Alaska tour, Night 1: My Dad has long said he wanted to visit Alaska so when a deal popped up for when they were off the temple, we made a plan and I went against my "I never need to visit Alaska again because it's so wild" vow from 2021. I should note, I did love it, it just was a lot of water for this desert girl and a lot of wild animals and forest.
Touching down at 1130, the landscape was still glowing slightly and it never got fully dark. But we got our suv and headed over to Sven's hostel to stay in a cabin that could fit us all.
And there above the trees, even though it's pretty early in the season and so not enough dark, the northern lights welcomed me back to Fairbanks. They were so light and so I couldn't see the movement very well but there was still the magic.
The cabin was actually quite comfy. And after Mom pilfered a few more blankets from the staff only closet (ok I helped) we settled in for a comfy night.
Alaska tour, Day 2: We have a lot of driving on this trip because Alaska is huge. So Dad and I got up early to go grocery shop breakfast while the other girls slept in. Once back we made and ate our yogurt parfaits and then headed out of Fairbanks on the gorgeous drive to Denali as dad and Mom told stories. Dad only has two states (maybe three) states left to visit so I had him tell us what he remembers from visiting the other 47. Last time in Fairbanks, Sophie and I only saw Denali from afar and so it was wonderful to be able to actually go. Denali is incredible with huge vistas and even though we only went to the Savage River (as far as cars can go) it was so cool. We saw marmots and moose and figured bears and sheep were watching us just out of view.
Back in the car. We headed down to Talkaneeta but Denali is so big, we hugged it pretty much for the 3 hour drive so continued to just be amazed at the scenery.
We stopped in Talkaneeta proper for dinner, salmon chowder, burgers and cakes. Plus Sophie got elk. It was all so good. Probably the best food we will eat here. Then the town was touristy but for a reason as it was so cute and we shopped and walked around.
Down 20 miles to our cabin, we were greeted by a mama moose and her two calves. She stared us down from across the pond and then decided to head away thank goodness. We still were probably too close for comfort but they had disappeared into the underbrush, so we took advantage of the kayaks and tubes to enjoy an hour playing on the stream.
Back to our cabin, we were pretty tired and as we had no electricity, we headed to our beds and, I at least, slept soundly, dad heard something maybe big in the middle of the night.
Alaska tour, Day 3: When I woke and got internet I saw that I had a cancellation note from our Kenai Fjords dinner cruise because the ocean outside Resurrection Bay was sporting 13 foot swells. So we could reschedule for an earlier smaller tour of just the bay or cancel altogether. We hemmed and hawed and then decided if we left asap we could make it down to Seward just in time to make the earlier tour. So off we went.
But it was so worth it! A lot of reviews say it's not to not get out of the bay to see the national park glaciers, but we didn't have that choice and even the times we went across unprotected waters, it was a rollicking time so I would have hated it. Most of the time Mom and Sophie and I were fine, but there were a few times the Dramamine and wrist things weren't enough and we gritted our teeth.
We didn't see whales (well dad thought he saw a tail) but we saw so many puffins and sea lions (Dad's favorite) and some playful otters and so many gorgeous views. Oh and jelly fish!
We ended the tour with warm cookies and then headed to the grocery store for local sushi and salads to take to our little rv spot tucked in the mountain above Seward. We also stopped at another cute thrift store for some treasures and mom bought phase 10 to play later (which we did!)
We made s'mores around the fire while dad told more stories of being a kid in grouse creek. I loved the blue smoke and it was just so peaceful. And had there not been cloud cover, we might have spied the northern lights as there was a geomagnetic storm and darker down here versus Fairbanks but it was still incredibly beautiful.
Alaska tour, Day 4: We spent a slower morning getting ready and then headed out from our lovely rv. And since we didn't get to see the Kenai Forjds Glaciars from the water, we decided to go see the little bit you can see from land and hike to the Exit Glacier overlook. It was one of my favorite hikes ever, just serene and beautiful and lovely weather and overcast and the views were spectacular. Everyone loved it, but Sophie as a geologist may have loved it a little bit more.
Once done, we headed out of Seward towards Anchorage to spend a bit of time there, the views driving were just as lovely as going down and our first stop in Anchorage was Gwennies Alaska Cafe, mmm and Dad got his halibat. From there, we decided to head over to the new Native American Cultural Center, which reminded me a lot of the Polynesian Cultural Center in that you could walk around the lake to see reconstructions of the tribal homes and villages and learn about the different native groups. It was fascinating. We also to see a drum line/dance and learned a little about the boarding school tragedies in Alaska.
Then we headed north to Wasilla, stopping for some fun treasures at a thrift store. Our last airbnb was the one I was so excited for, a private island on Cottonwood lake with views for days. It was exactly as advertised and we all ooeh and awwed at the sweet setup. We all tried the zipline and Cecily and I enjoyed the pedal boat while Sophie and Mom snuggled on the hammock and Dad walked the island talking with the caretaker. We finished the evening with smores and loons calling.
Alaska tour, Day 5: Oh, waking up on a private island is quite the way to wake up on our last day. It was so serene and I literally had a sadness with leaving as we boated away.
Today was our biggest driving day and it was a bit rainy in a few places with standing water, but Dad was very safe and we took a stop outside of Denali to a beautiful restaurant with some more amazing food, and we loved that we could pick a texas sized cinnamon roll, or one that was double as the Alaska-sized. Guess which one we got to share?
Then about an hour outside of Fairbanks, we finally saw a grizzly bear with her two cubs! It was far away on the riverbank, but so cool to see.
Since we didn't explore Fairbanks the first time, we went to the Museum of the North to learn more about the culture and history and animals. It's a great museum. But Dad and I are fast museum goers, so instead of waiting for the more slower ones, we went and played the disc golf course across the street. There were only three holes, but it was so much fun. And Dad won.
Then we hit one last thrift store and I found gifts for everyone so we went to the riverbank for a picnic and I gave them all the little knicknacks to remember this lovely trip.
Sophie and Cecily Jensen just loved learning more about our family history through Dad and Mom's stories and I'm so glad they got that personalized grandparent time. We were all tired by the end, but made it through security (I did have some powder tested that was kind of interesting to watch them chemically figure out that it was actually plaster of paris) and onto the plane for a red-eye back to SLC. Landing safely, we made it home in time for church and naps.
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