Day 19: The Journey Home

Note: There will be 2 Day 19 posts since our two groups traveled quite separately this day. Sarah will post her report when Sophie lets her!

Thursday, July 30, 2009
The day dawned much earlier than any of us wanted. Our shuttle left at around 5 in the morning, perhaps a little earlier. It didn't take long to realize that the Princess people really did have our flight info all messed up. The bus stopped first at the Delta terminal. When no one got off the bus, the driver looked up who was flying Delta and announced our names. The only problem was that we weren't flying Delta. So she loaded the suitcases back on and we went to the other terminal where everyone got off the bus.

We were flying Northwest, as were most of the people on the bus. There was only one flight leaving at that hour and the line to check-in was quite long. But because Dad got us first class tickets, we got to move over to the special line. Yay! The curmudgeonly ticket agent checked us in (and added my Delta frequent flier number to the super long flight) and we headed to security. I had forgotten to put my shampoo in my suitcase so I tossed that. There were no problems getting through and we camped out at the gate. We were very early and the Anchorage airport, especially at that hour, was not at all exciting. Our gate was the very farthest away, of course, so we just hung out there for the most part until it was time to board.

The flight itself wasn't that exciting. We boarded early and made David sit by himself as he was planning to sleep the entire way. He did end up switching his seat when an enormous family (4 little kids, all under the age of 6 or 7) boarded and their seats were all over the first class cabin. People moved to allow them to sit together. David got his window seat after all... Actually he ended up sitting next to some kid who was probably also college aged and was reading Stephen Hawking stuff.

The flight itself was completely uneventful. Well, almost. Not ten minutes after take-off Dad sets his orange juice on the tray and it just slid right off and spilled all over his legs and feet. Oops. That was messy and sticky for him. We were served breakfast - some, um, interesting looking egg omelet thing, fruit, and a bagel. It was ok. Other than that, we didn't do much. I did once again assert my cribbage playing authority... We landed in Minneapolis right on time.

We had a couple hours to hang out in Minnesota. I thought Dad and David should go find the Larry Craig bathroom, but they didn't think that was a brilliant idea. That airport was absolutely huge. Despite the options, I couldn't really find anything I wanted to eat and so ended up with Burger King chicken fingers, not one of the finer foods in life...

The second flight was equally uneventful. We got dinner this time - I annoyed Dad when I took that last sandwich, apparently (I was not aware it was the last). I made David get the salad since he wasn't going to get anything. I ate it instead (well, parts of it). This flight was only 2 hours. When we landed in Hartford, I was shocked at how crowded it was. The baggage area was just packed with people and the luggage was really slow to come out. It eventually did and we had to track down Unreliable Cab Company. We eventually found the guy outside, way at the end. In his defense, he had called and left a few messages on Dad's cell phone, but would it really have been so hard to wait inside with a little sign with our name on it?? Making extra work for us at the very end of a long trip just wasn't cool.

Getting home was nice. The cat was very happy to see me. She didn't leave my side for a few days. Crazy kitty. Shockingly, I had little trouble readjusting to east coast time, I guess because I naturally stay up really late anyway and didn't do that on vacation... Unlike normal trips, I even unpacked right away, did laundry, sorted mail, etc.

All in all, the trip was an amazing experience. I definitely think that Alaska is one of those 'must see' places - especially the glaciers and the interior area around Denali. I'm sure I could come up with more eloquent things to say about the experience, but I'm not feeling overly creative at the moment. I know I'll remember the places, the people, the crazy family memories for a very long time. And I know that everyone else on the trip joins me in saying a very big Thank You to Dad for making this happen!

So Dad, where are we going next year? My vote is Italy. Just saying....

Day 18: A Whaleless Whalewatch

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The day started MUCH earlier than anyone wanted. We needed to get to Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula, for a whalewatch. The tour company arranged our train tickets ahead of time. We left the hotel at about 5:15 AM to go to the train station. We didn't all fit in one cab, so Sarah and family followed in the second cab. That is when the "fun" began.

As soon as we arrived at the station and got out of the cab, a railroad employee informed us that the train was canceled. Gosh, that's just wonderful news... Apparently, there was a rockslide over the train tracks. I had a secret wish that darn, the whole day would be scrapped, let's go back to the hotel and sleep. I'm sure I wasn't the only one with this thought. As it turned out, the railroad brought in buses to transport everyone to Seward instead. It cut the trip in half, as well. This meant we'd arrive in Seward really early, but it also meant that on the return trip that evening we'd get in much earlier than expected.

After Dad and Steve worked out the ticket problems (apparently the tout people never got Sophie a seat and then the names got messed up), we boarded the bus for a rainy (shocking!) drive to Kenai. The drive was uneventful. At one point we stopped for a rest break - nasty nasty bathrooms, but we made it to Kenai without any issues. We took the shuttle from the depot to the docks to get our tickets. Because we had nearly 2 hours to kill, we went to get breakfast and then just hung around for awhile, wandering about. It was very UNEXCITING.

