6/19/05 Sun: After arriving an hour or so late on Alaska Airlines and picking up our silver Chevey Venture van from Avis, we checked in at the Westmark and drove to Earthquake Park. We walked a bit on the Tony Knowles Coastal trail, through mosquitos and rain to get to a lookout point over the mud flats of Cook Inlet. We weren't really prepared this first night as we had no bug spray or umbrellas and were dressed in short sleeves and "bad shoes." We continued driving on to Point Woronzof and saw an overview of the Anchorage skyline. We saw float planes on Lakes Hood and Spenard and then drove back to our hotel where we could walk to dinner at Simon and Seaforts for delicious seafood fare. Salmon, crab, prawns, scallops, clams, and mussels. I think among the four of us we sampled it all. After dinner back to our hotel we went to tuck in Mitsuo and Yoshiko hoping to catch a good night's sleep to fight off jet lag. Then Rob and I headed out to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the next day or so's breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. After this, we too headed back to the Westmark for some Zzzz's.

6/20/05 Mon: Breakfast in our room @ 8A.M...leave around 9 A.M...yogurt and fruit and then to the car. After check-out, we hopped on the Glenn Highway, to get to the Parks Highway, to head us north to Denali. Along the way we stopped at a rest area where the south side of Mt. McKinley would have been visible on a clear day. We did get small clearings that showed glimpses of the great mountain, but most of what we saw was the North Peak of Mt. Hunter. This was a great new rest area with toilets and picnic tables so here we had an impromptu lunch of sanwiches, cherries, Sun Chips, orange juice, and cookies for dessert. From there we crossed into Denali National Park and drove a couple more hours until we checked in @ the Denali Bluffs Hotel around 3:30 P.M. We made reservations for the 8:30 P.M. Cabin Nite Dinner Show--we got the last 4 tickets. Unfortunately it was the late show, but the wait was well worth it. We took advantage of the time and visited the park visitor center and had a coffee break in the adjacent lodge building. Then we took Mitsuo and Yoshiko back to rest at our hotel for a bit while Rob and I toured the gift shops and other hotels. Finally, we caught a shuttle bus that took us right to the dinner cabin where we were seated with a group of fellow travellers, a group of friends who were retired teachers from Indiana and Illinois. How ironic! We ate a big family-style dinner of BBQ pork ribs, salmon, honey biscuits, green salad, baked beans, corn on the cobb, and mashed red potatoes. All this was topped off by a mixed berry cobbler for dessert and a musical comedy show about historic Alaska. We even purchased the show CD thinking Erin would like the music. Although it was a really late night, it was well worth the experience. Emerging from the darkened theater however, you almost forgot your sleepiness in the bright evening sky of the midnight sun. And as a matter of fact, it was the summer solstice--the longest day of daylight of the year. Even when I went to sleep at midnight, the sun was still shining.

6/21/05 Tue: An early morning it was today. Our bus picked us up at 6:30 A.M. and we headed out on our Kantishna Wilderness Tour. We couldn't have asked for a better day. The sky was blue, crisp, and cold. In the park we saw caribou, ptarmigan, Arctic ground squirrel, one grizzly bear, moose, and Dall sheep. The highlight was, of course, the unobstucted views of Mt. McKinley throughout our drive in. We stopped mid-day at the Kantishna Lodge for a sandwich and soup lunch and for a quick gold panning demonstration. We even tried it ourselves and got a few small pieces of gold, enough for us to have laminated on a card as a souvenir for Yoshiko. Our bus ride back was long, but between short power naps we kept our eyes open for wildlife. The mountain was covered by high clouds by this point, so we felt ever grateful to have seen her majestic peaks this morning.

Upon arrival back to our hotel, we quickly headed to dinner up high on the bluff at the Alpenglow restaurant . It was a superb dinner followed by ice cream at the famous Hot Licks homemade ice cream store--a tremendous finish to a lovely tour day!

6/22/05 Wed: We made it a leisurely start this morning since we'd had such a long day and late night the day before. We ate a yogurt, fruit, and bread (Yoshiko and Mitsuo) and cookie (Lucy and Rob) breakfast and then headed to get gas. Before long we were northbound toward Fairbanks. We were looking at a half day drive with a couple stops. We made our way to Nenana where we used the restrooms and I looked for a latte... No such luck. Nenana is home of the Nenana Ice Classic and that's about it. There is a $285,000 prize for guessing as to when the tripod will fall on the river when the ice breaks up in the spring. This stop turned into a tailgate lunch party after we heard of possible construction delays between here and Fairbanks. We made sandwiches and poured orange juice then hit the road again. As three of us dozed, Rob waited for road construction to take us into town. After an hour or so delay, we were in Fairbanks. First stop, a bank to exchange traveller's checks. Second stop, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus and museum. This is always a winner as far as museums are concerned. Before 4 P.M. I wanted to hit the Tanana Valley Farmer's Market. Once there, I bought some fireweed honey, a couple of tomatoes, loaves of 8 grain and pumpkin spice bread, small squares of homemade fudge, and fireweed jelly. Rain was sprinkling as we drove past Creamer's Dairy and headed into town to check in at the Westmark.

