Get Your Bering's Straight

Oh, that headline rocked. Don't pretend you didn't enjoy my classy play on words. I should get paid for this.

Anyways, since boarding the ship we've done nothing but sleep, eat, and run back and forth between the port and starboard sides of the ship in hopes of seeing a whale. Well the latter isn't entirely true but some people are rather fanatic about seeing wildlife. To the point that they got up early on our cruising days to stand outside, camera ready, in case a whale decided to show up. That's a bit intense by my standards but I've seen a whale already so I've filled my yearly quota.

We spent the first two days on the cruise sailing through two different bays. On Sunday we cruised to Yakutat Bay - the bay that is home to the famous Hubbard Glacier. It was a rather overcast day but to our luck, the glacier was out. This was actually the first time in three weeks that the glacier was showing so we have been blessed by the weather gods this trip. It is a tidewater glacier - which probably means nothing to those of you who haven't seen glaciers. So time for a lesson!

First of all, a glacier, according to Merriam-Webster, is a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface. Many glaciers, especially those in Alaska, are formed from ice fields. For a glacier to grow, snow and ice accumulation much exceed ablation, or the erosion of a glacier. Thus, most glaciers are receding but there are a few that are advancing.

Now glaciers are classified in three common classes. There are Alpine Glaciers, Ice Sheets and Tidewater Glaciers. They form on mountain slopes and can be known as cirque glaciers. If one fills a valley, it is called a Valley Glacier.

Ice Sheets are the largest of glaciers and are more commonly known as Antarctica and Greenland. So I won't be discussing those.

Tidewater glaciers are those that terminate in the sea and are the ones we saw the most. They calve (break off) into the sea and form icebergs. They are most often formed from large ice fields.

That concludes today's short glacier lesson. Now here are some examples with photos and captions. There will be a quiz following the blog. :)

In Yakutat Bay, we saw the Hubbard Glacier, a tidewater glacier. It is the largest one in the Alaska and we saw it up close.


Hubbard Glacier




This glacier is really dirty.

We also got some shots of the glacier calving - which is what everyone wants to see and hear.


Beginning of a Calve


End of a Calve - I would've added all the photos to show the succession of the calve but that would be a lot of photos.


And we found this friend who was chilling on an iceberg nearby

The next day the entire ship awoke by 8 a.m. to see us enter into Glacier Bay. I, however, had drunk 1/2 a bottle of wine and was nursing a rather viscous headache all morning so I was not interested in whales, glaciers or anything but a bed. After sleeping off the headache, I awoke to see the glaciers in Glacier Bay and even caught sight of some whales by the end of the day. It was another gorgeous day - seriously unbelievable. Cool but the sun was warm. They rangers said it was one of the best days they've had in awhile.





We had so many more photos but it's hard to put them all up so I need to be picky and choose just a few. Hope this is a nice taste of what we saw. The glaciers were beautiful and the park was pristine. I recommend visiting as soon as you are able since the glaciers keep receding and they might not be around if you wait too long.

I'm on a Train......I'm on a Boat

Despite having beautiful weather while at the Denali Princess and the McKinley Princess, we woke the next morning to rain and clouds. Bye bye mountain, hello normal Alaskan weather. However, there was one bright spot to this dreary morning - the possibility of a fantastic breakfast.

We piled on a bus, coffee in hand, and drove an hour to the town of Talkeetna. Once arrived we sprinted off the bus and booked it to The Roadhouse, home of the famous Sourdough Hotcakes. Largest pancakes ever - they spill off the plate. My parents each got one while I was crazy healthy and got fruit, yogurt and granola.


I did try the hotcake though and it was amazing.

Talkeetna itself didn't wake up until 10ish. We wandered the quaint town for a bit after finishing our breakfast, looking for places to spend money. Stopped in a few different shops, bought some trinkets and took pictures of trains that rolled passed. We did meet a couple that had been there for three days. Not sure how you spend three days there since I was bored after two hours. Nevertheless, I would recommend visiting it if you get the chance. Supposedly the bars are good and you can drink with the locals which is always recommended when visiting Alaska - gives you the full Alaskan flavor (aka PBR and chewing tobacco - its a good flavor.)



Finally it was time to board another bus. We took the bus to a small pickup for the train that would take us to Whittier - and the ship! And was that not the longest train ride of my life. We got on board by 1 and didn't reach Whittier til 630. We had a seat mate - a talkative woman from New Haven. She obviously didn't get the hint when I put in my headphones as she continued to talk to us. It was a long, cramped 5 1/2 hours.

