Our ride to the airport on the way home is in style: a Hummer stretch limo!

Here's one reason why we didn't take a cruise: a sea of luggage being checked into the hotel as we leave.

Yet another of the many forms of transportation on this trip: the train to Spencer Lake.

We couldn't resist this "vehicle": a hand-operated tram over a 100' deep river gorge. Donna and Lenny did it (although D. wouldn't look down) on an early-morning hike on our own. We were alert for bears as we walked, but none made an appearance.

Grace taking a portrait at the Wildlife Conservation Center in Girdwood.

Donna gets to see a moose for the first time today -- the second was really in the wild, during our train ride to the glacier.

In front of the Spencer Glacier before our raft float (Grace and Marina) and canoe trip (Donna and Lenny).

The girls return. Grace got wet at the start and was cold during the trip, but the hot tub at the hotel eventually cured that.

Some of the kids, including Grace and Marina, dissected squid at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward just before our cruise through the fjords.

On top of the ski mountain in Alyeska.

Even Grace made it up and down the aerial cable tram, although she wasn't too thrilled about the ride.

July 4 by Donna

Yesterday, July 3, was our big activity day. We four set out with a group of others for the morning hike. The weather was a bit wet, but we went ahead with the plan, hardy souls that we are. Unfortunately we encountered a road accident along the way and since there are very few roads in Alaska, there are no detours, so we just sat for quite a while. Amazingly, we were stopped in front of the coffee shop where the hiking guide works part-time (everybody in Alaska has more than one job), so she ran in for a few mochas and javas.

By the way, I should mention that this guide, as well as several others over the last few days, have told us that they live without running water. This seems quite barbarian to me! You frequently see little shops here and there in small villages advertising showers, implying that this is true. Also – taking a whiff of an Alaskan here or there confirms this basic fact.

The hike itself was more of a stroll than a hike, but the best feature was the destination - a waterfall where we watched the salmon spawning, i.e. jumping over the rapids upstream. Watching the huge energy this takes definitely illuminated the phrase “as difficult as swimming upstream”.

In the afternoon we took out kayaks on Lake Kenai, a beautiful aqua colored lake surrounding by snow-tipped mountains. Lenny went with Grace, and young Eric from our trip went with Marina so that I did not have to be responsible for paddling the two of us (although I must tell you that both Marina and Grace were terrific paddlers). I went with the guide (aha – those who know me well know that I connived this set-up to not have to paddle so hard myself!). It was a nice hour-long adventure, particularly when the group “rafted up” in the middle, which means lining up with your paddles crossing, like a giant pontoon boat.

We were sorry to leave the Kenai Princess this morning, but on to Seward where we first visiting the marine mammal center (which they assured us was not an aquarium, but rather a marine research center, but it sure looked like an aquarium), and where Grace and Marina (along with Alexis, from the group) happily dissected squid. I’m not kidding!

Then we went on a boat ride in Resurrection Bay (apparently the fellow who named it was very happy to find it during a storm), the highlight of which was seeing a whale. The whale cooperated by spouting air several times, and showing us his tail as he headed for the deep waters. The boat ride was a bit chilly, but smooth, so enjoyable.

Then another bus ride, and we have arrived at our last hotel, the Aleyska, which is a ski resort in the winter. Our room even looks out at the ski lifts, which we take this evening to get to our dinner spot.

-- Donna

Getting ready for launch on Kenai Lake.

We create a raft in the middle of the lake using the four kayaks. Donna is in the fifth kayak with the guide, who is taking the picture. (You can click on these pictures to enlarge them.)

Today we had our planned “flight-seeing” around Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley). Yesterday, some cloudy weather moved in, and when we woke up this morning, the fog was quite thick. This meant it was most likely that we would be bus-seeing our way back to Anchorage rather than flight-seeing.

However, our guide Sommer (yes, spelled “sommer” but pronounced “summer”) took us to the airport anyway. You could tell from her voice that she figured it was low odds.

