Blogs from Alaska, United States, North America - page 5

A long day, but so worth it. I was to meet the Park Connection bus at 12:30 at the gas station in Girdwood. So I had time to kill in the morning and all I did was read in the cozy robe provided by the resort. Check out was 10 AM and I was hungry so I went to the grab and go place, got a salad and ate it outside. Took the Girdwood free shuttle back to the gas station to wait for the bus to arrive. This Tesoro station is super busy. Apparently it's the only gas between Anchorage and Seward so no wonder! The bus was not full and I was able to get a set of seats to myself with good views of the Turnagain Arm. The tide was way out so ... read more

Today was my last day in Seward and it was pretty relaxing. I slept in and ate a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. The only thing on my agenda for today was a visit to the Alaska Sea Life Center. The Sea Life Center is at the other end of town from my hotel. To get there I walked along the coastal walkway, a nice paved path that winds through campgrounds and along the coast with amazing views the entire way. There were lots of families sitting down to breakfast next to their campers or out walking their dogs. There are signs along the path with information on Seward and the nature surrounding it. Several focus on the earthquake of 1964. It was a 9.2 earthquake, the second largest ever recorded, and the quake plus resulting ... read more

Today I took the Coastal Classic train to Seward and hiked to Exit Glacier. Both were amazing! The day started early. Honestly I was up at 2 AM (5 AM Chicago time) and couldn't go back to sleep. So I had a snack and did some reading. Finally it was 5:30 and time to check out and head over to the train depot to check in. A light rain was falling but the walk to the depot was 5 minutes so I decided to walk rather than use the shuttle. They have a handy luggage check right outside the depot and will tag your bag with the hotel name so it goes straight from the train to the hotel on arrival. A few minutes later I had my boarding pass and fancy Gold Star pin. Car ... read more

Leading up to this trip there was one big question, would it even happen? The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on since early 2020 and the recent Delta variant has caused a surge in cases. I booked this trip at the end of October 2020 using a travel company out of Anchorage. The advantage to me was having one point of contact if I needed to cancel and travel protection to be able to get a full refund. Fortunately, Alaska is still open to visitors who are in desperate need of a vacation after sitting at home since March 2020! I like to be to the airport early as I don't like to be rushed through security and have to sprint to get to my flight. My dad dropped me off at O'Hare at 6:30 and ... read more

mileage - 173 miles Our lodge accommodations last night looked like they were right out of a story book – exactly what you would imagine in the middle of the Alaskan Mountain Range: beautiful, hand-hewn logs, rock fireplaces and views of the mountains where it snowed overnight. We were roughly 30 miles from civilization and so for dinner we had a choice of fresh salmon (cooked one way) from the nearby river for supper (thankfully we all like salmon), but there was something weird about the salad dressing that made our eyes burn??? Although good, it had to be eaten with our eyes closed. Like little kids anxiously waiting for Santa, we were all up most of the night at the Lodge. If it wasn’t the howling and howling of the wind, it was the midnight ... read more