Thank goodness for the Alaskan Tour Saver Book! We have enjoyed every single cruise that we’ve been on, even though Dave grumbles about them as we boarded the boats. Read on →

Before this journey, the only thing I knew about Valdez was the Exxon oil spill that occurred in 1989. I hadn’t even thought to visit, figuring that the impact on the bay would still be visible. But as we traveled north, people kept mentioning how beautiful Valdez was and that we shouldn’t miss it. Read on →

It’s a small state park, just south of the Wothington Glacier and Thompson Pass, on the way to Valdez – but it has fantastic views in all directions!

Read on →

All the main roads in Alaska have names as well as numbers but the names are what everyone uses when referring to a route – we have traveled the Alaskan, the Top of the World, the Parks, the Edgerton and the Nabestha in Wrangell-St. Elias NP, the Haines, the Klondike Loop, the Richardson, the Seward, the Sterling, the Glenn and are now on the Tok Cutoff. Read on →

Well – we didn’t – but practically everyone else we’ve met these past 3 weeks is. The salmon are running, and the Kenai peninsula is frequently referred to as “South Anchorage” during the salmon runs. Never seen a salmon run??? Just check out Susi’s video at the end of this story. Read on →

Homer, population 4,000,  is the most Western stop, via freeways, on the Kenai Peninsula – it’s as far as we can go without hopping on another ferry. It is a primary spot for sport fishing, both on the shore and by boat. It’s obviously a very tourist-oriented place, but we were surprised to find that most of the other campers we met were also from Alaska! Maybe Homer is actually a suburb of Anchorage??? Read on →

There are some new words that we’ve added to our vocabulary on our journey this summer – most of which define specific land masses that are not found in the flat corn fields of Ohio. Read on →

Thank goodness we finally left Seward – now we can finally catch up on our bloging! We managed to get a front row camping spot on the Seward beach so we’ve been continually entertained by sea otters floating by, fishing boats madly dashing out to sea at 7:00 am, gulls circling the returning boats for fish scraps in the afternoon and eagles soaring overhead all day long. Read on →

Homer claims to be the fishing capital of Alaska, and I promise you that the Sourdough Express Bakery & Cafe cooks it to perfection! Furthermore, as we write blog entries using their speedy WiFi, our dessert just arrived to underscore the “Bakery” part of their name. My Obscene Brownie smothered in ice cream and chocolate is a work of art and tastes even better. Susi’s raspberry/apple/rhubarb cobbler has her gushing about good eats she enjoyed as a kid. Make Sourdough Express Bakery & Cafe a “must visit” when you come to Homer!

We embarked from Whittier on a lovely boat tour (see the album titled 07-11 Whittier & Portage at right). Although we enjoyed the trip very much, we were rather surprised by the city from which it left. Read on →

When I was planning this journey, I didn’t spend a lot of time learning about Anchorage – I figured a big city is the same pretty much where ever one goes, right? NOT! Of course “big” is all relative – Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and only has a population of 283,000. Read on →

Most people we’ve met in Alaska are from somewhere else, so we’ve heard many stories of people coming to Alaska for a vacation and never leaving. A very unique synergy develops with so many people living in communities because of their intentional commitment to be there – everyone becomes a tour guide. Read on →

We were very excited to use our Alaskan Tour Saver coupon to fly in a 1968 Beaver to the base of Mt. McKinley and land at 5500 feet on the Ruth Glacier. What a thrill! Check out more pics on the album titled 07-05 Flightseeing and this video:

[flickr video=3701910608]