Our 2012 road trip was a little different than 2010 Yellowstone or 2011 Grand Canyon.  We decided to do something a little different: fly up to Alaska with our camping gear, rent a car, and camp as much as we could.  So, we did it!

We flew out on my birthday and landed in Anchorage around 8pm.  We got our car and drove downtown to our hotel.

Anchorage!

A few things I learned about Alaska right away:

1. Everyone was REALLY nice!  Texas is known as the friendly state, but Alaska may have one up on us.
2. It was pretty cold.  OK, maybe it was about 55 degrees.  But we had just left Texas and 105 degree heat.  So it was pretty cold for us.
3. It’s daylight all the time!  I knew this before we got there.  But it’s different when you’re going to dinner at 9:30pm and it looks like 6:30pm.

We had dinner that night at Glacier Brewery and it was AMAZING!  So yummy!

The next day we went to the Alaska Zoo.  It was a small zoo but with animals that aren’t really “traditional”.

Mr. Bald Eagle

A swan family!

Grizzlies – they really wanted out of there

Hello!

this looks like it’s out of a pixar movie or something

glad we brought the tripod!

After the zoo, we went to the Millennium Hotel for drinks on their deck.  It is a treat to sit out there, drink a beer, and watch the water planes take off and land from the largest private airport in the world (at least that’s what I heard).

sitting at the edge of the “runway”

here’s one coming in

I have to admit, we weren’t really loving Anchorage.  I don’t know what it was about it, but we were ready to go.

The next day, we started our journey to Denali National Park.  We were pretty excited to get there.  We had reservations at the Savage River Campground, but after talking with some of the guides at a museum in Anchorage, we were able to take their recommendation and change it to Wonder Lake Campground.  We got the last spot!  :)

The drive in was beautiful

One we got to Denali, we had to hurry to catch the bus to Wonder Lake.  The drive in was fantastic.  There is only one road and the park doesn’t allow private cars after mile 15.  It was great because it means the park can stay native to the natural surroundings AND there isn’t paparazzi any time there is a “sighting”.  Yellowstone was really bad about that.  Dozens of cars stopped to find whatever animal was hiding in the brush.

But not in Denali!  Animals everywhere!  We just had to stay in the bus.

hello, caribou. I see you!

Then we saw the momma grizzly and her cubs.

such a sweet family

they walked right up to the bus

Along the road, there were several scheduled stops.

my honey checking out the scenery

my turn!

my first climb of the trip!

from Eielson Visitor Center

We also got a glimpse of Mt. McKinnley.  It was SOOO high in the sky!  It’s the tallest mountain in the world from base to summit.

Denali

Six hours and 85 miles later, we made it to Wonder Lake Campground.  It was so nice – there were only a few campsites and the view was spectacular!

our home for 3 days

There was one not so great thing.  Mosquitos!  EVERYWHERE!  and they were aggressive.  So we had to wear these stylish things…

cute, huh?

I know they look silly, but we would have been lost without them.  Well, maybe not lost, but definitely dinner for the flying hunters.  Before we went to bed, we made sure that all of the mosquitoes were out of the tent so we could sleep in peace.

Our first night’s sleep was pretty rough.  I kept waking up thinking it was morning, but it was only 2am, then 3am, then 4am.  It was so bright outside!

The next morning, we hitched a ride on the bus to go hiking for the day.  We met a man at the campsite, Carey, who suggested we hike up Stony Dome.

spot on the map

It was great because we were completely by ourselves!

getting started!

this creek was so peaceful and beautiful

stopped for a break

We made it {thisclose} to the top.  I just couldn’t get there.  My sweet husband was understanding, but that hill was much bigger than it looked.  And it had a pretty steep incline most of the way.

We made it down to the road and waited and waited for the bus.  There were no other passing cars or buses, so we were just acting silly, playing games, dancing in the road, and singing about all the bottles of beer on the wall.  Then, our bus showed up and just as it came up, we noticed something in the field right next to us.

yikes! a papa grizzly

Thankfully, he didn’t see us!  He was HUGE!

on the way home, all of the tents set up.

That night, a ranger came to teach us about wolverines.  It was really interesting.

The next morning, we packed up our gear and set out back to the park entrance.  We took the bus to Kantishna (and end of the road at mile 92).

That’s Wonder Lake behind us

a moose along the road

Look at that caribou!!!

another grizzly

the flowers really reminded me of texas bluebonnets

we got the sign shot on the way out of the park

Now we were on our way to Fairbanks.  It was just a short drive and we really didn’t do anything there but find a local brewery.  It was quite a surprise!  Great beer and excellent food.