But finally we arrived. And there she was, back dropped by the lovely mountains that surround the small town of Whittier. We quickly got on board and rushed to our suite. Part three of the trip had begun and we were going to enjoy it. For those who wish to watch, here is a link to video that is near and dear to my heart. It does have some explicit language so I do not recommend it to those under 18.You might have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the video


Here is a picture of the deck of our suite. It looks out over the port side of the bow of the ship - we've enjoyed beautiful views of the Alaskan landscape from the comfort of our room.

After hastily unpacking, we attended the lifeboat drill. Then we headed back to the room to quickly shower and find a place to eat dinner. It was open dining the first night so we ate in the Savoy Dining Room instead of our normal International Dining Room. We didn't eat until 10 p.m.

Then, to escape the clutches of my parents, I ran off to meet some 18-25-year-old people in the club. Met a few but have since realized that this cruise is not going to have the party crew that I experienced on the trip to Bermuda. Ah well.

But now we are on the boat and have been for a few days. I know I'm behind in my blogs but there is so much to see and so much to eat and just so much more to drink. I'll do my best to blog our sea days tomorrow.

The 30% Percent Club

During our second week in Alaska, we joined a secret, elite club. The 30% club. It's intense. They do crazy Athabaskan rituals - stuff you only find in those Dan Brown books. We all have tattoos now. Wild.

Well most of that first paragraph was a lie. Yes, we have now been indoctrinated into the 30% Club. However, it's not as exciting and wild as I made it out to be but it's still pretty awesome. The 30% refers to those people who have visited Alaska and have seen Mt. McKinley.

But we are extra lucky because we saw it back-to-back. Thursday and Friday were the two most beautiful, clear and warm days that the Interior has had in awhile. And we took advantage of that situation. We took 150 pictures of the same mountain albeit from different angles. Now I will not put up all 150 pictures but I will pick out 10-15 that are awe inspiring.

If you all will indulge me as I give a short history lesson about the mountain. It is called Denali, an Athabaskan term meaning "High One," by locals, climbers, and anyone who has sense. Some random gold digger decided that the mountain should be named after William McKinley. And it stuck. However, Alaskans petitioned for the mountain to be renamed Mt. Denali. In 1975, they petitioned the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to change the name to Mt. Denali. However, those wily Ohioans needed to keep the McKinley name for their beloved president. So they found a loop hole in the system, saying that the board cannot consider a name change if a congressional legislation relating to that name is pending. And since 1980, the U.S. House Representatives of Ohio make sure there is pending legislation. This just makes me dislike Ohio even more.

Despite all that, the mountain is gorgeous. And here are some photos.

The first five or six are taken 34 miles away.














These last three are from 40 miles away at the McKinley Princess Resort

It's a Tundra Wilderness Out There

I'm going to fill this post with lots of pictures. I will preface the photos with the story of our trip and then add captions as I see fit.

After getting lunch in Denali, we boarded a school bus - the safest vehicle alive (thanks Dad, for the 10th time) - at roughly 230 p.m. Our guide, Justin, drove us into Denali National Park and took us into the Wilderness. Along the way we saw Caribou, Dall Sheep, Moose, Grizzly Bear and the Mountain. We went to mile 62, 9 miles further than expected and got some fantastic shots of grizzlies and the mountain. Despite driving in some precarious situations along roads carved out of mountainsides, we survived the affair in one piece. We got back to the lodge by 930, had some dinner and then hit the sack after a very long day.

Here are some pictures of the animals we saw as well as the scenery. I am saving the mountain for another post - one that will most likely be put up tomorrow or the next day - as there were too many photos and it was too magnificent to be muddled in with other blog entries.


Caribou!


I seriously thought about taking one of these home. They are ADORABLE


I spent 8 hours in the back of this thing...


A Golden Eagle


Grizzly Bears - they are golden in color in Denali because of some strange mutation


Our guide, Justin, has been doing this for 12 years. He spends his winters doing tours in other countries of the world. I want to live his life.


We had to go around some hairpin curves like this. The road was cut out of a mountain - one false move and you fall 700 feet

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.....and Buses...and Trailers

This trip has been full of many different types of transportation. We arrived in Alaska via plane. We drove to Ninilchik and back via truck/trailer. And now we've finally experienced the Interior via train.

After saying goodbye to Tim and Jac on Thursday morning, we boarded a train and headed south towards Denali. While it is normally a 2 and 1/2 hour trip to Denali via car, it took about 4 hours via train. We rode in luxury. The train was blue and yellow - Alaskan colors - and was two stories. We rode atop while the dining area was below.


Here is a view of the train from the inside

We drove through the Alaskan wilderness, enjoying parts of the trip that are difficult to enjoy when driving in a truck that is hauling a trailer. The breakfast was excellent. Dad and I had pancakes and I tried Reindeer Sausage. Yes, I believe it was Vixen. Sorry Santa.

