A Vacation to cherish

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This is a trip to cherish for lifetime!
It is our first wedding anniversary trip.
The place was already chosen.
It is Alaska, The Last Frontier.
Date: 30th Aug 2007 through 5th September 2007
Places visited: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali, coldfoot
Mode of Transport: Fly into Anchorage and RV-ing inside Alaska.

I was so eagerly waiting for this trip.
One is because we were going to Alaska for a special occasion and two is because of the first RV experience :-) Going on an RV was my wish for a long time that got fulfilled
:-)
As usual, we started late preparations and we have lots of excuses to give.
I Wish I could say that we planned it well ahead, at least for one travel :-(
I started researching about Alaska trip planning. Luckily, one of the fellow travelblogger, travelbuffs, had been there recently and it gave a good start for my research.
I ordered Milepost, which is supposed to be the Bible if you want to visit AK.
We had to go by Air, because of the limited time we had. So we did not even think about other options.

Booking the tickets was easy. We did not have so much of options.
We booked it with Alaskan airlines, the cheapest deal we could get.
ITINERARY

August 30 2007
Alaska Airlines 161
Depart: Los Angeles, CA at 8:10 AM
Arrive: Anchorage, AK at 12:31 PM
Seats: 21F, 21E, Q Class
Meal: Available for purchase

September 05 2007
Alaska Airlines 110
Depart: Anchorage, AK at 1:25 PM
Arrive: Los Angeles, CA at 9:25 PM
Seats: 26B, 26A, K Class
Meal: Available for purchase

The next big thing is finding about RV and deciding on a good RV rental. We wanted to choose a reputed RV rental as this was our first RV experience.
The link http://alaska.org/gettingaround/advice-alaska-RV-rentals.htm has given some good comparison chart on different RV Rentals in Alaska.
Our choice was not so difficult.
All the forums and discussions on RV and Alaska, unanimously voted "Great Alaskan Holidays" RV rental as the best in Alaska.
Their website, www.greatAlaskanHolidays.com has a lot of information on their RV layouts and sizes and also their policies.
We decided on a 22 feet RV as we were only 2.
When I called them up to ask for availability about 1 month before the travel date, they said they do not have any sizes available. They were already booked fully.

I was so disappointed because I did not want to take a chance with any other RV.
I asked the Representative, whether there is any chance that we might get an RV.
She asked me to call after couple of days because at times people cancel at the last minute for various reasons.
Meanwhile we also researched about other RV rentals and we chose ABC motor home rentals as a backup.
But, for us, nothing would compare to Great Alaskan Holidays, because, with Great Alaskan Holidays, we can just walk-in like we do for car rental and they have everything available in their package from linens to house keeping items.

We called after 2 days and to our luck, there was one 32 feet motor home available. Initially we were a bit reluctant because 32 feet would be way too big for us and it is like driving a bus and we might not be comfortable.
But after discussing with the representative, we came to know that it is not any special and could be driven easily as it has power steering and what not.
We finally made up our mind for a 32 feet RV and booked our rental with Great Alaskan Holidays.

Now comes the last and most important part, the Travel Itinerary preparation.

Well, we had 1 week in hand. Alaska is way too big to be covered completely in one week. We knew that we were going to cover only a very small portion of Alaska.
This time we also had to consider that we are RV-ing for the first time and so we had to calculate time based on the speed with which we could go in RV.

Aurora, Glaciers and wildlife were the attractions that drove our planning.
We wanted to increase our chances of getting a glimpse of all of these in our short trip.

After research, we decided on spending our time in Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks and see all the places in between them. We planned a trip that is not too rushing, because we wanted to enjoy the evenings, experiencing RV life.

I did not buy the 2007 tour saver book because we did not plan on much of tours and also most of the tour deals expired by 31st August 2007.

We called Great Alaskan Holidays to know about the things we might need to take. There was nothing that we needed to take other than the Indian spices and Indian Groceries for cooking.

Only thing that we were warned about was non availability of quality Rv Parks.
Initially I did not want to restrict our stay to only RV parks. I was thinking of staying out in the wild where there would not be full hook ups (I will explain my experience with RV later). But Balaji was reluctant. He did not want to take a chance as this was our first trip.
So we restricted our night stays only in RV parks.
Most of the RVs (except Denali) did not require us to pay anything in advance for blocking. They would usually write names and then you are supposed to just walk in and choose among available spots.