Silver Gulch Brewery

The next morning, we hit the road to drive down to Valdez (pronounced like the oil tanker).  The drive was incredible down the Alaskan Scenic Highway.  I have to tell you, this was the day the trip turned around for us.  We were struggling with the time change, daylight 24 hrs a day, and colder weather.  But this is the day we started having a wonderful time!  We stopped so many times along the drive to take pictures of the mountains and glaciers.  We also had lunch at a very sketchy, yucky, and all around nasty diner in a gas station.  It was memorable!

The husband wanted me to show you that the speed limit was only 55.

stopped by a lake just to rest and stretch our legs

The Alaskan Pipeline

We stopped at Worthington Glacier, but didn’t walk up to it.  We should have though…

snowball fight!

This is as close as we got to this one

one of the photo ops we stopped at along the way

Then we made it to Valdez.  I LOVED THIS TOWN!  It was so cute and small and everyone was so sweet.  We decided to eat at the Harbor Cafe and thank goodness we did.  It was amazing.  And the owner served us and said that the only thing they don’t make in house is the ketchup.

very, very tasty

By the way, it’s about 10:30pm in this picture.

The next morning, we got up VERY early to make our ferry ride.  Since we were early, we were able to get great seats on the boat.

our ferry

our indoor seats!

Every time there was a good photo opportunity, I would run outside on the deck and take pictures.  This ferry ride was better than any 3 hour cruise we could have paid for!  It took us through Prince William Sound.

the sea lions

iceburg – starboard side! it was SO close to the ferry

what is that?!?!?

Well, it’s a whale and it was teasing us with these little peeks at his tail.  Well, he finally did it.

the money shot!

What was so cool about this was right after he flipped his tail at us, he swam right by the boat and came up to breathe.  I could hear him breathing and singing.  It was incredible!  I got a little emotional over it – I had never seen anything like it!

While we were on the ferry, we talked with a really sweet couple from Fairbanks.  I really enjoyed our time talking with them.  One of the things they mentioned was that the town we were docking in is completely surrounded by mountains.  And there is a tunnel that would let a train in and out.  So that meant that only boats and trains could get in and out of this town.  WHAT?!?!?  We need to drive out of the town…  Then she mentioned that they opened it up to cars not long ago and they have a schedule for going in and out of the town via the tunnel, which takes turns with the train.

Once we docked in Whittier, we got in the car and headed over to the tunnel to see how long it would be before we could get out of the town.  Turns out, we drove right through – we hit the schedule right on the money!

2.5 miles through the mountain

See the train track?

the light at the end of the tunnel

Then we made our way to Seward.

an unnamed glacier along the way

We ate at the restaurant called the Salmon Bake, which right outside of the hotel we stayed in.  The food was very good.

the Salmon Bake

The next morning, we drove into the center of town.

Iditarod

We also went to the Alaska SeaLife Center.  What a treat this place was.  My honey had a little connection with the seal.

buddies

And I saw more sea lions.

swimming around and around

We also saw some puffins.

puffins (obscure reference – makes me think of Hugh Hefner)

Then we saw these crazy birds swimming!

they were diving really deep in the water

Once we left the sealife center, we decided to stop by a little local establishment and have a beer.

a local dive

and we had the best time!  There were mostly locals in the bar, so we were able to talk to a lot of people about their experiences in Alaska and share what it’s like in Texas.  I didn’t realize we had been there so long until I looked over at my sweet, inebriated husband and realized it was time to get some food.  The guys there had been buying him a lot of beer and I didn’t realize it.  I got him to the closest restaurant, barely, and ordered very bready, greasy, italian food for him.  And an iced tea!  He didn’t eat much because he was so out of it.  So we got his food to go and started walking to the car.

Along the way, my honey made a friend.

Clyde!

We were obviously missing our Tucker.

We made it back to the hotel, my honey slept off our time at Seward Alehouse, and then ate his dinner.

The next day was our last in Alaska.  That morning we woke up and were determined to see more of Seward than the inside of a bar.  Just up the road from our hotel was Exit Glacier.  We walked to the glacier and we were so glad we did.

Exit Glacier

We were supposed to stay on the trail because glaciers can be very dangerous, but my husband is quite the explorer and found his way to the ice.  It was his first glacier, after all!

careful…

look how big the glacier is!

This made me laugh

Once we walked out of the park, we started our drive to the Anchorage Airport.  We had a little extra time, so guess what we did?  Yep!  We went to a brewery for lunch.

Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

So how would I sum up our vacation in Alaska?  Beautiful, big, cold, tasty, adventurous, friendly, and expensive.

What would I do differently?  I would come in September/October when there is some nighttime and maybe see the Northern Lights, camp a lot more at all of the countless state parks, visit the grocery store and cook instead of eating out so much.

Would I go back?  YES!

I think this trip was a trip of a lifetime!  We had a wonderful time.  And we both added a new state to our list!  :)