Alaska Trip Report 2004
Jun 27th, 2004, 05:12 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Alaska Trip Report 2004
This is my account of our wonderful trip to our 49th state. Thanks to all the people who ...filled in the blanks...for me and helped to make it an experience of a lifetime. One really can't express on paper what one sees in Alaska. It is at times spiritual. God bless Mr. Seward for buying this piece of property in the 1800's!
Rented car through Hotwire, great deal.
Day 1...Anchorage...met an old friend went to Flattop area of Anc. Actually saw a grizzly in this suburban area. Also a black bear climbing hills on Turnagain Arm. Beautiful view of the city. Drove to Girdwood. Don't miss Simon & Seaforts for dinner! Stayed at Sheraton (points) Wonderful beds and good views.
Day 2...Drove to Homer. Saw Mama Moose and 2 Babies on drive down. Stopped at Kenai Princess lodge for a stretch and food. Beautiful place. Stunning scenery.
Stayed at Land's End. Worth the money to wake up to the beautiful scenery and otters floating by outside your door. Food okay there. Ate at Homestead, WONDERFUL! Had breakfast at Fresh Sourdough...excellent.
Day 3...Halibut Cove on the Danny J. This brings you to a whole other world. Don't miss it. Wish we could have gone to Seldovia too.
Day 4...Drove to Seward.took Major Marine tour. Saw whale, mountain goats, stellar seals. Wonderful day out. Stayed at Edgewater. Nice place. Went to Exit Glacier. Saw moose on road.
Day 5...Was going to go to Talkeetna but weather was changing and knew we wouldn't see McKinley so opted to take the ferry to Valdez instead.
Whittier, where you get the ferry, is quite an experience. Horrible!!! We had to eat and the only place seemed not too nice but had surprisingly good food.
The ferry was a long ride and repetitious of the Major Marine Tour. In the long run it was a good choice to do this because of the weather. We didn't get into Valdez until 9:30. Too late for dinner at the Best Western where we stayed. Just had a snack.
Day 7...Went to Sugar and Spice...shopping and movie of the Earthquake. Took off for Copper Center. Breathtaking scenery and weather was good. Stayed at Copper Center Princess. This was ultra relaxing in an exquisite lodge. Mingling with nice people on a cruisetour. Gorgeous setting with walking trails. AND used toursaver coupon.
Went to Wrangell- St. Elias Park's visitors center. A don't miss.
Day 8...Took air ride over park. This was a highlight of our trip. Saw active volcano, herd of buffalo and otherworldly looking landscape. Loads of glaciers. In a six seater you really get into the mountains. An excellent adventure. We also took a car ride to Chitina. Nothing really there but gives a real flavor of Alaska.
By the way, we felt we were the only people in Alaska at times as there was no one on the roads.
Day 9...Off to Fairbanks. I thought the scenery on this part of the Richardson was the greatest yet. We stopped at Rika's Roadhouse for lunch. A really nice place to stop and stretch your legs. Good food, shopping, and scenery.
In Fairbanks we stayed at Pike's Landing (Toursaver coupon) but in my opinion, THE place to stay. Room was on the Chena riverbank. Food and ambience are really good. Sunday they have brunch. Great!
Day 10...Took Riverboat Cruise.(Toursaver coupon) Although a tourist thing it was wonderful. Great commentary and really well run.
Went to U of Fairbanks museum. I was pretty toured out by now but a good pastime. Fairbanks itself has nothing to get excited about. I took a picture at midnight of the sun still shining. Unreal!
Day 11...Off to Talkeetna. Again we saw moose. And all of a sudden on the ride, there was Denali in all her glory!!!! No clouds. Now we knew changing our route was well worth it. Again, breathtaking scenery.
We never planned on going into the park. A long school bus ride is just not appealing, and hey, we had seen so many animals already. (Also, we have been to Alberta where there are tons of wildlife along the road.)
Stopped at McKinley Princess for lunch.
Talkeetna is another experience. Stayed at Swiss Alaskan, quite a bit different than the Lodges we were now used to. Would have chosen Talkeetna Cabins. Looked really nice. Ate at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge overlooking Denali in all her majesty.
They're lodging prices are just way too high.