We started packing our things slowly as the Travel week approached.
We took all the grocery items needed for a week, insect repellant (just in case), Medicine kit (out usual travel kit), camera, laptop and other usual things.

30th August 2007

The D-Day arrived. We were so excited.
We had already kept our tickets in our carry-on bag 2 days ago.
We started from our home at 6.30 thinking that the flight is at 8.45.
We had to leave our car in airport parking, catch the shuttle and go to the airport.
Only after getting into the shuttle bus did we realize that the flight was actually at 8.15. The time was already 7.25.
The Parking was just 5 minutes away from airport. So we still had hopes.
We got into the check-in counter exactly 40 mins before departure. So our baggage check in was accepted and we were just on time for the flight.
We already knew that Alaskan airline does not have a complimentary breakfast service. I wonder why. It was the case for Aloha Airlines too when we went to Hawaii.
I hate Flight journeys. It is so boring. I would usually go through the flight magazine for the 10th time not knowing what to do. I would not get sleep too and I can't read novels :-(
Luckily Alaskan Airlines had a paid entertainment service where we can get a small E-player with monitor for 10 dollars and watch their featured movies and some channels.
We got that and watched couple of movies. They also gave a complimentary splitter, so we could share the entertainment box. We watched Phone Booth and Namesake. It was a nice time pass….
5 hours flew so fast because of the entertainment. We reached anchorage on time. As we approached Anchorage, we could see endless terrain of glaciers and mountains that gave the initial glimpse of what is in store.
The weather was a pleasant 55 degrees @ Anchorage.
Great Alaskan Holidays have a complimentary pickup from airport to the rental office.
We need to call them after claiming baggage. We called them up and they were already there!
We had a warm welcome from the staff driver. She was talking a bit about Alaska. She is originally from Michigan.
We reached the office in 10 minutes. It had a huge collection of RVs in its parking lot.
The office also had a display of RVs inside. The office was indeed big.
One of the Rental Agents took us to a private room with glass walls with a TV and DVD player.
The room was all ours for the next 45 minutes where we were supposed to listen to the instructions about RV and driving RV.
It was too good. It covered almost all do's and don'ts in driving RV. One thing that w noted with care is that if we cause an accident in RV because of not turning wide enough or by leaving the slide outs out or the steps outside, then the insurance would not cover it and we have to pay the liability. So we made sure that we kept the steps intact and nothing was protruding out before starting from every place.
Also, I have to get out, go to the back and instruct the driver while taking reverse.
We had already got an overview of RV from one of Balaji's colleague who owns an RV.
So we found it very easy to follow. Someone who does not have any idea about how RV works might have few questions. But it was a very nice video.
After we finished watching video, we started the rent formalities.
It was an easy process. We had to get only the Bread toaster additionally. Everything else was already part of the package.
We were given the keys and we were shown our home for the next whole week. We could not wait to hit the road. We had few doubts which we clarified with one of the agents. They were very patient and helpful. We were so happy to see inside the RV. It was like a home. It had a bedroom with side tables, lots of storage space, a fridge, a dining table, a couch, kitchen cabinet and Gas stove, bathroom, Toilet etc......This is all two people would need to run their life. It reminded me of all the unnecessary things that I have at my house
;-)
It also had all the basic utensils needed for cooking.
We were very hungry as it was already late afternoon. We were told that there was a Thai restaurant near-by. We could not find it out. It was a road with busy traffic. We could not just get into a street and go backwards. We started to experience the difference in driving RV.
We decided to forego Thai restaurant and decided on a Chinese buffet that caught our attention. We went inside a road which we thought would take us near the restaurant. We stopped in front of a shop at the back of the restaurant. That shop owner said that we could not park there and it was only for his customers :-( Every time we had to take reverse in the parking lot, I am supposed to get down and show hand signs to help the driver taking the RV in the reverse direction as he could not see it.
We had to get into the road and turn into the next right to get into the front of the restaurant. Finally with great difficulty, we finally finished our lunch. We decided that we should not stop often.
We proceeded to one of the famous grocery store in Alaska, Fred and Meyer. We had to load the RV with all the groceries needed for 1 week. We got vegetables, fruits, water and other accessories needed.
By 5.00 we hit the Seward Highway to get into Park's highway to reach Talkeetna by evening.
We did stop at couple of places in between. Once we hit the Highway, we became quite comfortable with the RV.
One can go in a speed of 65 Miles/hour almost in all the highways, except for Richardson / Glenn Highway (Of all the roads in which we went).
We reached Talkeetne by 7.30. We checked in and got ourselves a spot.
We had to get a flash light and gloves. We went into the so called downtown Talkeetna. There were couple of shops there and lots of tour operator offices.
The entire downtown would be about two miles. It ends in the Talkeetne River. It is a nice calm place. We spent some time in Talkeetna river and headed back to our RV for Dinner preparation. I made Rasamalai as our Wedding ammiversary sweet for the next day.