Then, surprisingly, we got there and were told “we’re going”! They hastily assembled us into groups of 4 to 8 to board a fleet of small aircraft.

We shared our plane with another family and our pilot, Ed. Ed was a tad on the older side, which gave me some confidence relative to his flying ability, but less confidence relative to his longevity. Thankfully he (and we) made it through the relatively smooth flight.

Ed flew us right up to the base camp on Denali where we could see climbers’ tents (it’s almost the end of climbing season) and a small airplane parked on the glacier. He flew us over a pass and wove through the peaks, right up to the bottom of several massive mountains. Okay, I found myself clutching my seat for this part. Ed kept assuring us that the mountain was two miles away, and that the radar doesn’t lie. This gave me little comfort as I saw it looming in front of us.

The rest of the ride down to Anchorage was less white-knuckle, and after a bit of circling under the low cloud ceiling, we landed. I think Grace finally let go of the breath she had been holding for the last hour and a half.

We had a two hour break in Anchorage where we checked out the museum which had a nice display of native Alaskan information, some good stuff about the Alaska pipeline, and a wonderful contemporary art exhibit. Then, after an additional two hours on the bus, we arrived at our next hotel, the Kenai Princess.

The girls whooped with delighted at our rooms here … they look like little log cabins, each with a wood fireplace, sitting area, and balcony. And, our good luck – we’re close to the hot tub, which we fully expect to use after dinner.

-- Donna

We strap ourselves into a twin-engine Piper for our trip to the mountains and then on to Anchorage.

Glaciers moving slowly below.

Lots of majestic mountains like these. Unfortunately Denali (Mount McKinley) was shrouded in clouds and we couldn't get close enough to see it.

Successful landing in Anchorage. Donna and Grace could breathe again.

Today we started the second day of our trip off with dogs, and lots of them. We took a drive to meet Bill. Bill has around 50 Alaskan huskies. 10 are too young to race, 10 are too old and between 20 and 30 that could potentially race the Iditarod race. Bill told us that all the dogs have jobs, the older female help train the younger dogs, and he keeps all of the dogs until they die. We met Bill and he hooked up 6 dogs to an ATV. He and the dogs then took off. Then we hopped onto the bus and followed them - the dogs would go one way and we would go the other. It was like playing a game of chase. We ended up at Bills house where he keeps all the dogs. Each dog had it own little house and had about a 3 foot chain and was chained to their own little house. After he told us more about the Iditarod race and what it was like. After we finished with Bill, we headed back to the hotel, once at the hotel we picked up our box lunches and ate them in one of our hotel room. Them we headed off to the argoes. We were not sure what they were or what we were getting ourselves into. Lenny was excited because he knew it involved driving. I was scared; all I knew was the it involved driving through the woods and water. Once we got there and we saw the veichicals it confirmed my fears, I was going to get hurt. Once we got all suited up, we got onto the vehicles. Our driver, Scott, started around the first turn with a big jerk (the only way the vehicles turned was by stopping one side of the wheels, but running the other side). After awhile I realized I was not going to die or even get hurt and I started to have fun. Then we got back to the hotel, ate dinner, and went to a campfire, and now its time for me to head off to bed. Today was a great day and I cannot wait for tomorrow, when hopefully with Donna’s positive thinking we will get to fly over Denali.
-- Grace

Making s'mores on the beach. It's 10pm but of course still bright daylight.

Heading off into the wilderness in our 8-wheel track-drive all-terrain vehicle. Thanks to Donna's pleading with the expedition leader, Lenny got to drive us! (We had to promise not to tell the boss.)

Marina and Grace walking on the peat bog, where every footstep sinks a few inches into the soggy ground.

Marina making friends with one of the Iditarod dogs.

There's no snow, so the dogs pull an ATV for practice.

Donna trying out one of the real sleds.

