Our 2024 Alaska Adventure--including planning!

[no1racefan1]

Booked it out of work a little early and I am officially on vacay!!!

Still checking some things off the to do list before we leave in 3 days.

 

[Editrix]

I leave on Wednesday. It's been a long road of planning. I hope your trip measures up in every way.

[no1racefan1]

We saw the Northern lights last night!

[no1racefan1]

Day 0:

Is the day before you leave counted as Day 0? I have no idea if I'm using that correctly. Oh well!

 

We're getting the last of our house chores done today, loving on our puppy lots, and finishing packing (or in DH's case, starting AND finishing packing). 

 

Sapphire Princess had some propulsion issues and were late getting into Vancouver yesterday and very late leaving. They are skipping Ketchikan. Crossing my fingers that the issue has been resolved...but whatever happens, we'll deal with it! It might surprise you to know that despite my OCD tendencies towards over-planning, once the actual trip comes we are both 'go with the flow' kind of people. I do always have some Plan Bs in my head if needed! 😂

 

Weather forecast for most of the places we are visiting is 50s and cloudy with a chance of rain. That's good enough for me! Seward's forecast isn't quite as promising, with highs in the low 40s and a greater chance of rain. We're prepared to be chilly on our orca quest cruise and our kayak tour 😬

 

Luckily for all of you who are sick of reading my ramblings, this will probably be my last long post until after the trip. Since I'll be on my phone, any live updates I share will be short and sweet! (Have I mentioned I hate typing on my phone??)

[Arkiepig]

Enjoy❤️

[BBGrace273]

Have so, so, SO much fun. I was in Seward with rain, and it was still awesome, even on my orca quest cruise. 

 

Have loved reading your planning journey, and even though I'm going to Alaska on another line, it has helped me immensely. 

 

All the best!

[no1racefan1]

2 hours ago, BBGrace273 said:

Have so, so, SO much fun. I was in Seward with rain, and it was still awesome, even on my orca quest cruise. 

 

Have loved reading your planning journey, and even though I'm going to Alaska on another line, it has helped me immensely. 

 

All the best!

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that about your orca cruise 🙂 I've tried to keep this more focused on Alaska and less on Princess, so I'm glad to hear it's been helpful!

[no1racefan1]

@Incredimom have an amazing trip, despite the rough start. I hope it is everything you want it to be!!! 🤩

[abbydancer2003]

Have a wonderful trip.  I do hope it lives up to you hopes and dreams.  I love Alaska, and will probably be be back in 2026.

[allesonwonderland]

Enjoy! I hope all goes well with your sailing. I'll be watching for your posts once you get back since we follow a few weeks after you. I've been on a cruise with propulsion issues before, I think your 'go with the flow' attitude is a good one to have. 

[Mr. Baloo]

Have a great trip!!!  Right behind you on June 15th.

[no1racefan1]

Flights have been smooth sailing so far. One more to go! All our layovers are during meal times so we're just eating our way through travel day 🥴

 

We're following the situation with Sapphore Princess but not going to worry about something that hasn't happened yet!!

[no1racefan1]

18 hours and 3 flights later...we made it!

[no1racefan1]

You might remember I was worried about our Budget rental car but it worked out perfectly! They gave us a free upgrade to a brand new 4-runner, for a minute I felt like we weren't on a budget 😆

 

It's 52 and sunny in Anchorage. Sitting outside in light jackets and we're perfectly cozy. YMMV.

[allesonwonderland]

7 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

You might remember I was worried about our Budget rental car but it worked out perfectly! They gave us a free upgrade to a brand new 4-runner, for a minute I felt like we weren't on a budget 😆

 

It's 52 and sunny in Anchorage. Sitting outside in light jackets and we're perfectly cozy. YMMV.

Great to hear! We have Budget as well. When I originally booked it, I chose a later time. We're scheduled to arrive earlier now, we'll see if we can pick up early (at our booked price) or if we'll just have to wait it out. 

[no1racefan1]

Went to Moose's Tooth Pizza for dinner last night and it was awesome! We had about a 25 minute wait for a table so we sat out by the firepit and marveled over the mountains. We had the Call of the Wild pizza on cauliflower crust. It was the best gf crust I've ever had and such a unique pizza!! 5/5 recommend.

 

After dinner we went to Wild Scoops ice cream. Ive been following them on FB. All their flavors sound so good and they make everything from local ingredients. They have several dairy free options. I got mine Baked Alaska style. 10/5 recommend, we will make it a point to go back to Wild Scoops on this trip!

 

This morning we are going to bike the Tony Knowles coastal trail.

[torybruno]

Have sooooomuch fun!  

[no1racefan1]

58 minutes ago, torybruno said:

Have sooooomuch fun!  

Thank you!

[no1racefan1]

Day 2:

Rented bikes from Pablo's Bike Rentals. They were all super cool and the bikes were in great shape. We rode the whole 22 mile RT trail. Weather was high 40s but sunny. Brisk for a bike ride but not uncomfortable! We saw several moose, one of which we had to ride right past!! 

After our ride we walked to intermational House of Hot Dogs. (If you read online that its right next to the bike rental place, its not! It just moved!) 5/5 recommend. 

Then we grabbed some more Wild Scoops on our way put of Anchorage. Now we're at the Alyeska Resort. The Seward Highway drive is just as spectacular as I read about!

Don't know how to fix those, oops

[Paula_MacFan]

Love the moose picture!  I am not a hot dog lover but that picture looks good 🙂  

 

[no1racefan1]

5 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Love the moose picture!  I am not a hot dog lover but that picture looks good 🙂  

 

I'm not a hot dog lover either but it was soooo good! And actually mine was a Polish sausage 😁

[no1racefan1]

The Nordic spa at Alyeska Resort is AMAZING!!! If you like the thermal spa on cruise ships, you should definitely consider adding the Nordic spa to your land trip if possible.

[no1racefan1]

Day 3: We didn't have anything planned for today and DH said he'd like to just drive around. We ended up driving all the way north to Matanuska Glacier and then back down to Seward. It was a long day but absolutely stunning scenery and perfect weather! I was comfortable in a long sleeve tee and fleece vest--no jacket necessary.

Here's some random upside down photos from our day. I'm sorry I have no idea how to fix these, they look right when I attach them!

Princess sent an email saying the mechanical issue should be fixed for our cruise and they anticipate no issues. Fingers crossed! We have been so blessed and thrilled with every moment of our trip so far 🥰

[no1racefan1]

There's a lot of construction delays between Anchorage and Seward so be prepared if traveling there.

 

NCL Spirit was in port when we got to Seward. I would have watched it sail but we were exhausted and crawled into bed after dinner.

 

Edited May 16 by no1racefan1
Spelling

[no1racefan1]

Good morning! When we arrived at the lodge last night there was a note that said they have a Bayview suite available for tonight if we want to upgrade. I texted the owner to ask about the cost to upgrade, and they said free!! So we're switching rooms today because who would turn that down? This place is gorgeous and I thank whomever it was that suggested Resurrection Lodge on the Bay.

Also includes a hot cooked breakfast and we were able to grab some apples and peanut butter to take on our Orca Quest cruise today. Which it's supposed to start raining just in time for our cruise 🫠

view from breakfast: