Review of Cruise and Independent Land Tour with photos

[nycchic12]

love this thread! Your pics are breathtaking. I felt like I was on vacation right next you. Looking forward to more :)

[Twinkd]

 

 

After this we remounted our bikes and we were off again only to come across a big old bull moose grazing a little way into the vegetation. Now to give credit here where it is due – if it had not been for the eagle eye of DH I would have missed this big old guy completely, so well disguised was he amongst the vegetation – but DH saw him and we stopped for just a short time to observe him.

Now just to add to the torture that my legs had already been subjected to, at the end of this stretch of the ride, there was a big hill to ride up - “oh are you kidding me???” Well I huffed and I puffed and chanted the mantra “I think I can, I think I can” and I made it all the way to the top of that sucker albeit nearly expiring in the process!! But I did it and had a well earned rest at the end.

One of the gorgeous gardens along the way.

Now we had two options at this point – well 3 really but the “curl up and die option wasn’t to be”!! We could either retrace the path that we had just ridden and perhaps see more moose or we could ride past the airport and see all the seaplanes and then on into town. DH was quite keen to see the seaplanes and I did not really mind either way although I did make a quick mental note that the second option was 14 miles as opposed to the original path that was only 11!! (I can’t believe I just said ONLY 11!!). I must also point out here that I was feeling surprising well considering the distance that I had just ridden and felt (I must have been delusional by this point) that I could go another 14 miles. So the airport/town route was the option we took. The seaplanes were amazing – hundreds of them all lined up around this lake. Let it be noted here that 1 in every 69 people in Alaska owns a plane – how cool is that??

Some of the many Seaplanes.

And some more!!

[Twinkd]

After about another 9 miles this track rejoined the Tony Knowles Trail and we ended up back at the start having ridden a total of 25 miles.

Me on my speedy ride!!

We then headed to the bike shop, dropped off our bikes (thank goodness hypo-man was not there) and walked back to our hotel. Now at this point my Inner Exercise Demon was happy to snuggle under her duvet with a smug look on her face and mutter “I think I am done for the day”. At this same time I was lying near death on my bed thinking “Done for the day?? Are you kidding me?? I am done for the rest of the year!!!”:rolleyes:

Crackers, cheese and tomatoes for dinner that night – I was not moving off that bed for quite some time I can tell you!!

Today, after what I had thought would be a night of dead sleep, which in reality was a crappy night of tossing and turning in the heat and listening to the trains tooting their whistles all night, we awoke feeling surprising well. Mr Grey had removed his clamps overnight and apart from a slight whine from my thighs I felt okay. So we headed into town for a bite to eat and a wander around the shops. I can not believe how many gift shops are in Anchorage – every second shop, actually just about every shop, is a gift shop – all selling the same stuff.

One of the many Gift Shops.

One of the streets of Anchorage.

So bought some of the mandatory gifts for those at home and a box from the Post Office to send some of our stuff home – it was so warm we were not using a lot of our winter clothes and we were worried that our bags would be overweight for our flight back to Vancouver. What is it with airlines – they will let you put 10kg on your butt while you are on holiday but not put 5kgs in your bag?? Anyway we headed back to the hotel, packed up the box, returned to the Post Shop and sent a parcel on home - $120 for the postage thank you very much!!

We returned our rental car then did the Trolley Bus tour of town. I thought this was okay, if not a little corny, and DH was disappointed that we did not go further into the outskirts of Anchorage – it was a “City Tour” and that was what we got. I think it was worth the $15 to do it anyway.

The Trolley Bus.

One of the many City Gardens.

[Twinkd]

 

This is the roof of an underground house that we saw on the tour. Pretty cool!!

Now - on the airport road - planes have the right of way so we had to stop and give way to the planes on the road - something different that probably doesn't happen in to many places in the world.

 

Tonight we just went to the Mall and grabbed a plate of Chinese for dinner then headed back to pack our bags for the train trip to Fairbanks in the morning.

[Twinkd]

Up early to catch the train to Fairbanks. Headed down the hill to the train station – not very far at all.

People had already started to mill around. We booked in and got our passes and allocated seats. We had decided to splurge and go Goldstar Class – glad we did as it was a long trip.

Hung around for a while before we were called upon to board – this was easy and we were onboard and ready to go in no time. Now I really enjoyed this train ride whilst DH thought it was too long and he spent most of the time out on the viewing platform looking forward to the end!! We did meet up with another couple who were sitting behind us who were also from New Zealand. Chatted to them for a while and read my book enjoying the scenery as it zoomed by and feeling smug that my Exercise Demon will not have any hope of making an appearance today!!

Had both breakfast and dinner in the dining room which were okay but typical mass produced fare!!

