Geo: 61.2176, -149.858... read more

Geo: 62.459, -150.244The following morning we took the so-called Husky Homestead tour, which involved a visit to the kennel of Iditarod dog race champion Jeff King. It seems that every single person who has ever won the Iditarod runs tours of their respective kennels, at which you get to hold the puppies and watch the dogs train. That said, we had been directed to not miss this tour to Jeff King's place. You'll see from the pictures that the puppies really are that cute. That said, aside from the dog demonstrations, we particularly enjoyed Jeff's speech, during which he recounted some of his experiences – he's run the race every year for more than 20 years, and is going again in 2010 – and what it was like to raise his family up there. K bought ... read more

Geo: 63.2237, -151.002The train was really nice, with upstairs seating around table and large panaromic glass windows all around and above. Each car also had an outside viewing area downstairs, as well as more open seating. There was also a dining car and – of course – gift shop. The train was to take us all the way up to Denali National Park, almost 500 miles north. The trip took an admittedly tiring 10 hours. Much was compensated for, however, by the stupendous scenery. As we left Whittier and headed toward Anchorage, we went through endless dead forests created after the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. We heard much about the earthquake over the coming week, as it left an indelible mark on huge swaths of Alaska. The earthquake registered 9.2 on the Richter Scale, making it ... read more

Geo: 60.9611, -148.087After leaving Glacier Bay, we had a lot of sea to cover, as we were cutting across the Gulf of Alaska to reach our final point. On Sunday early afternoon, we entered Prince William Sound – of Exxon Valdez "fame" – and again found ourselves passing through incredibly beautiful fjords. I was surprised by the sudden appearance of dozens of fishing boats – private and commercial – all around us. To me, I felt very conspicuous as our huge ship plyed by them, but most of the fishermen never even looked up. Our destination was College Fjord, which is home to more than 20 glaciers of different types and size. As with Glacier Bay, as we entered Prince William Sound we suddenly saw all kinds of sealife -- whales, seals, and lots of sea ... read more

Geo: 60.1735, -134.704... read more