Went to the Fairview Inn where Pres. Harding supposedly had one too many and died 3 days later. Real local flavor. Nice people.
Had breakfast at the Roadhouse. More like breakfast and a half! Another wonderful experience.
Did the Mahay's river tour. Good, but a bit repetitious of the Fairbanks Riverboat tour. We had the coupon for this and did see a nesting eagle and other things that made it worthwhile.
Day 12...Where has the time gone? Back to the Sheraton in ANC. For 2 days we...
-went to Ship Creek to watch the "combat fishing"
-drove to Portage Glacier
-went to the musk ox farm in Palmer
-went to Hatcher's Pass (Great)
-met up with old friends and had a jolly good time.
Hope someone gets something out of this. So glad we opted to do it this way instead of cruising. We just had so much freedom and choices. Won't rule out a cruise in the future.
Rented car through Hotwire, great deal.
Day 1...Anchorage...met an old friend went to Flattop area of Anc. Actually saw a grizzly in this suburban area. Also a black bear climbing hills on Turnagain Arm. Beautiful view of the city. Drove to Girdwood. Don't miss Simon & Seaforts for dinner! Stayed at Sheraton (points) Wonderful beds and good views.
Day 2...Drove to Homer. Saw Mama Moose and 2 Babies on drive down. Stopped at Kenai Princess lodge for a stretch and food. Beautiful place. Stunning scenery.
Stayed at Land's End. Worth the money to wake up to the beautiful scenery and otters floating by outside your door. Food okay there. Ate at Homestead, WONDERFUL! Had breakfast at Fresh Sourdough...excellent.
Day 3...Halibut Cove on the Danny J. This brings you to a whole other world. Don't miss it. Wish we could have gone to Seldovia too.
Day 4...Drove to Seward.took Major Marine tour. Saw whale, mountain goats, stellar seals. Wonderful day out. Stayed at Edgewater. Nice place. Went to Exit Glacier. Saw moose on road.
Day 5...Was going to go to Talkeetna but weather was changing and knew we wouldn't see McKinley so opted to take the ferry to Valdez instead.
Whittier, where you get the ferry, is quite an experience. Horrible!!! We had to eat and the only place seemed not too nice but had surprisingly good food.
The ferry was a long ride and repetitious of the Major Marine Tour. In the long run it was a good choice to do this because of the weather. We didn't get into Valdez until 9:30. Too late for dinner at the Best Western where we stayed. Just had a snack.
Day 7...Went to Sugar and Spice...shopping and movie of the Earthquake. Took off for Copper Center. Breathtaking scenery and weather was good. Stayed at Copper Center Princess. This was ultra relaxing in an exquisite lodge. Mingling with nice people on a cruisetour. Gorgeous setting with walking trails. AND used toursaver coupon.
Went to Wrangell- St. Elias Park's visitors center. A don't miss.
Day 8...Took air ride over park. This was a highlight of our trip. Saw active volcano, herd of buffalo and otherworldly looking landscape. Loads of glaciers. In a six seater you really get into the mountains. An excellent adventure. We also took a car ride to Chitina. Nothing really there but gives a real flavor of Alaska.
By the way, we felt we were the only people in Alaska at times as there was no one on the roads.
Day 9...Off to Fairbanks. I thought the scenery on this part of the Richardson was the greatest yet. We stopped at Rika's Roadhouse for lunch. A really nice place to stop and stretch your legs. Good food, shopping, and scenery.
In Fairbanks we stayed at Pike's Landing (Toursaver coupon) but in my opinion, THE place to stay. Room was on the Chena riverbank. Food and ambience are really good. Sunday they have brunch. Great!
Day 10...Took Riverboat Cruise.(Toursaver coupon) Although a tourist thing it was wonderful. Great commentary and really well run.
Went to U of Fairbanks museum. I was pretty toured out by now but a good pastime. Fairbanks itself has nothing to get excited about. I took a picture at midnight of the sun still shining. Unreal!
Day 11...Off to Talkeetna. Again we saw moose. And all of a sudden on the ride, there was Denali in all her glory!!!! No clouds. Now we knew changing our route was well worth it. Again, breathtaking scenery.