Everyone on the train had their eyes pealed for wild life. A guy across the aisle from us was really really hoping to see some as he had not seen any since arriving in Alaska. He had seen moose footprints, moose bones and even some moose poo’s but no moose!! Sadly this was not to change – no wildlife sightings on this trip!! I didn’t have the heart to mention the 5 moose that we had seen in Anchorage or God forbid the 20 Grizzly Bear in Katmai!!

Goldstar Train - glass dome carriages - fabulous!!

Some of the scenery along the way.

[Twinkd]

love this thread! Your pics are breathtaking. I felt like I was on vacation right next you. Looking forward to more :)

 

Thanks for that - I am really enjoying doing it - it is like reliving our holiday all over again!!:)

[Twinkd]

 

 

 

We saw several groups of Rafters along the way. We did this on our last trip whilst we were staying in Denali - we went out with Denali Outdoor Centre and it was an awesome day. The water is freezing - glacier fed - but they give you drysuits to wear which mostly keep you warm.

View of Denali Village from the train.

There are warnings posted about the wind when you go over this bridge - can be quite dangerous of very windy days!!

[Twinkd]

The Rafters again!!

And again!!

 

One of the Beaver Dams that we saw - some of them were massive.

We arrived in Fairbanks about 12 hours after leaving Anchorage. As we were staying at Alpine Lodge and they had a pick up service we simply phoned them and they came and picked us up. Check in at the hotel was easy and we were in our room and getting ready for bed in no time. Nice room with lovely spa bath and gorgeous bed – what more could a girl want?? (Oh actually Chocolate Coated Strawberries would have been nice!!)

[Twinkd]

Next morning we wandered next door to pick up our rental car from Alamo. The car was the oldest rental car we have ever had but did the job for the next few days. From here we headed out to the North Pole to visit Santa’s House. We had visited this on a previous trip and loved it. Everything that is Christmas is here – Christmas for big kids really. Bought some Christmas decorations although would love to have bought sooo many more – I soo have to have one of those great big Santa’s for the corner of my lounge!! DH just rolled his eyes and once again said a silent prayer – possibly the only time he has been grateful for the luggage weight limits on the airlines!!

Santa House in the North Pole - really cool!!

This is the one that I realy really wanted to bring home for the corner of my Lounge at Christmas - a little unsure where I would have put him in the interim though!!

If you are a Christmas junkie like myself this is a "must do" - put it on your bucket list now!!

Sat down and wrote letters to my Grandchildren and posted them off from the North Pole which it kinda cool.

[sue402001]

Oh wow - you will have the BEST time!! Are you cruising or just travelling around? On our first trip we went out to Traitors Cove from Ketchikan with Island Wings and it was an amazing day but have to say now that I have been out with the Grizzlies - they were sooo much better. Both pretty pricey though BUT - a once in a lifetime experience!!

 

We'll be doing a land tour before a southward bound cruise out of Whittier. We leave home on a Thursday and the cruise leaves on Monday night. Island Wings to Traitors Cove is one that we are considering in Ketchican or else doing a bear trek while we are at Icy Strait Point.

 

Loved hearing about your bike ride in Anchorage, about how long did it take you to do the 25 miles? We arrive in Anchorage around noon local time.

 

Thanks!

[Twinkd]

Sorry have been really caught up with work - will try and post again either tonight or tomorrow!!! On the up side - it will help to pay off the credit cards!!!:)

[Twinkd]

After this we headed back to Fairbanks and just spent the afternoon looking around and having a relaxing time really. Tomorrow we head out to Chena Springs – really looking forward to this.

Up early today to check out and head to the Car Museum (sometimes ya just gotta do what ya man wants to do!!). Navigated our way through Fairbanks and arrived at the museum to find that it did not open until 11am (a silent phew from me as I looked skyward and whispered a silent “Thank you”). So it was off to Chena Springs. This is about an hours drive from Fairbanks and is quite rural – at the end of the road actually!!

The road out to Chena Springs.

Look a bit like we were on the road to nowhere - but no we were heading to Chena Springs!!

Amazing long raods that just went off into the far distance!!

On the way out there we came across a Moose that was just standing grazing in a pond beside the road. Stopped and watched him for a while and took the mandatory photos!!.

[Twinkd]

We'll be doing a land tour before a southward bound cruise out of Whittier. We leave home on a Thursday and the cruise leaves on Monday night. Island Wings to Traitors Cove is one that we are considering in Ketchican or else doing a bear trek while we are at Icy Strait Point.

 

Loved hearing about your bike ride in Anchorage, about how long did it take you to do the 25 miles? We arrive in Anchorage around noon local time.

 

Thanks!