Ah, the Westmark... Well, to make a long story short, we were bumped from the hotel tonight because they overbooked. It didn't matter that we had a confirmation number or anything. The big blue busses and their passengers took precedence. They were kind enough to get us a room at the Best Western located at the old Westmark in "the ghetto" of South Cushman Street. We ended up with a free night's hotel, two buffet breakfasts for four, and a dinner at the Red Lantern Restaurant. Susan, Westmark's general manager handled us well and we felt compensated. That night we ate at the historic Pump House Restaurant and tried to have an early evening.

6/23/05 Thur: The morning after our stay at "the ghetto" we loaded our stuff, ate breakfast at the Westmark, watched highway passengers depart on their busses, and then headed to the Riverboat Discovery. What a tour it was! It is phenomenal what the Binkley family has built. And their professionalism can't be beat. It was a hugely enjoyable morning, floating on the river, seeing a dogsled demonstration, and touring the Athabascan village. We all enjoyed this tour.

Now it was time for a little wandering around Fairbanks, our old stomping grounds. We went to Fred Meyer, the pipeline visitor center, and then took a peek at the gold dredge. After this excursion we headed to check in at the Westmark and to have a ltlle down time. We made reservations for the hotel restaurant at 6:30 P.M. and then went our separate ways. Rob worked on photos and web stuff, and I did a couple loads of laundry. It felt good not to have a schedule for the afternoon. We met for dinner and, as always, had an enjoyable time. Afterwards we made a short visit to Goldenheart Plaza to see the First Family sculpture, the visitor center milepost, and the Chena River, as well as the bridge with all its flags. Finally, we headed over to the airport to meet Rob Peterson, Kevin's brother for a small plane flight over the city and around the area. While Mitsuo, Yoshiko, and Rob did this, I ran to the grocery store for supplies for the next couple of days' breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. It was another late night and it was 12 A.M. before we even started thinking about bed. The midnight sun really messes with your sleep. Once we close the curtains in the room however, it doesn't take long for our shut-eye to come.

6/24/05 Fri: We met for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 8 A.M. And after loading the car and checking out we hit the open road for our destination tonight--Beaver Creek. Our stops included the Santa Claus house in North Pole, four moose sightings along the highway for photos, the pipeline bridge crossing the Tanana River, Rika's Roadhouse for a bear claw and coffee (finally, of course!--Lucy's dream), Delta Junction for a group picture, and the Tok visitor center for bathrooms. It's a long car day, but really it's nice down time that we scheduled. We want to make it to Beaver Creek in time for the dinner show at 6:30 P.M. The border of Alaska and the Yukon is always a good photo stop and today was no exception. We can stand half in the U.S. and half in Canada. And Rob and I got to kiss over the border! After crossing the border, we had another 20 minutes to get to customs. Now, in Canada, we set our clocks forward one hour. Finally, we arrived in Beaver Creek, the westernmost Canadian community, at 6 P.M. We took a few minutes to relax in our rooms after checking in and then headed to the Beaver Creek Rendezvous, the nightly dinner show. The kick off to our dinner tonight, was an hors deurve of s'mores, marshmallows roasted over the indoor campfire with and open roof. It was good fun and gave ojiisan and obaasan a taste of an American family camping tradition. We ate a ribs and salmon dinner and the Mitsuo and Yoshiko headed back to the room for an early night. Rob and I stayed for the show. Another late night for us.

6/25/05 Sat: We started the morning with breakfast in our room: yogurt, fruit, juice, and coffee. This would be another long driving day. From Beaver Creek to Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory. It was approximately 314 miles. On our journey, we had many, many photo opportunities. It was Mitsuo's lucky day! Mostly mountains and trees with small lakes. Also, we had Kluane Lake and Sheep Mountain. It was here, also near Soldier's Summit where we made up lunches and ate in the car. It was a warm day and we had great clouds for many of the pictures. We had a lucky break and probably saved a half an hour when we arrived at the most major construction site at the end of their lunch break. We did not have to wait for a pilot car and got to drive straight through. Our lucky day! There was a lot of new road and Rob's comment was that one doesn't have to "survive" the Alcan Highway anymore. It's like a freeway now. We had a lot of gravel and potholes outside of Beaver Creek this morning, but it's nothing like it was 13 years ago when we first drove for Holland America. We also hit a few rain squalls coming into Whitehorse tonight. It was pretty windy and cool as we pulled into the SS Klondike paddlewheeler visitor center. We got to do the last tour of the day there before we headed to check in at the Westmark.