We never planned on going into the park. A long school bus ride is just not appealing, and hey, we had seen so many animals already. (Also, we have been to Alberta where there are tons of wildlife along the road.)
Stopped at McKinley Princess for lunch.
Talkeetna is another experience. Stayed at Swiss Alaskan, quite a bit different than the Lodges we were now used to. Would have chosen Talkeetna Cabins. Looked really nice. Ate at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge overlooking Denali in all her majesty.
They're lodging prices are just way too high.
Went to the Fairview Inn where Pres. Harding supposedly had one too many and died 3 days later. Real local flavor. Nice people.
Had breakfast at the Roadhouse. More like breakfast and a half! Another wonderful experience.
Did the Mahay's river tour. Good, but a bit repetitious of the Fairbanks Riverboat tour. We had the coupon for this and did see a nesting eagle and other things that made it worthwhile.
Day 12...Where has the time gone? Back to the Sheraton in ANC. For 2 days we...
-went to Ship Creek to watch the "combat fishing"
-drove to Portage Glacier
-went to the musk ox farm in Palmer
-went to Hatcher's Pass (Great)
-met up with old friends and had a jolly good time.
Hope someone gets something out of this. So glad we opted to do it this way instead of cruising. We just had so much freedom and choices. Won't rule out a cruise in the future.
Jun 27th, 2004, 05:46 PM
#2
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the post. How long did it take to get to homer from seward? I'm going to take my dad at the end of august and we will take the train to seward. Appreciate the other info on Fairbanks and Talkeetna. Where did you purchase your Toursaver Book? Take a cruise some time-I'm an adventurer traveler and don't like routine but last year we spent a week in Denali and Seward and then cruised from Seward to Vancouver and it was awesome.
Jun 28th, 2004, 02:45 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Toursaver.com is where you can get the book or EBAY for less or just watch posts on these boards.
I'm not sure about Homer to Seward. 3 1/2 hours sounds about right. the roads are really beautiful for long stretches that you don't feel the time going. It is definitely not stressful driving. Some people I spoke with didn't like Homer but then again, they didn't know what to look for or do. The Spit itself is not glamorous. the experience is! Try the Salty Dawg there too. The Homer Spit is just full of RV's and people fishing.
And as for a cruise, we're a little afraid of the confinement but will probably try one in the near future. So many people can't be wrong.
I'm not sure about Homer to Seward. 3 1/2 hours sounds about right. the roads are really beautiful for long stretches that you don't feel the time going. It is definitely not stressful driving. Some people I spoke with didn't like Homer but then again, they didn't know what to look for or do. The Spit itself is not glamorous. the experience is! Try the Salty Dawg there too. The Homer Spit is just full of RV's and people fishing.
And as for a cruise, we're a little afraid of the confinement but will probably try one in the near future. So many people can't be wrong.
Jul 6th, 2004, 12:24 PM
#6
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello/delighted to see your "adventure".We are returning for the third time taking children and grands and three are booked at a Pikes Waterfront Lodge on Hoselton Rd in Fairbanks. Is this the same Pikes that you mentioned?Hope so. You comments sound good and we don't know anything about this place -rest of family will be at Westmark. Also can you tell us anything about the shuttles that run between hotels,etc..
thanks so much for your reply (we leave the 20th of July)
Woodstock,Georgia Mama
thanks so much for your reply (we leave the 20th of July)
Woodstock,Georgia Mama
Jul 8th, 2004, 04:43 AM
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi,Yes there's only one Pike's. Why isn't everyone staying there? Fairbanks downtown is not glamorous. Try to get a riverview room. The new cabins are lovely but the Lodge has so much more atmosphere. And do eat at Pike's. Right now there are serious fires in Fairbanks I'm sure you're aware of.
Jul 8th, 2004, 02:46 PM
#9
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 670
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
travelprincess- thanks for the great report. I lived in Anchorage for a short time years ago and loved it so much I cried when I had to leave! I vowed I'd get back to Alaska but so far haven't. I just might have to some day, especially after reading reports like yours.
Jul 13th, 2004, 03:09 AM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I realize the fires are not directly in Fairbanks but the smoke cover can be experienced down to Anchorage, as told to me by a resident of Anchorage. I'm not sure how under control the fires are this week. Hopefully they are.
