We left Valdez made a short stop at the information center. It was open this time, and they have explanations on the process of fish raising at the hatchery. Now we understand what we saw yesterday. They also had some animal skins and the kids wore bear skins. We made the long drive to Chitina, with an emergency gas stop along the way at a tiny gas station with one pump in the middle of nowhere. We went on our way uneventfully and got to the Chitina airstrip, and within a few minutes our plane came for us, a tiny one propeller plane with just enough room for the four of us and the pilot. Tamar got to be the copilot, and Ethan will co-fly the plane back. That was a fun flight! A bit bumpy, ... read more

We got up really early today. Six o'clock. Got dressed warm, had breakfast and headed out to Seward, to the office of Kayak Adventures Worldwide, a small outfit that takes folk out on kayaking trips in the area. We got there on time, 7:15, and met the team there. Our guide Emily set us up with rain pants and all the gear we'd need for the trip, including sandwiches and snacks for lunch. We packed into a van with another group and rode down to the dock (just 5 minutes away), and loaded up onto our water taxi for the ride to Aialik Bay. A two and a half hour ride, and the captain of the boat kept close to the cliffs where we had the best chance to see wildlife. He pointed out a bald ... read more

Our first day in Alaska! After a long (well, it seemed long) and uneventful flight we landed in Anchorage late last night. Strangely enough our suitcase was one of the first out! And when we stepped out to look for a taxi there was one right there. I hope this is a sign of things to come. We got to our room at the Historic Anchorage hotel in the center of town. Our room is huge! And really nice. The name fits the hotel, yet the WIFI works well, TV, coffee machine, fridge. Historic but not run down. Anyway we crashed. We were up for breakfast, which was usual hotel fare, and went out. We rented bicycles from just up the street from the Downtown Bicycle Rental. Very nice, pleasant team who set everything up for ... read more

Ok, I guess I owe y'all another two days' worth of blog. I'll start with yesterday, July 13th. We left the Ramada at Harrison Hot Springs (a very poor hotel), did a little souvenir shopping and made our way towards the USA. On the way we saw lots of raspberry-like bushes along the roadside, and even saw someone who stopped on an adjacent street complete with hat and gloves picking berries. Needless to say, we stopped at the first available opportunity and filled our bellies with delicious, juicy, sweet raspberries (or blackberries, I dunno. Tasty berries). Just a few minutes later we were at the border crossing. The wait wasn't too long, I guess we were lucky. Just 15 minutes or so. The border police who checked our passports had a little chat with us, advised ... read more

Well, we left Golden today, going further west. We had a relatively easy day today, driving less than 200 km. We stopped at the Glacier National Park center for a parks pass, and on the way we noticed a sign saying we just gained an hour to the day! We passed a time zone by car. That's a first for me! The Glacier Park center was very nice, with good exhibits about the railway and highway 1, and the wildlife of the area. We also got some advice on how to continue the day, which was very helpful. We took the advice of the parks guide there and stopped at the Hemlock Grove Boardwalk in Glacier NP, a short yet beautiful walk in the only cedar & hemlock rain forest in the world. We strolled among ... read more