Alaska Itinerary

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For some reason I dreaded turning 30. Still have no real idea why but at the time it wasn't something I was looking forward to. To cheer myself up I made a bucket list of things to do by the time I turned 40. That bucket list included a few things but the main item was to have visited all 50 states. At the time I had 8 left to go to. As of 9/1 I will have set foot in all 50 states at least once. Some were brief visits, some were longer than needed visits (10 days in Nebraska???), some were repeat visits but all provided me with opportunities to learn something new, see something new and broaden my horizons. America is full of beautiful places and beautiful people. There are corners that will leave you breathless from the pure beauty and there are corners that will fill your heart with sadness. Travel means different things to different people and for me it is a chance to get away from the familiar and learn how different, yet the same, everywhere really is.

Before I get to my itinerary I would like to thank my parents who loaded us 3 girls into our van each summer, started each morning off by getting out the tape recorder (if you don't know what that is, I'm sorry, I'm old!) to say the current mileage on the car, what the plan was for the day and had us each say our names (like the people in the car were going to change each morning) and took us on so many adventures. I realize we were very fortunate to be able to take all of those summer vacations and do not take any of them for granted, even the 10 days in Nebraska.

Without any more ado, here is my 40th birthday present to myself, Alaska!

9/1 - Fly from O'Hare to Anchorage. Overnight at the Comfort Inn

9/2 - Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic to Seward, Exit Glacier Hike, Lodging 3 nights at Harbor 360 Hotel

9/3 - Kenai Fjords Northwestern Fjords Cruise

9/4 - Free day in Seward

9/5 - Bus to Girdwood, Overnight at the Alyeska Resort

9/6 - Bus to Denali, Lodging 4 nights at Denali Bluffs Hotel

9/7 - Free day in Denali

9/8 - Denali Tundra Wilderness bus tour

9/9 - Denali Walking Tour guided hike

9/10 - Bus to Anchorage, afternoon in Anchorage, overnight flight from Anchorage to O'Hare

9/11 - Arrive O'Hare

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