The Final Alaska Recap

So to reiterate…despite tales of woe and sickness, Rob and I had a truly fantastic vacation in Alaska. And although we are indeed on medication, our traveling companions (Hi, Carolyn and David!!) report similar enthusiasm so if we’re crazy, we’ve got company.

In no particular order, other than how it occurred to me, here are some random thoughts, memories, and observations from Alaska 2008:

• Much to our surprise, Rob and I both really dug the whole cruising thing. At best we thought it would be just OK. It turns out I loved having a bed to lay on whenever I felt like it. And I loved that we unpacked once. And that our hotel room traveled around with us. And that, even while we were sleeping, we were still making progress towards our next destination. The Goal-Oriented Type A-ness in me thought that last part was especially groovy.


• Carolyn and I spent quite a few trip-planning emails trying to decide how to attire ourselves for the two Formal Dinner nights. Much kevetching and brow-wrinkling. As we should have guessed, it was hardly a big deal. Honestly, I could have worn the exact same outfit both nights and nobody other than Rob, Carolyn, and David would have noticed. And none would have cared. The rest of the meals were billed as “Smart Casual.” According to one sturdy man in his 60s, bib overalls with one strap a-danglin’ fits that description.


• Making a run at fanny packs for the tell-tale sign of an American tourist: Crocs.


• Hand-washing one's “unmentionables” in the cabin sink is very efficient. Having to smile and say hello to Didi the Assigned-for-the-week-Room-Steward who has now seen all of the aforementioned unmentionables is downright embarrassing.


• If you believe in God, you will quickly conclude that when he got to creating Alaska, he decided to have a little fun. Same goes for Bryce Canyon.


• Our itinerary had us spending a “day at leisure” in Denali National Park. Due to my illness, we had our “day at leisure” in the very scenic and unbustley Seward instead. Honestly, we came out ahead.


• Denali reminded me a lot of Moab, Utah: a densely populated and built-up strip of commerce in amongst a vast amount of nature. As a result, it was rather jarring – all that noise and movement and commotion in what should have been a very serene setting.


• The extra excursion to Fort Yukon above the Arctic Circle was a true highlight. I was so surprised that the scenery was green trees and bushes instead of grey or tan tundra. It was 10:00 at night yet I could have been wearing shorts since the sun wasn’t really planning to set that night. The Yukon River was meandering and calm, opposite the torrent I expected from reading Jack London novels in junior high. Perhaps in 6 months?


• Richard, our tour guide in Fort Yukon, was a hoot. We were there under the auspices of the only company that has been granted permission by the Elders in Fort Yukon to bring “outsiders” in for a tour. Richard is a local and he gave us a remarkably authentic tour of his village of 600 people. Bumping along on gravel roads on a really old school bus, Richard pointed out the liquor store, the town gossip, his parents’ house, and locals to avoid photographing.


• If I ever start carrying a quilted purse, shoot me.


• One of my favorite meals was the lunch Rob and I had at the Safeway in Seward. We had been abandoned by our tour group and I was desperate for something very bland to supplement my saltines. The bus driver suggested Safeway’s soup bar and unofficially dropped us off in front of the store. Although the rosemary chicken soup was a tad too flavorful for my fragile stomach, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the café on the edge of the produce section, watching local Sewardians go about their morning. I concluded that Alaskans are a hearty, hairy, unadorned people. No need for make-up or fancy clothes or a razor. Their faces are rugged and their fashion sense practical. They struck me as very real people. I loved hanging out on the fringe with them.