Now, we were ready for anything, but we weren't really expecting to be bumped again. Susan, the manager in Fairbanks said she would email ahead for us to be sure we weren't the ones they bumped. But this is big business and big business isn't big on communication. Sooooo, we were bumped and moved to the Westmark Klondike Inn across town. This time, right up front they said they would cover the cost of the room. And then Rob pushed for dinner and got it too. It is ridiculous that with our early planning and confirmed reservations this could happen. But it does--and frequently too! We were much more prepared this time and it didn't set us back much at all. We actually went right to dinner then, at the Westmark. During dinner, Rob and I left to call home to wish Erin a very happy birthday today! Sounds like everything there is going well. We have 5 nights left and then we'll be home.

6/26/05 Sun: Up to yet another breakfast in our hotel room... Then off we were to our Mile Canyon engagement photo re-enactment. We were there by 8:30 A.M. From the lookout was a pretty view and then we hiked below, across the bridge and to our little island. We had Mitsuo take a few photos for us and it was fun to reminiece? about this spot in August 1996, almost exactly 9 years ago, where Rob and I were engaged. He worked out of Fairbanks that summer, driving, and I got to come up for a tour. The night we were in Whitehorse, we ate dinner at Angelo's with a bunch of other drivers and attendants, and then somehow we got to borrow a van from the office to drive out to this point. He had also arranged a room at the hotel for us that night (something 9 years later we couldn't even do with a confirmed reservation...ha ha. The office staff knew of the plan and even sent a bottle of champagne to our room. Obviously, an evening I won't soon forget. Anyway, it was great fun visiting this place once again and taking a new picture.

Our next stop would be Emerald Lake, always a favorite, and so beautiful this time of morning. We passed Carcross, thinking we'll stop later on our return trip. We were also trying to blow past a long line of motorhomes and RV's, some so big they shouldn't even be on the road. We'll try to remember our feelings for someday when maybe we'll have one...

Our weather is absolutely perfect once again. Sun, warm, a few clouds... can't ask for much more. When we arrived in Skagway it was lunch time, so we headed straight for the Red Onion, an historic brothel, now restaurant and bar. After our meal, it was shopping time. We shopped the streets of Skagway under hot afternoon sun. Before we left Yoshiko, Rob, and Mitsuo had ice cream and I found a blended coffee drink. Now we were set for the trip back up the pass.

After a quick video at the visitor center and a break of one hour in Whitehorse before we'd meet for dinner, Rob and I ran around looking for the perfect "Yukon" souvenir. Most stores were closed so our luck wasn't with us. However, our dinner spot across from the Westmark and highly recommended by the locals, was perfect. Delicious, and a good one to remember for future visits. Finally, back to the hotel for bed and to whip up our sandwiches for a long car day tomorrow.

6/27/05 Mon: This morning we kinda all had breakfast on our own before we left the Klondike Inn. Our departure was scheduled for 8 A.M., but all of us were packed and ready @ 7:50. We had three stops to make: 1) Tim Horton's for "good" coffee, 2) a fuel stop to fill up the tank, and 3) to Walmart to check for a "Yukon" something (vest, t-shirt, hat, for Rob.) We completed all this by 8:25 A.M. and were on the road. It's now 11:30 and we've passed Burwash Landing and making good time. We've gone 180 miles in 3 hours and even had a short construction wait for a pilot car around Kluane Lake. I spent the morning reviewing our route for tomorrow and plotting how we're gonna get 454 miles out of it. It's going to be Tok to Seward and I'm predicting lots of incredible photo opps according to my Milepost bible. It'll be long though.

Our plan for today at this point is to carry on for another half hour or so, then stop for the bathroom, pour juice, and get sandwiches from the cooler. I'm glad now that I stayed up to make them last night. A short stop to check out Scully's burls and bowls, a few picture, the toilet, and off we go again...eating lunch in the car today.

As we passed the border and got back to Alaska we set our clocks back one hour. We really were making incredible time. We pulled into Tok around 3:45 P.M. We checked into the Westmark (this time incident free) and spent the next two hours just hanging out. At 6 P.M. we went to Fast Eddy's for dinner--a great diner-type restaurant that made us forget we were in Tok, Alaska. A trip to the grocery store, sandwich-making time, and bed. We have an early 7 A.M. departure set for tomorrow.

