Finland! Ethan and I are on a trip to Lapland for his Bar Mitzvah. After a flight that can only be described as horrendous we landed in Rovaniemi, Lapland, and saw snow, icicles and pine forests. We were tired yet excited. Passport control went quickly and without a hitch in the tiny airport, and our guide and bus were waiting for us right there. We did the mandatory horsing around in the snow before getting on the bus, where our guide, Dror, introduced himself and told us what he had planned for the remainder of the day. He took us to lunch, nothing to write home about. Low grade fast food, but after our flight we really didn't need anything more. From there we went into the town of Rovaniemi and got our outfits. The outfit ... read more

We did quite a bit today, and it was all good. After breakfast we drove out through Stanley Park and over the Lionsgate Bridge to the Capilano salmon hatchery. There is no guided tour there, but it is built with tourists in mind, so you can follow a self-guided tour of the facility with explanations and models along the way. And, of course, you can watch the fish in the fish ladders and rearing ponds. So we learned a bit more about salmon and trout in British Colombia. We then went for a walk around the Capilano river. There are several trails around the hatchery, winding their way through gorgeous old growth forest, between ancient trees, over bridges and around moss-covered boulders. Absolutely beautiful. We got back to the car and drove along the Sea-to-Sky highway ... read more

Today was a long day. Literally! It started on Monday, July 27th at 8:00 am and ended on Tuesday, July 28th at around 11 pm! You do the math. We woke to a drizzly morning, got packed and left Denali Cabins to see the dog sled demo at the park. That was cool. Despite the rain we got to see the dogs, pet them and get to know them a little. Each dog has his (or her) own kennel and they are wonderfully cared for. Each has a sign with their name, and some had additional information like 'It's my birthday today' or 'I'm retiring this year after 8 years of service'. A ranger called everyone under an awning for the demo and she explained about the dogs, what they do in the park and why ... read more

What a day! Our rafting tour is scheduled to pick us up from the Denali cabins at 11:30, so we first went shopping in 'downtown', about 10 miles up the road. Downtown Denali is a lot bigger than downtown Whittier, but still not big by any stretch of the imagination. There are two 'general stores' with small selections of basic groceries and large selections of liquor, some restaurants, a gas station and lots of souvenir shops and tour operator offices. We bought some milk, bread, cereal and returned to the cabins. The bus picked us up at the Denali cabins on time. Let me tell you a bit about the buses here at Denali. All the buses that work in the area are old school buses that were reconstituted to work the tours here. Your basic ... read more

Today we went ice climbing! And it was cool! We met our guide for the day, Max, and he outfitted us with boots, crampons, harnesses and gloves. We hiked to the Root Glacier and Max made a couple stops on the way to explain what to do in the off chance we meet a bear (I won't keep you in suspense - we didn't), he showed us a boulder that was carried down from way up in the mountains by the glacier (the First Nation peoples have a better story - they were put there by giants in case of war, so they'd have rocks to throw at the enemy). We got to the glacier and put on our boots and crampons under Max's tutelage. He showed us how to walk on the glacier, it's not ... read more