Today was our first real day with the tour group. We started off with a three hour bus ride to Talkeetna. Once we got to Talkeetna we got on a power boat, we road the boat to a little island in the middle of the river. The river was 36 degrees, and was moving very fast. When we first got off the island the nature guide told us why she was carrying a shot gun. She said she was carrying the gun just in case we saw a bear. She then explained that if we did see a bear we should all huddle in a big circle and slowly back away. With that cleared up we began our walk.

The first thing they showed us was a three walled lean-to that the Indians lived in. Then we saw a trapper’s cabin. There was the cabin, where the trapper lived, and a little hut up on stilts to store all the meat and furs. Then we headed back to the boat. As we were heading back to the boat they told us that on the way back we would have some fun and make sharp turns, and go in circles. But once we got to the boat we realized that wasn’t going to happen right then, because one of the three engines wouldn’t turn on. Then to make matters more complicated another boat needed to unload passengers at the dock, but the boat we were on could not move all of us with out the third engine. So we all stood to one side of the boat, and thankfully it moved. Then we got back to shore and called the mechanic. We waited on the shore while the mechanic looked at the boat, and thankfully got it running. Then we took our ride, and got to experience the spinning. Then we drove back to the town of Talkeetna. The town is only about 3 blocks long. Then we checked into our new gorgeous hotel. All in all I think it was a great first day!

-- Grace

The first day the four of us got to Alaska, we went to a see a movie about the Aurora Borealis in Alaska. So, it starts out fine with someone telling us about how very little is known about the Aurora and how no one really understands it, except the fact that is caused by all these particles from the sun flares that get caught up in the earth’s magnetic field. And that’ all I got from the movie, but then he started showing him going out to a lake with his three tripods and three cameras. Then it shows him just waiting for the Aurora to come and put on a show in the night sky. Then he starts talking about……. nothing. He just stopped talking all together. The rest of the movie was just pictures and videos of the Aurora at night in every single possible way shape, way, form, and color you could ever imagine. There would be music playing in the background. This went on, and on, and on, for about a half an hour at the least. The whole show took about half of your life at the least.
-- Marina

Our intrepid guide to the flora and fauna of Talkeenta, prepared to project us from bears with a rifle almost as big as she is.

Marina modeling a fox fur.

"Things happen" in Alaska. Here the mechanic arrives to fix the third engine in the jet boat so that we can get back to the Lodge. A quick jump with a spare battery and we were on our way.

From Donna

We arrived at 1am after an uneventful but spectacular flight over the mountains into Anchorage. Our biggest surprise was how light it was outside when we arrived - the sun was just at the horizon. Apparently, the days are so long here in the summer that they basically just don't end.

Today we explored Anchorage a bit. We weren't quite hitting our stride. First, we tried to go to a museum with a simulated earthquake exhibit, but couldn't find it, only to learn it had been torn down. Then we went to a movie about the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) which was quite lovely and interesting for the first ten minutes but unfortunately went on for thirty more minutes. Then we decided to go to the Native Heritage Center by walking to the bus, waiting fifteen minutes, and then only finding it was full, and refused to take us, with another one an uncertain amount of additional wait. (Taxi to the rescue.) At the Center, we stopped for lunch, where they were out of salmon, out of lobster, and had no milk or OJ. Hmmm ... they're still working on this tourism thing in Alaska!

Things looked up when we explored the Native Heritage Center. They had terrific replica villages of native Alaskans, staffed with articulate young guides. We also watched demonstration of native games and dances.

The weather was spectacular, so we all ended up quite happy with our goofy day. At dinner, we met the tour guide, who seems quite capable, and noticed (but did not talk to) the many other teenagers on our trip.

We have a free day in Anchorage today. The downtown area is architecturally quite bland, except for the occasional decorated salmon.

Donna practicing her hunting skills at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Our hotel is on the shore of a lake that is the busiest "airport" for float planes in the world.

Donna, Marina, Grace and I are off on another great adventure -- this time to Alaska, on a bus-based family-oriented tour run by Tauck Tours. But it's supposed to be more than just buses; we're looking forward to small planes, jetboats, rafts, ATVs, dogs, bicycles, and who knows what else as transportation. Stay tuned.