We finished our dinner by 10.00. By then, heavy rain had started. My goodness, it has been years since I saw such a rain. The thunderstorm was literally shaking the RV! I could see the lighting right by the bedroom windows!!! I was so scared. But then, with all the tiredness I fell asleep....

31st August 2007

The next day we got ready, wore our Wedding anniversary Dress, and did some small celebration. By the time we ht the road, it was 8.45. We initially planned to be n the Denali National park by 11.00 or 11.30 to catch the wo0nder lake shuttle @11.45. But we knew we could not make it. So we dropped that plan. The Highway started getting more and more scenic as we proceeded our way towards Denali. We stopped at few view points. We also got couple of views of Mount McKinley.

We reached Denali National park by 1.00 in the noon.
We had no option but to choose the Fish creek shuttle. That is the farthest we could go. We could not afford the whole of the next day in Denali. We had booked the Denali Grizzly Bear RV Park for that night.
We got our tickets for the 2.45 shuttle and got back to our RV for our lunch.
The tortiyas helped a lot in terms of lunch. We ate good food in the night.
By 3.00, the shuttle trip started. The driver/Ranger was a lady. The shuttle trip gets interesting only if one gets the right people on board and a knowledgeable guide. This was very much apparent in our trip. The ranger had lots of experience with wilderness. She had been working in Antarctica doing logistics for scientists and research people visiting Antarctica.
Doesn’t it sound interesting? I envy her :-(
She was explaining about how the climate in Denali is changing and what are the different researches happening in Denali.
The passengers on board were all so enthusiastic in spotting wildlife. Thanks to the enthusiastic co-passengers and a knowledgeable Ranger, the entire day was absolute fun!!!
We spotted 5 bears, 1 fox, 1 caribou, 1 Moose, lots of Dall sheeps etc.
It was so interesting watching them from distance in their own home:-)
She was telling lots of interesting stories about the Bear families in Denali :-)
We could not get a good glimpse of Denali. But we were not at all disappointed because the entire trip was totally worth while. We were happy that we got to see a glimpse of it from Park's Highway.
After having a wonderful time, we came back to Denali Grizzly Bear campground for a relaxed night with Movie and good home made food, in our home for the week :-)

September 1st 2007

The next day, we wanted to see the Dog Sled show at 9.00.
We got up and went straight to the show. We were initially allowed to see the dogs. After sometime, the show started. It is amazing to see the enthusiasm of these dogs. An interesting note from the Ranger. "Two Men started to reach earth's geographic North Pole. One used snow machine and the other one used Sled dogs. The man who used Sled dogs returned back successfully whereas there was no information on the other man who used Snow machine"
It was interesting to think about it.
The demonstration was too good. Initially I felt bad about using the dogs for labour.But after seeing the enthusiasm they show to pull the vehicle, I felt good about it.
We returned back, got ready and headed our way towards Fairbanks. The road to Fairbanks was very dry and boring.
We reached Fairbanks by evening. We went directly to our RV Park, Chena Marina RV Park, and the best RV Park that we stayed during our entire trip!
We just loved the place. It is located on a lake bed. We had floater planes right in front of us. We met some interesting people Rving there. We had to book for Arctic Circle tour. We had been contemplating on this tour and did not book till the last minute.
We tried few tours and none had availability. We were very disappointed. We were still eagerly expecting Aurora that day, even though, it was predicted to be quiet that day because we were told that they saw it the previous day even though it was predicted to be quiet.
We did not just sit outside and keep watching the sky. We were inside the RV and opened the windows so that we could see if something happens. We fell asleep without our knowledge. The next day, we also heard that there was no aurora the previous night...
2nd September 2007
As we got up we rushed to the Park office (which was closed by the time we came to the park, the previous night) to get help on Arctic Circle tour booking. .At this point we pretty much ran out of all options. The RV park associates were indeed very helpful. Paul helped in suggesting some places to see. Bill helped in getting our tickets with one of the tour companies for a fly-fly adventure which means we would go and come back by flight and it was a half a day tour. We did not have any other option. It was a bit pricey but we went for it. We booked the afternoon tour.
We got ready and went to the Museum of North. It was very good. But the northern lights show season got over by Aug 31st...So we could not see it. But the museum was very good with lots of interesting displays.

