Tuesday, June 18 - Planes, a Car, and a Moose?
We were fortunate to have enough FF miles with Delta for our flights, from Dayton to Anchorage and then from Vancouver to Dayton. Using miles allowed me to pick some great times, ones which would have been much more expensive than the less convenient times if we were paying for them. We departed Dayton at 7:15 am on Tuesday, June 18, with a connection in Minneapolis. Our layover was short, less than an hour, so I was relieved when we arrived in Minneapolis a few minutes early. I really didn't want to start our vacation with a missed connection and/or no luggage!The flight to Anchorage was long - almost 7 hours - but we survived thanks to books and iPads and judicious napping and snacking. Since we had used FF miles, I felt justified in paying the supplement for Economy Comfort seats. They only give about 4 or 5 extra inches, but those inches are valuable territory on a long flight.
The approach to the airport took us over some stunning landscapes, whetting our appetites for the amazing natural scenery we were to experience over the next 10 days. There are no mountains like these in Ohio!
We landed in Anchorage just before noon AKDT. We were really there! The airport is pleasant and easy to navigate, so we quickly got our luggage and went to the Avis car rental counter.
Since we chose to come to Alaska during the Summer Solstice, prime time for the "Midnight Sun", we knew we wouldn't see the Aurora Borealis. So this artistic interpretation of the Northern Lights in the airport on the way to (or was it from?) baggage claim would just have to do:
TIP: It can be quite a bit cheaper to rent a car away from the airport, but you have to add the cost of getting to the car rental agency, and also the convenience factor. Since we were staying near the airport, this worked out the best for us, especially since I used a BOGO coupon from the Alaska Toursaver coupon book. These books (and the similar Northern Lights) cost $100, but the potential savings is huge. The Avis coupon paid us back for the book, and several others we used made it worthwhile.
We had a very nice black Toyota Avalon for our couple days touring around Anchorage - very comfortable, decent mileage, and fun to drive. Our first stop was at Elmendorf AFB, thanks to Bruce's retired AF status, to pick up some drinks and snacks for the next few days. I used my iPhone GPS to get us to the base, but the vague directions we received from the gate guard to get to the BX led to a "grand tour" of both the AF side and Richardson Army Base side. But it was all good - we saw a nice static display of air defense planes, including an F-4 similar to what Bruce flew years ago. Sorry, I was not in full vacation-photo-saturation mode yet, so no pics. Don't worry, I made up for it later. Just ask Bruce.
We eventually found the BX, had a quick snack at the food court, and picked up a case of water, some snacks, and two bottles of wine to take on the ship Friday. Bruce also scored a $2.99 Alaska ball cap. He was happy.
After the BX stop, we had thought about going to the Anchorage Museum (we are dorky that way), but the weather was so unexpectedly nice - sunshine and low 80s - we wanted to do something outside. So we were off to the Alaska Zoo (using Toursaver coupon #2). My GPS had a little trouble finding it, but that turned out to be serendipitous, because it led to our first encounter with the "natives". While working our way through a neighborhood near the zoo, a mama moose and her baby walked right across the street in front of us. Welcome to Alaska! I was not quick enough for a good pic, but here is my attempt. I call it "Moose Butt":
The zoo was not very large, but it had both expected and unexpected animal displays, and was also our first introduction to the beautiful flowers we would see everywhere throughout our trip. A few pics:
After about an hour and a half at the zoo, we headed downtown to do some touring and have dinner. We parked at a meter near the log cabin visitor center:
She said the locals refer to this statue as "Ike on the Half Shell":
She told us this mural on the side of West HS is infamous because when the Class of '71 told the principal they wanted to donate it to the school, he said that was great, but they could not include their class year on it. Can you find where they snuck it in anyway?
She had lots of fascinating information and stories about the importance of aviation to the area, including how coveted the spots are along Lake Hood for float planes.
She even sang us the Alaska state song before dropping us off back at the log cabin - in a fine voice, I should add!