We arrived around noon and got lunch at Lynx Pizza - home of the 2.75 PBR - before heading out on our trip into Denali. I won't get into that now because it was such an amazing trip and worth its own blog post. Needless to say we have had an awesome time since leaving Fairbanks. I'm going to jump ahead a bit in our trip, bypassing the Denali tour.

Today, Friday, we got up early and went whitewater rafting on the Nenana River. Our guide was very informative and made sure we got soaking wet. We all wore dry suits - pictures to follow I promise - which were tailored to ones body....right.


Here is a picture we took of people rafting the day we arrived on the train. Please note, this is not a picture of us. We took some on disposable cameras and bought one. You might not see those sexy shots til after the trip but I promise it will be worth the wait.

We rode some pretty awesome rapids, enjoyed a beautiful, cloudless sky while rafting along the Nenana River, and got our socks soaking wet. Definitely got a Glacial Facial.

On a completely different note, my contacts arrived! I got them after arriving at the Mt. McKinley Princess Resort near Trapper Creek. All is well. I won't be the one-eyed contact wearer anymore. Thanks Nana!

Our Denali Trip will encompass the next post. Look forward to it.

We Be Wrastling Us Some Musk Oxen

Editor's Note: It's been awhile. I promised you pictures. I'm working on it. (And from all the comments I've received I know all of you are getting antsy). We've been busy. Doing lots of things, drinking lots of liquor and being in areas without free wifi. There will be two blog posts today, recapping our last days in Fairbanks and our trip to Denali.

When I last left you, I had showered and shaved. A momentous occasion that was celebrated around the state of Alaska. Our last day in Fairbanks was both busy and relaxing. We finished up our errands in the morning and then headed to the local Farmer's Market. Fantastic Alaskan-grown vegetables, home-made food and hand-made jewelry were just some of the items they offered.

After lunch we headed out to LARS - the Large Animal Research Station - located on the property of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Here we wrastled us some musk ox with our bare hands.....well not really, but we heard some stories about how the musk ox were reintroduced to Alaska in the 20th century. They were harnessed in Greenland and brought back here by train and boat. We met Ingrid, a female musk ox, and saw some of the youngest members of the herd. Also, qiviut, the soft fur under the outer layer of the musk ox, goes for $25 an ounce. So if you ever receive something made from qiviut, you know it was expensive but worth every penny.


Ain't she a beaut?

Then we saw some caribou and learned the difference between reindeer and caribou. Can you guess it? Reindeer can fly! But really, they are pretty much the same animal except for a few minor differences - reindeer are domesticated and farm-raised. They also grow their antlers differently and can be stockier than caribou.


Whoever has the biggest antler by mating season gets to sire the offspring. What implications does this have on our society?

We continued our educational afternoon by visiting the museum at UAF. Here we saw some cool fossils and the greatest outhouse ever.


I would have no issues using that one if I came upon it in the woods.

We ended our time with Tim and Jac by getting dinner at the Chena Pump House and then hastily packing our belongings for Round 2 of the trip.


We are soooo good looking

The Eye of the Storm

The trip has been relatively relaxing since leaving Seward. After hand-cranking the trailer leaves in, we headed out of Portage on July 5th by 10 a.m. Shortly thereafter we stopped at the greatest rest stop ever. It had cheap gas, good coffee, a fantastic bakery with enormous treats and nice bathrooms. If you are ever on the Seward Highway, check out the stop by the Aleyska Highway - I recommend it.

After that it was a straight shot back to Fairbanks. On a side note, we discovered that if you drive through Wasilla at the correct time with the correct sunlight hitting the correct spot in town, you can see Russia. I could've sworn I saw Putin waving as we headed back home.) We arrived home by 6 p.m., unloaded the trailer and moved back in. Made some banging Seafood Chowder and drank some wine.

I was finally persuaded to shave. I was feeling my European roots during the trip so I decided to forgo shaving. (This isn't entirely true. The lack of shower water and length of showers aided the situation) It had reached a rather drastic point when I returned to Fairbanks. Still, I flaunted my prickliness by walking around with shorts on - I think all members of the house kept a 10 foot radius around me. After dinner, I took a shower, much to my dismay. I think I had blunted the razor after finishing my right leg. Not sure it has ever been that bad.

Anyways, today we relaxed and got caught up on some laundry. Took a shopping tour of Fairbanks and then I went to some mountain biking trails with Tim and Jackie. We made Halibut Charmoula, a Moroccan marinade made with cilantro, and had margaritas on the side. Then we had a rousing game of Scattegories where Jackie won albeit certain discrepancies.

I'm going to try to post a blog of some awesome pictures taken tomorrow. Look for it!