After spending sometime in the museum, we headed for our flight Journey to Wiseman, a small village 55 miles north of Arctic Circle.
We reached there on time. We were initially briefed about our schedule. We started boarding soon after that. The captain was not so social. He was kind of a silent guy.
But there was one person from Australia, who happened to be a pilot. He was talking nicely and kept everyone entertained.
We got to see the Yukon River. We saw the Tundra as we crossed the Arctic Circle. We could see a change in the landscape. We could not see trees. It was all plain land. We were thinking of how boring it would have been to go through road!!! Neways that is why you pay less for it.
We would also have gone in the road trip, if we had got tickets!!
We landed in Wiseman International airport :-)( at least that is how our guide called it :-))
We were welcomed by our guide who took us to the Wiseman community.
The guide was a really good one. He explained lots about the activities going on there and how it is like, to be there. The roads are constructed at an elevation from the land, to avoid Mud formation because of the melting of the permafrost beneath the surface.
He was explaining a lot about all those.
People in Wiseman were living there for years. Their main food is through fishing and wildlife hunting. He showed us around Wiseman. It takes lot of Money to live in Wiseman for obvious reasons. People living there got to go to Fairbanks through flight to get things for them. For the most part, they store everything in bulk. They do hunting for livelihood. We saw their community, their Church, their Library etc.
It was an interesting experience. We stopped by in the gift shop at Cold Foot, 55 miles north of Arctic Circle, grabbed a coffee and we were on our way back to Fairbanks.
We reached Fairbanks on time and we went to Fairbanks downtown and roamed for a while.
We reached our Chena Marina RV Park in the night and were determined to see aurora.
We were told to look out around midnight...
When it was 11.30, we saw something red in the sky. It was not dancing or anything, but it was like a Red patch in the sky. As minutes passed by, it got wider in area and we saw a big patch. We hoped that it was aurora and it was indeed a quiet one. We took some snaps and went to bed.

3rd September 2007

We had a long way back to Anchorage, the next day.
We started around 9 in the morning towards North pole, AK.
We bid our final good bye to Chena Marina staff who were very helpful and engaging and proceeded to see Santa Claus.

It was close by. We met Santa and his wife. Mostly children only were taking pictures with Santa :-) I guess we were the only adults to take picture with Santa in that crowd :-) Neways who cares!
After taking few snaps and going around the Gift shop, we proceeded onto Richardson Highway! We stopped at Delta Junction for lunch.
It was a long drive indeed. Richardson Highway is so scenic with wonderful fall colors on both sides of the road. After 4 to 5 hours of travel we hit the Glenn Highway. As we approached Glenn Junction we were contemplating between Valdez vs. portage. We were supposed to stay in portage that night... But lots of people told so much about Valdez so we were thinking. We went into the information center at the Glenn junction and found that it was impossible to make both Valdez and Seward.

We decided to stick to our original plan. But I wanted to get a glimpse of Wrangell National park, whose entrance was just 10 miles from the junction. Unfortunately the park was closed by that time. So we returned back and proceeded in Glenn towards Anchorage. I never thought Glenn Highway would be this bad. Road work added to the misery. There was no traffic but, the roads were winding, and there was absolutely no light!!!!
We were about to hit a Mom Moose and two small kid mooses which just crossed the road from nowhere on the pitch dark highway. We were less than 100m we were so close to hitting them...Thank God...We escaped...
I had reserved the Glacier tour with Prince William Sound, that morning... I suddenly I got a call from them warning that they are keeping weather watch and our tour might be cancelled the next day. They asked us to call back at 9 A.M the next day to confirm the schedule.
We were so disappointed. We did not have any other option too as it was our last day of the vacation
By the time we reached Anchorage Downtown, it was already 10. Portage would take another hour and we were yet to have dinner. So we decided to stay in Anchorage that night in the same RV Park that we decided to stay for the next day.
The Creek wood Inn RV park is the one the we liked the least of all RV parks. It is not so neat compared to our other RV parks and it is right inside Anchorage. Well, that is why we chose it for the last night's stay so that we can easily reach the Great Alaskan Holidays the next day... But because of time, we had to stay there for one more night :-(
We checked in, had our dinner and slept.