After the tour we shopped around a bit in the touristy gift shops downtown, mostly to kill time before our dinner reservation at Glacier Brewhouse. I used my Open Table app for that, on the recommendation of Bruce's stepsister, who had lived in Anchorage. (Warning: we are just not big shoppers, on trips or otherwise, so I apologize in advance for not knowing where the best place to buy anything would be.)
We enjoyed our dinner at Glacier Brewhouse very much indeed. The atmosphere was lively but not too loud, the food was delicious, and the Alaskan beer a perfect complement. Bruce ordered a halibut dish, and I had crab legs, which came with a small but delectable avocado and crab salad side.
The only semi-negative aspect of the dinner was that since the weather was so unseasonably warm, the temperature in the restaurant was a bit high - no air conditioning available since it is almost never needed. But that just made the cold beer taste even better. As if that was possible.
Service was a bit slow, but they were very apologetic about it, even offering to comp a dessert for us. We thought this was a grand idea, especially since we were boarding a cruise in a couple days, so we considered it good practice for our upcoming 4 course dinners. We split the "world famous bread pudding", which lived up to its billing.
By the time we were finished with dinner, we were dragging a bit - we had been up about 18 hours at that point - but we wanted to adjust to the time change at least a little, so we did one more stop at Resolution Park to see the Captain Cook statue and the view. We didn't stay long, as there was a local man there who was pleasant to talk to until he asked for money. No, not like mugging, it was more begging. But it made us uncomfortable, so we gave him a donation and then headed toward our hotel.
We stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites Anchorage Airport, and it worked out very well for us. It's at least a 15 minute drive from downtown (more if traffic is heavy), so if you don't have a car available, I'd look for something closer to downtown. But for our plans in the city that was not a problem, and we found a military discount rate that was significantly less than anything downtown.
The lobby was not huge but welcoming and comfortable:
Exterior shot, plenty of free parking:
The room was very spacious and comfortable as well (sorry for the clutter):
The blackout curtains worked well (important in Anchorage in mid June!), and we heard no noise at all from the airport or anywhere else. The complimentary breakfast was great:
The bar you can see in the breakfast area photo above was open when we arrived that first evening, but by that time we were ready to cave in to our tiredness. We had a day trip to rest up for!
Wednesday, June 19 - Road Trip!
I had done quite a bit of research on what to do this day, but we purposely left our plans flexible until we saw what the weather was like and what we were able to do on arrival day. I had considered a day trip south, to Alyeska and Girdwood, but since we would follow that same general path on the train Thursday, we headed in the opposite direction - north on the Glenn Highway. It turned out to be one of our better vacation decisions, resulting in an amazing day.
We were up early, thanks to the double whammy of time zone changes and bright sunlight at a VERY early hour on the clock. Not to mention a natural tendency to be up early in any time zone. The breakfast, which of course we enjoyed right at 6 am when it opened, was plentiful and tasty. We were on the road well before 7, excited to see what the day held.
Especially since we were on the road so early, we decided to go as far north as we planned to for the day, then catch any sites that looked interesting on the way back.
Once we passed Palmer, on a whim we took the turn for Hatcher Pass, toward the Independence Mine State Historical Park. Very soon we began seeing beautiful streams and impressive elevation changes.
Unfortunately, Independence Mine was not yet open for the season. As we pulled up to the closed gate, a ranger came by and let us know that they had just been able to plow the parking lot in the past few days. He said the volunteers would have to come up and get things organized, but he hoped to be open at the end of the week. Too late for us, as we had a boat to catch, but the views from the entrance were impressive enough to be worth the drive.
With a few more stops to appreciate the views, we worked our way back to the Glenn Highway. Since it was not yet 9 am, we made a command decision and turned north, with the plan to visit Matanuska Glacier before coming back to Palmer for lunch. Another fine call on our part.