Grandpa and Sophie watch some Sesame Street on the iPhone

Sophie makes a new friend

Eventually, it was time to go to the boat. I'm not really sure how many people were on the tour, maybe 50 or so? After our safety spiel, we were on our way. The captain stopped the boat when she spotted wildlife and we'd watch for a little while before going on. Because it was so overcast and chilly, we spent most of our time on the lower level. We saw some otters and a lot of birds (the puffins were Sarah's favorite) before spotting a whole group of sea lions lounging about. I very briefly saw a dolphin, but it was gone very quickly. The one thing we did not sea were whales. Hmmm....

A playful sea otter

Sea lions taking in the "sun"

A puffin on the rocks

After 2 weeks of really good behavior, Sophie had had enough. Between teething, lack of a schedule, and over-stimulation, she had a huge meltdown. The poor kid just cried and cried and cried. When the boat stopped at an island for lunch, she really got going. Lesson learned that day: when going on an ALL day trip somewhere that is inaccessible to a store (i.e. you will be on a 5 hour boat trip), bring baby motrin! Sophie cheered up a bit the second half of the boat ride, she sat with us and played a bit, but was still out of sorts. Also, the Sesame Street podcasts on the iPhone saved the day.

Sophie zonked out after a loooong day

It is rather becoming, no?

When the boat finally made it back to the dock, we split into to groups - Sarah and I went to the True-Value store across the street to see if they had any baby medicine (there were no nearby drugstores or grocery stores) and everyone else went to Subway to pick up meals for the ride back to Anchorage. After some searching, I found children's motrin. We waited in the slowest line (it had 2 people in it, there is no reason it should move this slowly) and then met the rest. For some unknown reason, everyone else got 12 inch sandwiches but Dad ordered a 6 inch for me. Still not clear on why...

Finally, we were on our way again, back on the bus. Sophie was doing much better at this point, happy to have her medicine. Once we returned to the hotel, we needed to find out about the morning shuttles to the airport. They were supposed to have already given us this info... It wasn't until very late that they finally told us our shuttle left at the hotel at 4 something in the morning. Eek. Sarah and family had a couple extra hours since their flight was later. The luggage procedure was such that you couldn't bring it down yourself - you needed to have it ready an hour before the shuttle left. There was no way I was waking up that early just so they could get my suitcase, so bell services came and got them all before we went to bed that night.

We said all of our goodbyes since we wouldn't see each other in the morning. Sophie was super cute, running from person to person giving hugs (poor David, she wouldn't give him one). And then it was time to sleep - the end of a very, very long day. Next time, don't plan such a filled day at the very end of an already crazy vacation...

Upon returning home, Dad discovered that most of the days adventures had been refunded by the tour company. No reason was given - perhaps the inconvenience of the bus instead of the train?

Our Journey, Thus Far (Part 3)

Day 17: Northern Exposure Exposed

Seriously family, none of you noticed that I went from Day 8 to Day 10 when I was naming the blog posts? You need to be more observant about these things so I don't have to go back and rename a gagillion posts...

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The morning was nice and leisurely. We breakfasted at the same place we had dinner last night and we were super-lucky to have Jason wait on again. I'm not sure he felt lucky, but a good time was had by all. We hung around the lodge for a good portion of the morning, on the deck and also inside, all showing up in bits and pieces. The lodge had internet access, so that was nice.

This is the room David and I slept in. One of us (hint: not me) is the world's messiest sleeper...

Sophie on a bear hunt

View from the McKinley Lodge. If it was clearer, Mt. McKinley would be visible right in the middle of the picture.

We decided we'd spend a few hours in the town of Talkeetna, which was about an hour away. The train left from there to take us back to Anchorage so we had to go anyway. The bus ride was uneventful. Thankfully, Oaf was not our driver this time. Talkeetna is the town that served as the inspiration for the television show Northern Exposure. Sadly, we did not see any moose walking down the street.

Enjoying the busride to Talkeetna

The town itself was tiny. It had a bunch of shops and restaurants, but that was about it. We wandered around for awhile, but it was pretty boring. We ate lunch at an OK (but highly recommended) place. They didn't have some of the items listed on their menu and their milk was frozen. Very weird. But they did have really pretty bathrooms - they were painted with scenes of the Alaskan countryside.

Sophie has decided to enroll in flight school to become an Alaskan bush pilot

SMOOCH!

We made our way back to where the shuttle would take us to the depot and from there, Sarah, David, and I went the opposite direction to a neat little bead store. There were lots of pretty beads and I'm sure I could have easily spent a lot of money there, but instead just looked. I did, surprisingly, have a most pleasant port-a-potty experience. It was clean and didn't smell, I was quite shocked. It was eventually time to go to the depot. We waited (and waited and waited) for the train to arrive, already standing in line to board.