 

Hey there - I think from memory we hired the bikes for about 6 hours but this included stopping for lunch/breaks as well. It was an awesome day though!!

[Twinkd]

Arrived at Chena Springs mid afternoon and had a bit of a wander around. This place is truly amazing and would recommend a visit if in Fairbanks. The place is mostly self sufficient – make their own power, collect their own water and grow all their fruit and vegetables for their restaurant. There is also a huge Ice Museum there as well as the lovely hot spring pools. We had stayed here previously so did not do the tour of the Museum as we did this last time – it was fun, (cold) and if you paid an extra 15 bucks you got an appletini in an ice glass. If you are really keen you can pay an extra $600 and stay a night in the Ice Museum, although unsure why anyone would want to do this!!

Ate dinner in the restaurant – lovely food and obviously very fresh. Have to say though that the water is disgusting – am sure they must do a roaring trade in bottled water!! After over indulging in the restaurant we headed for the pool – not really a good idea on such a full tummy!! The pool was fabulous – really hot though so it was just a short dip and we headed back to our room and into bed.

One of the many birds wandering around the Springs.

This dragon breathes fire out of its mouth - pretty darn cool!!

One of the many gardens.

The flowers all around are just gorgeous - at night if they think it is going to be cold over the night they get out and cover all of the gardens to protect them from frost!!

[Twinkd]

This is one of the herb gardens where they grow the herbs that they use in the restaurant.

One of the vege gardens with the yummy vegetables for the restaurant - all yummy and fresh from the garden!!

A garden feature!!

After a good night’s sleep we headed out to explore some more. After a light breakfast of muesli, fruit and yoghurt we headed off up the hill towards the Aurora Viewing Building. Once again my Inner Exercise Demon was delighted at the prospect of an outing whilst I approached with dread!! Well I did manage to make it to the top of what turned out to be a not so large hill but did manage to increase my heart rate somewhat. At the top was a building that is there for people to view the Northern Lights in relative warmth in the middle of winter when of course they are at their best. Being that this was near the middle of summer we were not hopeful that we would be using this building anytime soon!!

The view from the top.

The outdoor pool.

The Hot Pools - you can feel the hot water bubbling up between your toes - it is devine!! Would be AMAZING in the middle of winter with snow all around!!

[Twinkd]

After having a bit of a wander around we headed back down and went for a stroll through the Sled Dog kennels. There would have been about 50 dogs kennels, all with a dog within and all making lots of noise!! The dogs get really excited when they anticipate that they are going for a run and bark and jump all around whilst still tied to their kennels – those things must be really well anchored cause those dogs were fair yanking on their leads.

 

People can pay to go on a sled dog ride – they hook the dogs up to a trolley and they pull it round a track – the dogs seem to love it and certainly the people whom we saw doing it seemed to be having a great time!! They seemed to go quite fast as well.

 

After we had wandered through the kennel area we actually wandered along the track that they travel along – it meanders along (or was that just us meandering??) beside a lovely wee lake were you can hire kayaks and go for a paddle. We came across a Beaver Dam and sat and watched for a while until we saw the Beaver swim out into the middle of the lake. We sat really quietly and watched then as soon as we moved he quickly dived under the water and we never saw him again.

The Ice Museum.

 

A seat in the bush.

 

The Sled Dog Kennels.

 

The Sled Dog Ride

 

 

The Beaver Dam in the lake.

 

[Twinkd]

And the Beaver - right before he realised that we were there and popped under the water - never to be seen again - not by us anyway!!

 

The lovely lake that we walked around.

A couple of the geese at the Springs - I love this photo!!

The weather was gorgeous with the sun shining and it was a lovely day to be out and about. We went and hired some pushbikes - much to the thrill of the Inner Exercise Demon who anticipated a long hard slog around through the bush and around the Park. Ha ha I chuckled at her naivety – like that was ever going to happen!!

Once we were given our bikes – it did not take us long to realize that these bikes were obviously used frequently with very little maintenance and were actually potential death traps!! So with much trepidation we headed off. We followed one of the many tracks around the Springs and this one followed a river/stream that flows alongside the perimeter of the camp. We came across a huge lake that had been made by Beavers – the whole thing was surrounded by Beaver Dams and was huge. Although we didn’t actually see any Beavers there – they were certainly evident in the work that they had done to create this lake!!

We spent most of the day out and about exploring on our bikes and rode over some very dodgy and bumpy areas that had obviously been riverbeds at some stage so I returned to the camp with bumps and bruises on areas that did not often see the light of day!! As I hobbled back to our room thinking that things would never be the same down there ever again my Inner Exercise Demon just scorned at me and accused me of being melodramatic – “What me – how can that be??”