One drawback to playing things by ear is that while the spontaneity can be energizing, at times there are occasions where a little research might prevent problems. For example, if you are clueless tourists from Ohio driving into the Matanuska Glacier park, and you hadn't read that it was privately owned, and you just innocently followed a car in front of you through the raised gate, which then almost closed on top of your rental car (which, by the way, if you are from Avis and are reading this, of COURSE was never driven on an unpaved road - we just washed it before turning it in because we are meticulous people), you MIGHT be overtaken by a mountain man in a Gator, to be told you had to come back and pay for a permit to enter the park. So I imagine, anyway. Not that I would know for sure.
Ok, I DO know for sure. And he turned out to be a very nice mountain man, from Chicago originally. We had a nice chat. As we paid the permit fee. It's $20 per person to drive to the lot near the glacier and take the path that is marked by cones to get close to the glacier itself. You can also pay quite a bit more ($75) for a guided tour, which would allow you to actually walk onto the glacier itself. He said you could try it on your own, but he wouldn't advise it. I'm sure he says that to everyone, not just middle-aged tourists from Ohio.
The drive is pretty rugged (don't tell Avis), but once you park and start walking out on the glacial silt and gravel-covered ice, it's eerie and fascinating. Like a moonscape, only with rivulets and carved sections of ice and mountains in the distance. The staff at the park place grates and boards for people to walk on, marked by orange cones occasionally. We talked to a staff member out working on the path, and he said they have to change it up to several times a day, depending on the changing conditions.
Yes, that is ice under the silt:
We stopped at the nearby overlook and a few other spots as we headed back south to Palmer.
Once in Palmer we had a lovely lunch at Turkey Red, homemade soups and sandwiches. Then we continued south on the Glenn, with plans to stop at Eklutna Lake and Eagle River Nature Center.
The drive into Eklutna, about ten miles off the Glenn, was our first demonstration of one of our guides' declaration that the four seasons in Alaska are winter, winter, almost winter, and construction. They were working on a stretch of road that required one lane of traffic at a time, to be led by a pilot car. So that was about a 15-20 minute delay. But the lake was worth the wait.
Even though it was still warm elsewhere, there was a cool breeze blowing off the lake. That did not stop several hardy locals from swimming in it, but we just admired the view for a bit.
On our drive in, we had noticed a cute ice cream shop -- Rochelle's -- along the road to the lake, so of course that warranted a stop on our way out. We enjoyed the ice cream and the conversation with the owner. She said the recent warm weather had been great for business. The previous weekend she had had lines to to the parking lot and had her best weekend ever in 31 years of business.
Next stop was Eagle River Nature Center, where we took the 3/4 mile Rodak Nature Trail. We saw neither beaver nor salmon, at the beaver and salmon viewing areas, but the views are stunning, and the wildflowers along the way beautiful.
On our way back to the Glenn, we took the Eagle River Loop Rd. south to pick up the highway (instead of continuing straight on Eagle River Rd.). It's a short detour, but it was very pretty, hugging the mountain and providing a nice view of the river.
As we approached Anchorage, we realized we were cutting it close to be able to visit the Alaska Aviation Museum, which closed at 5:30. We ended up arriving a little after 5, but we decided to do a quick tour anyway. The woman at the desk tried to discourage us, but we convinced her that we knew we'd just get a quick overview, and we were okay with that. She ended up honoring our Toursaver coupon and military discount, so we got in for $4 each.
The museum is small but has a great deal of fascinating information crammed into a small space. We are both former USAF Navigators, and Bruce also used to have his commercial pilot's license, so it was fascinating. We wandered the exhibits, then went out to watch a few float planes take off.
It was definitely worth the stop, even for an abbreviated tour, at least for us.
We drove back downtown to go to Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse for dinner, another recommendation from Bruce's sister. It was very busy, and the weather was plenty warm enough to eat out on the patio. It's a casual place with a cool vibe and very good food. And great Alaskan beer, of course! I had a crab roll, and Bruce had a dinner salad.
