Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Day 69 - We’re Home!! - Trip “Summary”, although it’s a little LATE!

September 6th
Even if this doesn’t get read, I needed to complete it for my own peace-of-mind.

A Few Interesting “Alaska Facts”
Became the 49th State in 1959
Vastness – 586,000 Sq. miles (one-fifth the land mass of the entire continental U.S.)
Purchased from Russia in 1867 for less than 2-cents an acre
Mt. McKinley (20,320 ft.) - highest peak in the US
Has 100,000 Glaciers (more than half the world’s glaciers)
Has more that 3-million Lakes, larger than 25-acres
Is 55-miles from Russia
Has its own “Time Zone”

“Trip Facts”

Days Gone from Home: 69
Miles Driven: 11,932 (from our house and back to our house)
3 people left AND 3 came back!!
Flat Tires: None!
Number of Cloudy Days: Too many to count
Motto/Theme Song: Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day
Mount McKinley: It really didn’t exist…..For us, anyway!
“Top of the List” Highlights of the Trip:
For Peter -
The Flight to see the Grizzly Bears in Katmai National Park AND the Seward Glacier Cruise in the Kenai Fjords
For William -
The Flight to see the Grizzly Bears AND the charter Fishing trips out of Homer and Valdez. William says, “It was all great!”
For Phyllis –
Seeing all the new Wildflowers AND learning about Alaska’s History AND learning how to Blog!!!

There are so many good Travel Books on Alaska;
but for me, I would list these 3 as the ones I found Most Helpful:
The Milepost - Alaska Travel Planner - (Also includes Alberta, British Columbia, NW Territories and the Yukon Territory.) – A MUST if doing any traveling by land!! Gives all types of touristy “mile-by-mile” information.

Alaskan Camping – by Mike and Terri Church (Covers Alaska and Yukon camping with RV or Tent) Gives specifics on RV site-size and maneuvering room for MOST of the campgrounds.

The Rough Guide to Alaska – by Whitfield and Burford (covers Alaska only) The authors give information and honest & humorous input on Tourist Sites, History, Restaurants and all types of Accommodations.

These books were also good to have along:

Guide to the Alaska Highway by Dalby
DK Eyewitness Travel Alaska
National Geographic Alaska Traveler
The Lonely Plant on Alaska
That's All Folks!!!

1 comment:

  1. I am so happy that you all had a great trip despite the rain. Thanks for writing the blog. I really enjoyed reading the entries.
    Barb

    ReplyDelete