6/28/05 Tue: This will be our longest car day so far--454 miles from Tok to Seward. Our plan was to leave at 7 A.M. and Rob and I were ready by 6:30. The weather looked promising after last night's gloomy skies, thunder, and lightning. There were breaks of blue in the distance and the air was crisp. As scheduled we were headed out on the Glenn Highway/Tok Cutoff at 7A.M. Yoshiko and I found a quick coffee and latte at the Westmark parking lot stand--our lucky day. The morning sunlight turned out to be pretty nice for some good mountain/marsh/sky/and cloud pictures for Mitsuo. We stopped a handful of times for this and then for 8 miles of gravel road construction. (Lucky me, I dozed for that.) We didn't make great time this morning, but it's been nice to see new scenery and experience a route never travelled for Rob and I. We stopped in Glennallen for restrooms and snacks and then hit the open road again. 189 more miles until Anchorage...

We blew right through Anchorage, now making great time. Pretty straight forward the route to Seward is. We're on the Seward Highway, and wow, is it beautiful. The road out of Anchorage hugs the water's edge of Cook Inlet for quite some time. It was sunny and warm--our lucky day still. We made one stop for gas, coffee, ice cream, and windshield wiper fluid, then trekked from there. We entered the densely treed area of Chugach National Forest. There were steep mountains with spots of snow, river beds (dried and flowing), and our first sightings of glaciers. It was spectacular scenery! We made many stops for photos. Our light conditions were good and the marshes were plentiful... Almost missing our turn onto Exit Glacier Road, we quickly found the Seward Windsong Lodge and checked in. Aaaahhh, it would be nice to be somewhere for two nights and not have to pack up in the morning. And very nice for Rob to NOT have to drive tomorrow. Our timing was wonderful and we all weren't so hungry so we delayed dinner and decided to head to Exit Glacier now, in the evening light. What an amazing phenomena! Glaciers have to be experienced to be understood, I think. We walked a short 1.3 miles up to the viewing point of the glacier. This moment was definitely a highlight for me. We took pictures, of course, in a brisk evening wind coming off the glacier, then descended back down the trail, fighting mosquitoes all the while. They were swarming Rob especially tonight, but he seems to ward off the bites fairly well. Dinner at our hotel's Resurrection Roadhouse came next, and the next couple nights seemed especially fitted for seafood. We had a great dinner (and dessert) and shared many laughs tonight. Mitsuo and Yoshiko's dessert was like a glacier and both of them laughed deliriously over that...

6/29/05 Wed: Our shuttle service was at 8 A.M. headed for Seward's small boat harbor. The 9.5 hour Kenai Fjords Tour departed at 9 A.M. headed for Northwestern Glacier. We enjoyed a light continental breakfast enroute, Rob and Mitsuo rested, and I enjoyed some quiet time reading a magazine. Once we spotted our first of several humpback whales, however, I was all about taking video and pictures. We photographed the whales, Dall's porpoise, tufted puffins, stellar sea lions, and of course the rugged terrain of the Kenai Fjords National Park. We were cruising a bit of the Gulf of Alaska, and boy, could we feel it. It was a rather bumpy cruise for a while, until we were more protected from the Gulf. Then it was time for lunch. The seas calmed a bit and we self-served a hot lunch of halibut and chips. Soon, it was glacier time and we slowly cruised into position to turn off the boat engine and drift for a few minutes taking photos and listening to the glacier "speak" to us. What an amazing experience it was! We could feel and hear the "calving" of the glacier before we could see it. There was water flowing everywhere from under the icy-blue color of the glacial ice. It was indeed a lifetime event to experience a glacier like this. There were chunks of ice--small 'iceberg-type' flows in the water, and those opportunistic gulls rode by, as did small seals. Before long the boat was back underway, and we were on whale watch. Our whale sighting rate was pretty good, and that kept us entertained on our long ride back into Resurrection Bay. The boat ride was nice, but definitely some tour could have been added. I guess we're looking for more of a cultural, historical, and environmental lesson along the way. Now we at least know to look for that.

Once we got back to Seward, we shuttled back to the hotel to get our car. Then back to town we went for dinner at Chinook's, our final fresh seafood hurrah before leaving Alaska. Another enjoyable meal with blackberry cobbler for dessert... Tomorrow we won't meet up until 9 A.M. It'll be a chance to get packed up and have a slow morning.

6/30/05 Thur:OK, not such a slow morning...but it wasn't a 6:30 A.M. departure, at least...Rob and I headed to town to get a peek at the Seward Sea Life Center and the Kenai Fjords National Park visitor's center. (Rob made a stop at the Safeway Starbuck's for me too...) Then back to pick up Mitsuo and Yoshiko for our 9 A.M. departure.