We were tired from our journeys but very happy that we had seen so much natural beauty and had been blessed by such amazing weather. We realized that if this day was a harbinger of what was to come, it was going to be a special trip indeed.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to put gas in the car and wash it. As I mentioned before, this had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it was very dusty from driving on gravel roads, oh, no. We were just being nice. Yep. Bruce dropped me off at the hotel, then returned the car to the airport and caught the hotel shuttle back. We repacked and then arranged for a taxi at 5:15 am the next morning to take us to the train station - we were bound for Seward.
Thursday, June 20 - South to Seward!
Rising early for the taxi was again NOT a problem. It arrived as scheduled, with a very nice driver originally from Morocco. He said he had been in Alaska seven years, loved the summers but hated the winters. We asked why he came, and he said "A woman." It took less than 15 minutes to get to the station at that time of the morning, and the fare was $15.
Checkin is recommended an hour before the 6:45 am departure, so we were one of the first there a bit after 5:30. We walked into the station, and then a friendly fellow passenger let us know that we could check our bags in the tent next to the station building. We took them there and were pleased to learn we could check them directly to the Holiday Inn Express, where we were staying in Seward. A few pics from the station on another beautiful morning, warm and sunny:
Luggage checkin tent to the right:
Steps down the hill across the street, from downtown and the hotels nearby:
The train boards at about 6:30 am, with I believe 4 labeled entry doors, indicated on each passenger's boarding pass. The station filled up by then, but it was still pretty empty at 5:45:
We checked in with our confirmation number and received boarding passes and our "GoldStar" pin. I had reserved this very early in my planning, back in December, since I knew it was something we would be doing for sure. We wanted the GoldStar car for easy viewing of the amazing scenery, and we were able to get a 10% military discount. This was another great choice, well worth the extra cost to us. Our boarding passes:
Since I had booked so early, we were assigned the first seats, allowing for an amazing view to the front and side:
The car had wonderful views from everywhere, as well as an outside viewing area at the back and bar service.
From the outdoor viewing area looking into the GoldStar car:
Shortly after departing the Anchorage station, right on time at 6:45 am, the attendants came through, starting with the front of the car (yay for first row seats), asking if anyone wanted to go one level down to the dining car for breakfast. We volunteered and were seated with a couple of ladies from Washington state, with whom we enjoyed chatting. The breakfast was quite good and about the same price as you'd find at a restaurant in town -- not cheap, but not outrageous either. The views from the dining room windows were nice, but of course we didn't want to spend too much time there so we could get back to the amazing view up above. These first few pics are from the dining car window:
And the rest from throughout the trip. We alternated between our seats and the viewing deck. It was chilly out there but definitely tolerable. They offered complimentary soft drinks, coffee, and tea throughout the trip. What a beautiful day!
We "met" one of the cruiseline transfer trains along the route:
We arrived at Seward right on time, at 11:05. We were very happy we chose this mode of transport to Seward, and I highly recommend the GoldStar car if it's in your budget. One note, the journey is 114 miles and takes just over 4 hours on the train, so one could travel quite a bit faster by car, if speed is important for whatever reason. And having done this, Bruce in particular was glad we did not do the train in Skagway...but I'm getting ahead of myself. For our further adventures, click on the Seward page tab!
LINKS INCLUDED ON THIS PAGE:
Alaska Toursaver
Northern Lights Coupon Book
Avis Anchorage Airport
Anchorage Museum
Alaska Zoo
Anchorage City Trolley Tour
Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964
Glacier Brewhouse
Comfort Inn & Suites Anchorage Airport
Alyeska Resort
Girdwood
Glenn Highway
Independence Mine State Historical Park
Matanuska Glacier
Matanuska Glacier Adventures
Turkey Red
Eklutna Lake
Rochelle's Ice Cream Shop
Eagle River Nature Center
Rodak Nature Trail
Alaska Aviation Museum
Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse
Alaska Railroad GoldStar Service
Thanks for your thoroughly enjoyable commentary, pictures, and links.
ReplyDeleteMatandHal
GREAT PICS on the whole site...very nice!
ReplyDelete