dad keeps saying we should start a blog for our travels in ALASKA. so... here starts!
MAY 21; Friday
Dad starts his day at 4 am in Marshfield (midnight Alaska time); gets to the apartment in Fairbanks at 5pm; goes out to get things for the apartment: basic foods, pillows, etc; didn't settle into the apartment till 9:30 Alaska time (p.s. that makes for a very, VERY long day)
MAY 22 ; Saturday
dad goes to the free fair and gets us 2 tv's, a microwave, a 'tv stand' laundry basket, and some dishes; did some other shopping; drove around Fairbanks, kind of getting to know the major roads of town
dad goes to the free fair and gets us 2 tv's, a microwave, a 'tv stand' laundry basket, and some dishes; did some other shopping; drove around Fairbanks, kind of getting to know the major roads of town
MAY 23; Sunday
dad found a chapel, got to go to church; but only stayed for Sacrament mtg because his eyes were recovering from all of the traveling on friday; Dad returned the rental car in the afternoon. he was going to ride the bus back to campus but the buses dont run on sunday. so he got a $20 taxi ride home.
dad found a chapel, got to go to church; but only stayed for Sacrament mtg because his eyes were recovering from all of the traveling on friday; Dad returned the rental car in the afternoon. he was going to ride the bus back to campus but the buses dont run on sunday. so he got a $20 taxi ride home.
MAY 24; Monday
Dad started class today! Dad got another rental car today, so he could drive to North Pole to test drive a car.
Dad started class today! Dad got another rental car today, so he could drive to North Pole to test drive a car.
MAY 25; Tuesday
Class and lab for dad. Dad returned the second rental car.
Class and lab for dad. Dad returned the second rental car.
MAY 26; Wednesday
Class for dad. Dad bought a Highlander today!
Class for dad. Dad bought a Highlander today!
May 27; Thursday
Sara flies in!! i flew in at like 9:30 pm and was blown away by how light it was outside! we make a stop at Fred Meyer to get a few essentials for me (like hair product) lol we get back to our apartment and just sit around talking till bout 12:30. i think dad was just super happy to have someone to talk to again. :-)
Sara flies in!! i flew in at like 9:30 pm and was blown away by how light it was outside! we make a stop at Fred Meyer to get a few essentials for me (like hair product) lol we get back to our apartment and just sit around talking till bout 12:30. i think dad was just super happy to have someone to talk to again. :-)May 28; Friday
got settled (that took like 30 minutes); we went to Walmart. that was nice to see a little more of Fairbanks. then we started planning our Memorial Day weekend
May 29; Saturday
Dad and I drove to Healy, Alaska. it was a 3 hour drive.
we checked into our motel room.
RIGHT after we left our hotel to head to Denali, we passed these two 'young' moosen (yes, like brian regan) on the side of the road. basically blew my mind!
got settled (that took like 30 minutes); we went to Walmart. that was nice to see a little more of Fairbanks. then we started planning our Memorial Day weekend
May 29; Saturday
Dad and I drove to Healy, Alaska. it was a 3 hour drive.
we checked into our motel room.
RIGHT after we left our hotel to head to Denali, we passed these two 'young' moosen (yes, like brian regan) on the side of the road. basically blew my mind!
then we drove to "Glitter Gulch" which is a road full of big gaudy hotels for the cruise lines. and they have lots of little tourist trap shops that are way over priced. we had lunch at a lil fish fry place. Dad got Halibut. i tried it! while sitting at lunch, i asked dad some questions about his time salmon fishing. He explained how they would use their nets to catch their salmon, he just explained the general process. it was neat to hear. then we continued down the road and got to Denali National Park.
So people have fought to keep Denali as preserved and natural as it could be (aka, not lame-o like Yellowstone and such) so only a certain portion of the one road that goes into the park is open for the public to travel. so dad and i drove those 15 or so miles. while on the drive we saw a grizzly bear! we could only see it through the binoculars. but we were THRILLED to have seen one that 'close'. haha we commented that that made the whole drive and trip worth it. (we had no idea what was in store for us)
So we did a little touring of the visitor centers, watched a short video about the park, and the highlight of that stop was finding out that there had been this Hotel in the park that burned down in 72 and they made it seem like this big historical moment a LONG time ago. well, last time dad was here... that hotel was still standing. Dad and Gary came to Denali when dad was in jr high. g-ma and g-pa were in Fairbanks teaching students taht were gonna go teach out in the bush. so they were all living up here (dad can even point out the different houses they stayed in on campus) and Gary and Dad rode the train down to Denali and camped out for two nights in a little pup tent. They did the same type of bus tour we did (that'll come later of our experience). Dad says when they came before the train was pretty much the only way to get to the park. and he was super confused this time looking for the hotel, until we read the info board about the fire. totally cracked me up. He figured that they came the summer of '70 or '71.
