly out with a few snow flurries, but the roads were fairly clear.  We had an uneventful drive until we got to New Jersey and we missed the exit for the Tapanzee Bridge!  We were stop and go on the George Washington with heavy traffic.  I don't think I have ever been stopped on the bridge before and didn't like the swaying sensation.  We got across and finally lost most of the traffic after we got through the cross Bronx expressway.  We got home about 6 PM  and were so weary of driving that we left the suitcases in the car and will deal with them tomorrow.

We had a good night's sleep and then stepped on the scale for our anticipated weigh-ins.  Dave lost 8 pounds and I lost 6!  Now if we can just keep the momentum.  We unpacked the car and started sorting through the mountain of mail that had piled up in our absence.  We are both looking forward to hair cuts this week as we are a bit shaggy.  Tomorrow we will celebrate birthdays with Jaime, Dotty Jo and Amy.  We are happy to be home despite the difference in temperature and we are glad we came home Friday as we saw on the news that the corridor we drove through had a snow storm on Saturday!  Our next adventure will be in June as we go to Alaska (our last state!).