An Alaskan Weekend

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Flying to Alaska is a unique experience. Because of the distance and time zone, many flights leave or take off at times when most airports would be shutting down. We arrived in Anchorage near midnight and were surprised to see crowds of people waiting for flights departing in the early morning hours. The airport itself is good for spotting very large cargo planes as they arrive from Asia alongside small regional and bush planes arriving (sometimes by water) from remote areas of Alaska. For anyone with a kid (or grown-up kid) who enjoys planes, I would recommend budgeting a couple of hours to watching at or near the airport - it can be an experience while waiting for your flight. Now, chances are, the passenger flight to/from Anchorage won't be anything special, and in fact it will probably involve 6 hours of domestic flight amenities (juice, water, maybe peanuts) and some night time. Be prepared for this, especially with kids. We have been spoiled with international flights having meals and movies to pass this amount of time, but here we had to bring enough entertainment and food to keep them busy in the daylight hours.

On most of our trips, we also travel by local transit. Cars can be expensive, and as with most things in Alaska, expect rentals to be as expensive as in San Francisco. Unfortunately, in Alaska, renting a car is a must unless you are part of a tour. So, we picked up a car and headed straight to the airport Holiday Inn Express. The next morning, we started our Alaska adventure by driving along Seward Highway to the town of Seward. The drive took about two hours and was beautiful. We saw several whales out our window as we drove around Turnagain Arm, which is nestled in a mountain range with glaciers all around, and is considered one of the most beautiful drives in North America. After passing through the small town of Moose Crossing, it felt like we were flying through the clouds as we drove through the mountain pass.

One stop along the drive is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It is located near Turnagain Arm mid-way between Anchorage and Seward.. The wildlife conservation facility helps injured animals and also breeds animals that are endangered. We parked at the center and walked between the pens watching all the animals close up. We saw caribou sparing each other, bears playing in the creek, moose shedding their velvet and other cool animals like musk ox, bald eagles, and lots of bison.

In Seward, we bought a tour package with www.kenaifjords.com to go whale watching and dog sledding. The boat took us to Fox Island where we had a delicious salmon lunch. On the boat ride, we saw sea otters, sea lions, puffins, bald eagles, Peregrine falcons and mountain goats. Most whales had migrated by this time so we weren't able to see any. They also took us by Bear glacier, but due to weather conditions we were unable to see it. It was a cool and stormy Pacific day, but Grace loved the wet weather and bumpy ride as we flew over white cap waves. Alex got a little green in the face and luckily fell asleep on the way back.

The package also included a dog sled tour. In the summer, they train the dogs by hauling tourists around in large wheeled carts weighing about 1200 pounds. Then when winter comes, they start training on the snow and are well conditioned. The tour taught us the history of the Iditarod race, how the dogs are trained, how they care for dogs, and what equipment they use for the ride. Surprisingly, the dogs aren't your stereotypical huskies and are actually bred from wild dogs adept to living in the cold Alaska environment. The kids even got to hold 10 day old baby puppies which they named Cinderella, Godzilla and Squeaky. But the highlight was actually racing through the woods, pulled by an actual team of sled dogs. It was very impressive!

We also hiked through Kenai Fjords National Park to Exit Glacier, which is the only glacier in the park accessible by car (relatively speaking). It is a 10 minute drive to the National Park from Seward. At the Ranger Station, the Park Rangers arm visitors with maps and answer any questions about the glacier. The shortest walk to the glacier is 2 miles long and takes you right up to it. There were road markers along the path and between the park and Seward showing where the glacier was 10, 20, 100 years ago, and we could see the river caused by the melting glacier (it was summer, after all!) There is also an option to hike a 6 mile loop to see the massive ice field, but this was too far for our kids to hike. The funniest moment was when Jason asked Alex to "lick the iceberg." I shouted "No" with visions of his tongue sticking to it. For consolation, Jason jokingly told him to "lick the rock." He quickly learned that a 3 year old doesn't understand sarcasm when Alex licked the rock next to him and squealed "Yuck!"

Also in Seward, we found a small stream where salmon were making the upstream swim. The kids started cheering them on singing "Go Salmon, Go Salmon Go!" It was really cool to see them up close as they hopped over rocks and dams, and we took the opportunity to teach about the life cycle of a Salmon. Other activities in Seward includes a lot of tourist trap shopping, and a trail along Resurrection bay. Along the trail is a playground with the most beautiful background scenery overlooking the bay. The town itself is really small and takes advantage of all the tourists. Don't be surprised to pay $25 or more for a hamburger. In all of our travels, this was the most expensive location for us to eat so far.

We didn't spend much time in Anchorage but I would recommend going to the Moose Tooth Lodge. Everyone we talked to recommended it. The Lodge was really fun, and they had yummy gluten free pizza. The prices were way more reasonable than in Seward as well! But, the most memorable moment from Anchorage was Kincaid Park. It is located along the water near the airport, and connects to hiking and biking trails that wind around the Sound. As we were walking, some bicyclists advised us that there was a moose 1/2 mile up the path. We rushed around every corner hoping to see it. Finally, we rounded a bend and not only saw a moose but her baby too. We were patiently watching when they looked up and walked towards us stripping the leaves from the trees. Standing about 10 feet away from an adult moose was amazing and the perfect end to our Alaska adventure.

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