Advertisement
Published: June 14th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Closeup
Anchor Point, Alaska, USA Welcome Back to Travel It’s been a while since we’ve done anything that can be considered serious travel. For those of you who have been keeping up with us over the last few years, we’ve moved half way across the US to Boulder, Colorado. I’ve started (and am actually half way through) a Masters degree in Engineering Management; and, Kel has a new job in Denver. Needless to say, it’s been a busy couple of years since our last post.
With all that said, it was definitely time to get back on the road. That itch, the nagging one we travelers get when we’ve been in one place too long, had been annoying us for so long it had almost become a regular background noise to life. The only thing more annoying than feeling like you need to get back on the road is the feeling that you should have done it last year. I’m sure you know what I mean.
We had contemplated many possibilities for this next big trip. Africa?? The Middle East? But, with the travel time and expense of getting half way around the world, we settled on a place closer to home. A
Mountains and Sea
Chugach National Park, Alaska, USA place that is arguably just as wild as the plains of Africa and just as foreign to many people as the deserts of Saudi, Alaska.
My love of wildlife photography, see
The Pictures Speak For Themselves, makes me want wilderness thick with new (for me) forms of wildlife. Kel’s need to do things she’s never done before leads her to places full of fun, outdoor, things to do. And maybe the most important thing of all, we hate the heat. We’ll both take freezing cold any day over a day of 90-degree weather on a beach. Thus, Alaska seemed like a perfect fit for both of us.
What a Way To Start a Trip Traveling encompasses the best of times and the worst of times. The true sign of how you are as both a traveler and a couple really shines through when times are at their worst. Anyone can be happy when things are going perfectly, but only the experienced can handle difficulties with aplomb.
As we descended into Anchorage from our 5-hour flight from Denver, I felt like my right ear was going to explode. Pains shot from my ear all the way down my jaw and across
Admiring the Sun
Homer, Alaska, USA the front of my nose. My previous thoughts of, “Yippee Vacation, “ instead turned to, “AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!” I knew that only my sinuses could cause such pain but decided to use the “wait and see” method of medical diagnosis.
All that night I could barely hear out of my right side (which coincidentally was the side Kel always wanted to walk on) and, when I woke up the next morning, I knew the problem wasn’t going to go away. We’ve dealt with sickness abroad in much scarier places than Alaska and weren’t scared about getting it taken care of, but it was still a hassle.
We were supposed to take most of the day to travel from Anchorage down the Kenai (pronounced Keen-I) peninsula to our lodging at Anchor Point. Instead we spent all morning at an urgent care clinic getting me diagnosed with severe ear swelling and sinus issues and then heading to a pharmacy for good drugs to treat said illness.. FUN!!
Beauty and Eagles on the Way to Anchor Point The remainder of our first day in AK was spent taking the 4 plus hour drive to Anchor Point. Distances in Alaska are very
More Bald Eagle
Anchor Point, Alaska, USA deceptive. Much like looking at a map of Australia and thinking, “sure, I can drive that in one day,” Alaska’s distances don’t convey themselves well on paper. The Kenai Peninsula looks like a small jut of land south of Anchorage on the map. But in reality it’s 200 plus miles of two lane roads filled with caravans and camper vans.
Alaska has more coastline that the rest of the United States combined and is more than twice the size of Texas (the second largest US state for you non-Americans). It is larger, by itself, than all but the 18 largest sovereign nations in the world. Think about that for a minute, it’s bigger than almost every country in Europe. It takes 22 of the smallest US states combined to be as big as Alaska. Truly, mind bogglingly large considering it’s just one of 50 states in the United States.
As you can expect, much of our drive was through gorgeous country. The first half of the drive is through the Chugach National Park that consists of rivers and mountains that are gorgeous. The second half of the drive ends out on the north side of the Kenai Peninsula which is
flatter but gives you glimpses of the Cook Inlet and the Lake Clark Wilderness reserve across the Inlet. I stopped at least a couple of times for pictures. Big surprise!
Soaring Eagles and Crab Dinners We arrived at our lodging for the first week of our trip, the Soaring Eagle Lodge which is a set of quaint cabins located right on the sea cliffs overlooking a mountain range 40 miles away across the Cook Inlet. This is pretty close to Kel’s idea of perfection, mountains, trees and ocean all in one location. (Her childhood in Cape Cod, Massachusetts gives her a yearning for water, any kind she can get.) And for me it was a great location for photos since there were a group of Bald Eagles that continuously flew within feet of our cabin. Hours of fun and enjoyment for a man with a long lens and a fast camera!!
After settling in, it was time for dinner so we jumped in our trusty rental Buick and headed up the road 25 miles to Homer, Alaska. Homer is the biggest town on the peninsula and was packed with Alaskans from all over the state who
The View from Our Porch
Anchor Point, Alaska, USA were taking holidays because of Memorial Day. It seems everyone in Alaska owns a caravan/camper van and they all had them out for memorial Day weekend. Despite the crowd we got a great table in Captain Patty’s restaurant and proceeded to gorge ourselves on fresh Alaskan seafood (more to come about that in future blogs). Kel ordered the decadent 3 pound Alaskan Red King Crab for dinner and she and I both ate more crab than two people should ever have in one sitting. Much like Guinness is truly better in Ireland, Alaskan King Crab really is better in Alaska!
After dinner we went back to our cabin for a relatively early bedtime. Our trip ahead was action packed and sleep was totally necessary!!
More to come soon, so be prepared for a few more entries. If you’re interested in keeping in touch with us for the future, be sure to sign up for our blog by clicking on this link:
Subscribe
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 39; dbt: 0.0366s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
EG
non-member comment
LOVE the view from your porch. And the first picture of Kelly looking at the crab legs is a hoot. She looks like a little girl.