We had a long day yesterday. Woke up at 4:00 a.m. & left for the Fairbanks airport at 4:30. Got to Seattle where our connecting flight to Salt Lake City was delayed over an hour. Finally got to SLC & had to jog to the gate to get there in time before they closed the plane door. Got home at 9:30 last night. But you know what? It was an amazing trip. We have just spent a wonderful 2 weeks with our guys that none of us will soon forget. I hope you have enjoyed our blog. We have had fun [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we spent the day in Fairbanks. Kay & I headed for the Riverboat Discovery & the guys rented a car & drove to the hot springs. I enjoyed the riverboat trip much more than I thought I would. It began with a seaplane demonstrating a take off & landing for us. Although we had been around seaplanes several times on this trip, this was the first time it was done just for us & done so close you could really see what happens. The next show was at the Susan Butcher's Trail Breaker Kennel. We learned more about mushing & [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we left Denali National Park for Fairbanks. But before we left, we paid a visit to Jeff King's Husky Homestead. Jeff is a champion musher & we had an opportunity to see Alaskan Huskies in training. To get us involved, when we arrived at the place, we were each handed a puppy. This is the puppy dog close at its best. Not familiar with the puppy dog close? The puppy dog close is probably the best tool ever invented in selling. If you have puppies, or kitties that you want to get rid of, you give one of them to [View Full Entry]

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There are only 2 words to describe yesterday's experience, simply amazing! We began the day with a stop at the Denali National Park. We saw a beautifully done video on the ecology of the area. There was also a great display of the history of the park & the animals there. After the visitor's center, we then left on a tour of the park. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We saw some unbelievable wildlife (No I'm not talking about activity in the back of the bus.) Our viewing included: moose, grizzly bears, a red fox, snowshoe hares, arctic ground squirrels, caribou, wolves, golden [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we traveled by train to Denali. Jenny, our tour guide, & Adam, our bartender, entertained us on the 8 hour trip from Anchorage to Denali. A train trip would not be complete without some music. With my trusty iPod & headphones, I listened to the Soundtracks from A Charlie Brown Christmas, (I couldn't resist after seeing so many Christmas trees!) Hitchcock's North by Northwest (I expected Cary Grant & Eva Marie Saint to join us in the dining car for some Reindeer Chili any minute.) & Planes, Trains & Automobiles (What travel would be complete without Steve Martin & John [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we spent a full day in Anchorage. We ate breakfast at a great little place called The Snow City Cafe. What amazing food! After breakfast, Kay & I were off to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and the guys made plans for an extended bike ride. I really enjoyed the aviation museum & Kay was a good sport & didn't complain. They had a nice collection of planes & some helicopters that were part of Alaska's heritage. Lake Hood, in Anchorage, is the largest float plane base in the world. Although we took a cab to get there, we decided [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we spent our first day back on dry land. Kay said she felt wobbly like we were still in rough water! The shipped docked at Whittier early in the morning. We then disembarked around 8:00 a.m. after a light breakfast boarded a bus for Anchorage. We passed through the longest tunnel in North America (2 1/2 miles long) on our way. The driver stopped at a little park so that we could look at some salmon & the views. When we arrived in Anchorage, it was too early to check into our rooms so we took a walk. We ate [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we spent our final day at sea. We sailed through the College Fjord & saw some amazing glaciers. This inlet was found quite by accident. John Muir was leading an expedition in this region of Alaska & the propeller on their ship became damaged & inoperable. While waiting for repair, he led an unplanned expedition by kayak into the area for his fellow naturalists where they discovered the previously undiscovered inlet to College Fjord. So named because he & his fellow travelers named the different glaciers after their Ivy League schools. We have had a wonderful experience cruising o [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we spent the day at sea. We cruised through Glacier Bay and picked up a couple of Park Rangers without even slowing down. Andy watched the whole thing & said that the Ranger's boat pulled up along side as a hatch opened at sea level to allow them to board our ship. Several hours later, they left the ship the same way. The Rangers spent the day talking about what we were seeing. Kay & I went to a presentation by one of them about water & how the glaciers were/are formed, etc. It was incredibly interesting as I was [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we went to Skagway. We rode the train from Skagway to White Pass Summit. A 3 hour tour (sounds like Gilligan's Island) on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. The WPYR is a narrow gauge railroad (36" c to c rails) that has both steam & diesel/electric locomotives. A diesel/electric has a diesel engine that powers an electric generator that supplies power to an electric generator to run an electric motor that powers the train (You probably didn't want to know that much about it.) The views along the way were spectacular & we had a great time. When [View Full Entry]

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