4th September 2007

We started around 8 in the morning, the next day. We thought we would check with Prince William Sound tours at 9 and if they cancel, we would drive straight to Seward for the half a day Kenai Fjords tour.
Luckily they did not cancel the tour. There was a storm that missed the coast, the previous night. We went into portage and had a quick look at the portage glacier. We went into the national park near portage and came on time for the 11.30 A.M Whittier Tunnel opening. The place was so nice, full of nature.
We crossed the tunnel and went into the Prince Williams Sound office for confirmation. We were asked to come straight to the cruise at the right time.
We parked our RV and reached the Klondike Express parking area.
We went in. The cruise was so nice from the interior. We were lucky that day because there were only 25% of the seats filled up.
We were given complimentary snacks.
We could move around anywhere after the Cruise started. As we were geared up with all winter clothing we were comfortable standing outside.
It was a nice and comfortable cruise.
We saw Seabirds, otters, harbor seals. We got a glimpse of whale but could not get to view it fully.
We saw lots of glaciers and water falls.
It was a day well spent. We met an entrepreneur from Bay area who is an Indian.
We reached back the Whittier port on time.
We went straight to the Alaska wildlife conservation center. It was a cool trip.
We then proceeded further in Seward Highway. We did not go all the way up to the end.
We would have gone 75% of the distance.
We drove back and got some spectacular sunset along Turnagain arm.
We relaxed that night recalling our experiences and packed off our things.

5th September 2007

We got up relaxed, the next day and started towards the Great Alaskan Holidays Rental office for returning our RV. We took some nice pictures inside and outside the RV.
We were suggested to go to Flat Mountain nearby from which we can get a very good view of the entire Anchorage. But we were not in a mood to hike. We told that we would go to airport, check-in and roam around if we have time.
Their Free shuttle dropped us at the airport. After checking in and getting our boarding pass, we went to the information center and asked for the taxi service. We got into a Taxi and went to Anchorage downtown. We roamed around the downtown for couple of hours, had lunch and returned back for boarding.
The Taxi driver who dropped us back at the airport was so friendly and told lots of good information about Alaska and life in Alaska. I did envy him :-)
Our trip was going to end. It was THE BEST trip we have ever had and the RV played an important role in it.
It was indeed a memory of lifetime.
We did not feel bored in the return flights as we were slowly chewing our wonderful memories in Alaska.

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Comments

[Harold H. Fink]

Beautiful
You guys had a wonderful trip! My son and I just returned from three days at a lodge on the western side of Cook Inlet, taking pictures of bears (we saw about 50) and it was great. I'm trying to convince my wife that we should do what you did for our 48th(!) anniversary. I too have qualms about driving a big RV.

[vividvoyagers]

Thanks!
Hi Harnold! Thanks for visiting and thanks for your comments:-) I sincerely wish you make it to Alaska for your 48th Anniversary:-)

[vividvoyagers]

Yeah we did not see much of Bears
Yeah! We also heard that somewhere near cook's inlet is THE place for Bear viewing. There were lots of Bear viewing Flight tours. But they were too pricy. You did a good thing by staying there itself... May be some other time if everyhting works out:-) I LOVE Bears:-)

[travelbuffs]

Phew! what a pace...
The trips that took us 4 yrs to make, took you'll just 1. I envy you! Glad to know the RV experience was great! Maybe you could RV in a place that does not have a downtown. :-)

[vividvoyagers]

Thanks Travelbuffs!
Yeah....Even I realized that we had spent too much this year for travel!!!Neways did not regret for a single one:-) U are right....Never get an RV to spend time in downtown.....It is really a pain!!!:-) I should mention that ur Alaska travel blog was helpful in initial planning:-)