that night we got our dinner from a gas station (worst idea ever) and we bought things for our sack lunches the next day.
as you can see: we had 2 packages of microwave cooked chinese, tortilla chips, trail mix, chips ahoy, and soda. it was the best meal yet. HA.
later that night we went back to glitter gulch and got ice creams. most expensive icecreams ever. $5 for a two scoop and $3 for a SMALL single. mind blown? it should be. lol
OH and as you can see, we were watching the NBA finals as well.
then dad and i just layed in our beds looking at maps. FOREVER. we're the crazy travelers like that.
MAY 30; SUNDAY
we get up SUUUPER early (okay, i really mean like, 6am) and pack the backpack and get to the park for our 8 am bus departure. our drive started out AWESOME. the driver welcomed us to 'Mesa Verde National Park' dad was the ONLY person to pick up on that. the driver told us he was applying for the guided tour bus trips (not the silent driver tour bus trips, which we paid for) so we actually got to learn a lot about the trees, and the tundra, and cool stuff. well, to us. but by the end of our whole tour with him, he'd stopped the bus to take some tylenol, and he'd almost driven away without half a family. but anyway, enough about Wayne. the first (and last) part of the bus tour we'd already driven the
day before. but after a little while driving this family of 5, got on at a camp ground (the kids were 5, 3, and 18 mos; yeah.. we thought 'crazy' too!) hahah and dad helped the lady buckle one of the 3 car seats (required by the park) to the bus seat. the 7 hour round trip was eventful! the first animal sighting was a Ptarmigan; the state bird. (seen pictured on left)
MAY 30; SUNDAY
we get up SUUUPER early (okay, i really mean like, 6am) and pack the backpack and get to the park for our 8 am bus departure. our drive started out AWESOME. the driver welcomed us to 'Mesa Verde National Park' dad was the ONLY person to pick up on that. the driver told us he was applying for the guided tour bus trips (not the silent driver tour bus trips, which we paid for) so we actually got to learn a lot about the trees, and the tundra, and cool stuff. well, to us. but by the end of our whole tour with him, he'd stopped the bus to take some tylenol, and he'd almost driven away without half a family. but anyway, enough about Wayne. the first (and last) part of the bus tour we'd already driven the
day before. but after a little while driving this family of 5, got on at a camp ground (the kids were 5, 3, and 18 mos; yeah.. we thought 'crazy' too!) hahah and dad helped the lady buckle one of the 3 car seats (required by the park) to the bus seat. the 7 hour round trip was eventful! the first animal sighting was a Ptarmigan; the state bird. (seen pictured on left)it was at this "Animal Sighting" that we learned the strict bus rule of needing to be absolutely SILENT or the driver would drive away.
After the Ptarmigan we saw a fox! now remember, we'd just gotten lectured on being SILENT. then a 5 yr old girl sees her FAVORITE ANIMAL in real life. (it matches the stuffed animal in her arms) yeah... silent wasn't really gonna happen. but we got some pictures and laughed at the stupid Magpie playing chicken. (in the picture, note the magpie on the left)
OH side note. the driver told us 'you watch for animals, i'll watch the road' so if we saw animals we literally had to scream STOP at him. (this drove me crazy)
so after a while, the guy behind us yelled STOP THERE'S BEARS UP THERE! sure enough, there's a momma bear and her
two cubs comin straight down the mountain toward us! it was crazy awesome. so cute watching the cubs scramble down the hill. then they moved in front of the bus. and just took a leisure walk down the road in front of us. by now... we'd started a traffic jam with a professional photographer and another bus. cuz we couldn't move, cuz the bears were in the road. (taht's a traffic jam you've never had) After driving for another long period of time. we stopped for another outhouse break and saw some Dall sheep up close and personal. it was amazing to us because we'd seen a bunch of 'Dall dots' hiiiiggghhhhh up on the m
ountain. and now..... we were above them! it was cool. after the Dall sheep we went through "Polychrome pass" it was a bright colored mountain side, with very steep drops and a very narrow road. and a very fast bus. yep. scary. eventually we got to our turnaround point. we got out, broke the rules, then left. haha i jokes. the bus driver told us 'not to feed the animals' this included our crumbs! we weren't supposed to eat off the bus. so we ate off the bus anyways. but we didn't leave crumbs... i think. Well, after lunch we turned around... and did the whole drive again, the opposite direction! On the way back we saw a Co
yote, the same Dall sheep (in basically the exact same place)(hahah dad just said, oh you should probably put a picture of the three old men, i mean dall sheep. can you see the old men resemblance too?), and Caribou. then we were back at the visitors center. we went for a walk on a trail back to our car. then back to the hotel. now, remember that it's still sunday. and as the hotel kindly had information about; we were able to go to church! a little branch in Healy, Alaska. we went in jeans! it was only slightly REALLY awkward for dad. nobody there seemed to care. the exciting part: church started at 5:30 pm! sacrament meeting starting at 7:30! how exciting!! haha oh, but before church we went to Rosie's Cafe for dinner. MUCH better than the microwaved chinese. it was muy bueno. then off to bed. we went. no, really, more map searching. planning for the next days ADVENTURE.