• One unexpectedly exhilarating excursion was a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords. Six hours on a small boat honestly sounded quite dreadful to me, but it was included with the package so I went along and paid close attention to the safety info about where to find my life jacket. The first water-based animal we spotted was a sea otter. Now, I've seen lots of sea otters in Monterey so I wasn't expecting to get that jazzed about seeing another one. But, it was awfully cute and it was sort of different to see it hanging out in the middle of the water rather than right next to the restaurant on the pier. By the time we were done, we had gotten up close and almost personal with sea lions, puffins, white and black birds that looked like a cross between a bowling pin and a penguin, a humpback whale, and a pod of orcas. We also got close to a glacier that decided to calve (break up) in a big way as we were bobbing along in the water right next to it. As we were all busy taking pictures and making lots of excited noises, Captain Heather closely watched the waves that emanated from where the ice chunks had fallen into the water. A couple quick maneuvers and we easily avoided both the waves and the ice chunks. It was everything and more than I expected from Glacier Bay (honestly, a disappointment). Rob, David, and I all agreed the Kenai Fjords day would be hard to top. Carolyn said it came a close second to her dream-come-true helicopter trip to a glacier to take a dog sled ride.


• While quarantined in Seward, we came across the coolest TV program ever. It was a live feed of a webcam that is set up on nearby Chiswell Island to observe the behavior of Stellar sea lions. Yes, I was weak and loopy, but it really did get more fascinating and amusing the more I watched it. Even more amusing: Rob's occasional outburst of "They're showing seal porn on TV!!" Check it out here to see for yourself.


• As a land tour company, Holland America is a great cruise company. We found the folks working on the cruise ship to be professional and experienced. The land tour, on the other hand, was largely in the hands of a bunch of college students fresh off of 3 weeks’ training. The few times we found someone who had already worked a full season, we felt like we had discovered gold. Those nuggets kept the land tour from disintegrating into chaos. The phrase we kept hearing and then repeated for our own amusement: “I don’t know. Let me check with my supervisor.” It was just the strangest dichotomy to have a fraternity of college kids in charge of a bunch of life-experienced 60+ year olds. As you might imagine, Rob and I didn’t really fit in with either group.


• My favorite exhibit at the Visitor Center in Denali: the Seasons of Scat. It had never occurred to me that an animal’s poop would change by season. Really, all the deer poop looks the same at Woodhaven year round. But in the wild, bears eat different things as they are available throughout the spring, summer, and fall and this was vividly evident in the plasticized display.


• This trip was the maiden voyage for a new piece of electronica. We traveled with an Asus Eee teeny tiny laptop and man, is it cool! If you travel and that StimBate is burning a hole in your checking account, check it out on Amazon.


• Being in Fairbanks on the Summer Solstice was also very cool. Actually, it was very warm. I lugged one pair of shorts all across Alaska and finally got to pull them out at nearly the 65th parallel. Go figure. In any case, while New York may bill itself as the City That Never Sleeps, Fairbanks truly lives it in the summer. It never seemed to get dark. We were riding through town at about 11pm after our Arctic Circle trip. Among the things we saw in the bright midnight sun: a couple taking their baby for a walk in a stroller; at least 6 cars in line at the McDonalds drive-thru; several sets of people taking leisurely bike rides; a crowd of teenagers hanging out in a parking lot; a crowd of guys who looked like they were getting ready to go 4-wheeling; and a small gaggle of kids running around at a playground. Subsequent nights for various reasons, I looked out the window at 2:00am, 3:30am, and 4:30am and each time I saw people wandering around, walking their dogs, driving to and fro, just soaking up the sunlight. It was truly bizarre.


• Contrary to past vacations, the Weather Gods were with us, not agin us this trip. At nearly every stop, bus drivers and tour guides told us, "We haven't seen the sun in a week. Thank you for bringing the great weather with you!" The only grey and cloudy day was the day we cruised through Glacier Bay. Perhaps that's why it didn't live up to the hype... I ran into another couple from the Portland area while we were in Skagway. We all laughed at how crazy it was that we had to travel all the way to Alaska to finally find the spring sun.

So again, let me reiterate: everyone should see Alaska at least once. Pictures don’t capture a fraction of its immensity or beauty. And if the experience can overshadow Norwalk, you know it’s gotta be pretty good.