Denali National Park was established in 1917, however it was then called Mount McKinley National Park. Apparently people were huge fans of President McKinley and thought that was a better name than the one the native people's had called the mountain. I had to look him up because I couldn't even remember his first name or when he was president. The name debate continued and in 1980 the name of the park was changed to Denali NP but the mountain was still called McKinley. Finally, in 2015, the mountain was officially resorted to Denali. The park is a little over 6 million acres and has one road that extends 93 miles into the park. The first 15 miles is paved and open to cars, the rest is by tour bus or campground bus only. However, as ... read more

Today it was time to move on from Seward. It was a sunny, crisp morning and I was able to clearly see the surrounding mountains. I enjoyed my last morning of free breakfast, packed my bags and headed out to meet my bus. Today I had a short 2 hour ride on the Park Connection bus from Seward to Girdwood. The bus was a regular bus with nice seats and big windows. The Park Connection is a good option to get around if the train schedule does not work out in your favor. I chose to spend the night in Girdwood to break up the journey from Seward to Denali and to experience more of Alaska. Girdwood is a small town about 40 miles south of Anchorage and the main draw here is the Alyeska Resort, ... read more

Let me get this out of the way, I did not puke on the boat! Several others did, I did not. Got your attention there. Today was spent in the very capable hands of Captain Kaylee and First Mate Tammy on board the Viewfinder, a small vessel that is part of Major Marine Tours. Our destination today was Northwestern Glacier and all the sites along the way during our 8.5 hour tour. I chose to sit outside so I didn't have to wear a mask the entire trip (although the mask did double as a way to keep my face warm later in to the ride) and so it would be easy to step to the side of the boat for photos. I took 437, plus several videos on my phone. Tammy started us out with ... 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

My flight home wasn't until 5:00 PM (except then it was delayed but more on that later) and I wanted to have time to visit New Orleans before heading to the airport. Left my cozy condo at 7 AM on another foggy morning and hit the road. The drive was easy, although foggy all the way until just before the city. My friendly Google Maps navigator had me exit I-10 at Elysian Fields Ave, which runs through the 7th Ward. I noticed many of the houses looked pretty run down yet most had cheerful Mardi Gras decorations hanging on their balconies. Eventually I turned onto Decatur Street and proceeded to look for a parking lot. I read ahead of time that parking on the street in the city is not advised because the meters are tricky ... read more