two cubs comin straight down the mountain toward us! it was crazy awesome. so cute watching the cubs scramble down the hill. then they moved in front of the bus. and just took a leisure walk down the road in front of us. by now... we'd started a traffic jam with a professional photographer and another bus. cuz we couldn't move, cuz the bears were in the road. (taht's a traffic jam you've never had) After driving for another long period of time. we stopped for another outhouse break and saw some Dall sheep up close and personal. it was amazing to us because we'd seen a bunch of 'Dall dots' hiiiiggghhhhh up on the m
ountain. and now..... we were above them! it was cool. after the Dall sheep we went through "Polychrome pass" it was a bright colored mountain side, with very steep drops and a very narrow road. and a very fast bus. yep. scary. eventually we got to our turnaround point. we got out, broke the rules, then left. haha i jokes. the bus driver told us 'not to feed the animals' this included our crumbs! we weren't supposed to eat off the bus. so we ate off the bus anyways. but we didn't leave crumbs... i think. Well, after lunch we turned around... and did the whole drive again, the opposite direction! On the way back we saw a Co
yote, the same Dall sheep (in basically the exact same place)(hahah dad just said, oh you should probably put a picture of the three old men, i mean dall sheep. can you see the old men resemblance too?), and Caribou. then we were back at the visitors center. we went for a walk on a trail back to our car. then back to the hotel. now, remember that it's still sunday. and as the hotel kindly had information about; we were able to go to church! a little branch in Healy, Alaska. we went in jeans! it was only slightly REALLY awkward for dad. nobody there seemed to care. the exciting part: church started at 5:30 pm! sacrament meeting starting at 7:30! how exciting!! haha oh, but before church we went to Rosie's Cafe for dinner. MUCH better than the microwaved chinese. it was muy bueno. then off to bed. we went. no, really, more map searching. planning for the next days ADVENTURE.MAY 31; Monday
We drove the Denali Highway. but first! we got gas. for $4.00 a gallon. RIDICULOUS. Now to tell you a little bit about the Denali Highway. it's 110 miles of gravel road. yep. but it's SO worth it. the mountains are absolutely beautiful. we passed lots of little rivers and creeks, camping areas (i even saw some tents set up!)
dad would point out the glaciers. the day before we'd learned about the difference between valleys formed by river erosion verses glaciers. (rivers cause V shaped valleys. glaciers cause U shaped valleys) we saw lots of both on our adventures. eventually we saw some Caribou, up close! so NOW i'll show you a picture of them. Eventually we stopped for lunch at the Paxson lodge, where the Denali Hwy meets Alaska 2 Hwy. This is where dads eyes went bad, after a couple AWESOME days of good eyes (which is a major blessing). so i drove the three hours home. we followed the Alaska Pipeline the whole way (more to come on that in a later post). on the way home, we stopped in North Pole, Alaska. yep, taht's the town name! and had meh, okay Chinese food. lol then we got home and went to bed.
We drove the Denali Highway. but first! we got gas. for $4.00 a gallon. RIDICULOUS. Now to tell you a little bit about the Denali Highway. it's 110 miles of gravel road. yep. but it's SO worth it. the mountains are absolutely beautiful. we passed lots of little rivers and creeks, camping areas (i even saw some tents set up!)
dad would point out the glaciers. the day before we'd learned about the difference between valleys formed by river erosion verses glaciers. (rivers cause V shaped valleys. glaciers cause U shaped valleys) we saw lots of both on our adventures. eventually we saw some Caribou, up close! so NOW i'll show you a picture of them. Eventually we stopped for lunch at the Paxson lodge, where the Denali Hwy meets Alaska 2 Hwy. This is where dads eyes went bad, after a couple AWESOME days of good eyes (which is a major blessing). so i drove the three hours home. we followed the Alaska Pipeline the whole way (more to come on that in a later post). on the way home, we stopped in North Pole, Alaska. yep, taht's the town name! and had meh, okay Chinese food. lol then we got home and went to bed.
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