Had a wee Nanny nap then headed out and had a lovely soak in the pool – ahh heaven – nothing like a hot water spring to soothe those achy parts!!

Once again ate in the restaurant (actually there is no choice out there) and had another lovely meal. Tomorrow we head back to Fairbanks for our last night in Alaska!!

[Twinkd]

The next morning we headed back to Fairbanks and stopped in at the Fountainhead Antique Car Museum (Yah!!). Now inspite of my lack of enthusiasm I actually quite enjoyed our wander around. There were some really old cars that had been restored to their original condition and even I, who has very little interest in cars – you know it is either black or red and who knows what that grey thing is under the lid in the front – actually thought they were pretty amazing. They also had some amazing old time dresses on display as well so this also helped.

Old time tractor at the entrance to the Car Museum.

[Twinkd]

This is a monument in Fairbanks - we came across it on the walkway along the riverbank on the way to the visitor centre, which, I have to say, was well worth a visit.

Not quite my cup of tea - an antler archway along the same walkway.

The Fairbanks Visitor Centre - lots of great things to see in here.

 

Beautiful gardens outside of the Visitors Centre.

[Twinkd]

After this we headed out to the Pump House Restaurant for a late lunch – this was very yummy and we sat out on the deck in the sun looking down the river. It was an awesome way to spend a few hours. Sitting in the sun, eating delicious food, drinking yummy wine and enjoying the scenery – fantastic!!

Fantastic place to eat!!

The view from our table.

The Grounds of the Pump House.

[Twinkd]

A beautiful view over the river from the gardens at the Pump House.

 

Previously we had done the Riverboat Cruise and that was great but do not feel the need to repeat it this time. After a few hours of relaxation at the Pump House we headed down to the area where the Riverboat Cruises leave from and bought a few last things before heading back to the Alpine Lodge to think about packing our bags and coming up with inventive ways to get maximum capacity out of our bags!!

The view from our Hotel Room - snow fall overnight had coated the mountains and chilled the air!!

View of the mountains from the airport.

Before going to bed tonight we asked at the desk if they could phone was if the Northern Lights came out – ever hopeful being that 1. This was our last night in Alaska and 2. It was my birthday and a view of the lights on this particular night would have been extra special. BUT we were not hopeful!!

Well wouldn’t ya know it – at 12.30am the phone rang and it was reception to tell us that the Aurora was out directly above the hotel. WOW!!! Pulling on our coats – over my jammies – and giving a silent prayer that nobody looked too closely – we headed out to view. Now I guess if you lived in Alaska you would have thought that it was a pathetic display and certainly not worth getting out of bed for BUT being that we are not from Alaska and have never seen the Northern Lights before - we thought it was amazing!! We took lots of photos that turned out to be photos of total blackness – but there ya go – ya can’t have everything and we have the memory of yet another thing that few people will ever get to see – certainly not people from the part of the world where we come from anyway!! AND - what a birthday pressy from the universe!!

Headed back to bed at about 2am to be up again by 5.30am to catch our early flight back to Vancouver via a six hour stop over in Seattle.

[Twinkd]

Up early and onboard the hotel shuttle for the three minute ride to the airport. Grabbed a bite to eat at the airport then we sadly bade farewell to Alaska as we headed off to continue our holiday with another week in Vancouver, and Vancouver Island followed by five nights in the unbelievably mind blowing place called Las Vegas – talk about a holiday of contrasts!!

Well that about sums up the Alaska part of our trip. If anyone has any questions that I can answer I am happy to do so. For those of you planning your trip – happy planning – you are in for an amazing holiday!! For those of you not planning a trip – put it on your bucket list!! Alaska is a “must-see”.:)

[Assateague Island Princes]

BRAVO!!!!! Wonderful, wonderful review. Pictures were spectacular, and oh, your description of the northern lights viewing for your b-day was priceless! Good for you! Thanx again for taking us along - I loved each and every post!

[Twinkd]

BRAVO!!!!! Wonderful, wonderful review. Pictures were spectacular, and oh, your description of the northern lights viewing for your b-day was priceless! Good for you! Thanx again for taking us along - I loved each and every post!

 

Thank you so much for your kind words. It was a pleasure to write it - so many wonderful memories. It does take a while though - uploading photos is the biggy and that is AFTER choosing which ones to use!!! Glad you enjoyed it - now what to do with my spare time - oh well will have to start planning my next holiday!!:):):)

[knukruzer]

so very glad you got a view of the northern lights for your birthday! wonderful icing on the cake, eh!

thanks so very much for sharing your trip with us, totally enjoyed going along for the ride with you! hope you share your next vacation with us :D

thanks again!!!