Like last time, we were assigned to a particular car and tables. This time, however, we really lucked out. The train had cars on it from the Alaskan Railroad and several different cruise lines. Our car was the very last one and our tables were the very last tables. This meant we had the huge back window all to ourselves. We also didn't have to share with anyone this time and the end seat was really a big long bench the width of the car. We had lots and lots of space. That would have been great for the ride up.

This doesn't seem like a good idea...

This train trip would only be about 3-4 hours in length. We ate downstairs - the food was absolutely nothing special and very slow. I think I had some type of salad for dinner. Afterwards, we (except for Steve and Sophie) played Trivial Pursuits. I had lugged that stupid game all the way across the continent and we were going to play it come hell or high water. We never got a chance to finish the game but I declare dad the winner - he had 5 pieces when we stopped. Sarah and I had 3. David actually had 4 BUT he kept getting the world's easiest questions when he landed on a piece. Questions like "which Jewish holiday holds a seder?" and things like that. The rest of us were not so lucky with our questions.

One of the houses across the lake is where Sarah Palin lives (she resigned as governor 2 days earlier)

From the station in Anchorage, we were brought to our hotel, the Captain Cook. It's a pretty large and apparently fancy hotel. It was fine. Because our plans for the next day began very early and would end very late, David and I got all our packing in order that night so we didn't have to worry about it tomorrow. Afterwards, I uploaded ALL of my pictures to Picasa, labeled and everything. It was soon bedtime. Bedtime in my twin bed. How weird...

Our Journey, Thus Far (Part 3)

Day 16: An Indescribable Experience, Described

Monday, July 27, 2009
Morning plans today were divided in two groups: the brave and the not-so-brave. Ok, perhaps that's not quite fair, but I'll keep it. Dad, David, and I had an early morning flight to Mt. McKinley. But before we could go, we had to make sure luggage was outside our doors, breakfast was eaten, and everything was in order. After a last minute luggage swap, we were on our way. I opted not to eat breakfast. The thought of flying in a teeny tiny plane, bouncing around, did not do anything to settle my stomach. I didn't think eating would be a good plan.

A van from the flightseeing company picked us up at the lodge and drove us to the "airport" in the town of Healy. By airport, I really just mean an airstrip, thankfully paved. It was pretty cloudy outside, but we were assured that the mountain was out and things were a lot clearer over there. Apparently, yesterday's wind causes all flights to be grounded then so we were fortunate to be flying today instead. At the "airport," we were weighed and assigned a plane.

Our pilot seemed to have quite a bit of experience here, having spent the last couple of decades flying in Alaska during the summers. He winters in St. Thomas. It's such a tough life, clearly! Anyway, he gave us our safety talk once we were in the plane (it was a 10 seater, including the pilot/co-pilot seats). We were given a garbage back in case we felt the need to vomit, a juice box to help with ear pressure issues, a headset to hear everyone, and an oxygen mask for when we reached a certain altitude (the plane wasn't pressurized). Oh boy, this will be something. Dad and I were seated 3 rows back, right over the wing. David was seated behind us.

I will admit that there was a time after we took off that I thought I was going to throw up. The plane was really being thrown around due to the winds. Our pilot assured us that it would settle down as we got further into the park so I just spent a lot of time at the beginning concentrating on my breathing and trying not to make a fool of myself. I'm glad to say I succeeded.

It was kinda neat to fly along a similar route to the one we drove yesterday - it's just a totally different world up there. We were able to get pretty close to Mt. McKinley but unable to go about 20,000 feet and see the summit (and therefore didn't get to wear our oxygen masks, sniff). It was just too windy and unsafe. That was disappointing but overall, it was an amazing experience - the mountain tops, the snow, the unpredictable weather, etc. I can't imagine climbing a mountain like that... I took lots and lots of pictures with Sarah's fancy camera but they really don't do the actual scenery justice.

Images from our airplane:

Our lodge, from the air

Coming in for the landing

Shockingly, I looked back at David numerous times during the flight and he had dozed off. Seriously? Sleeping? That boy can sleep anywhere... He still swears he was just "resting his eyes" but I absolutely do NOT believe him. He had the whole head bobbing thing going on and everything. That was one expensive nap he took...

Dad...

David (awake)...

and Amy

We eventually had to return, which also meant we had to fly back into the really turbulent area, lucky us. We landed without any problems and waited around for the second plane to return so we could go back to the lodge. Overall, a very cool experience - I'd definitely like to try out other trips in tiny planes.

In front of our plane

We found the rest of the family upon our return. They had a quiet and relaxing morning. We had enough time for lunch before we had to catch a bus to go to the next lodge. We ate at the fancy restaurant, though lunch wasn't at all fancy.

Sophie helping Steve with breakfast

Exploring the great outdoors

Aren't we cute?!

The bus ride was mostly uneventful though the bus driver was the most irritating of all the guides on the entire trip. Not remembering his actual name, but recalling it was 3 letter with 2 vowels, Steve later renamed him Oaf. Oaf would not stop talking nearly the entire way. He also had to pull the bus over at some point to go to the bathroom (on the bus). He didn't win any bonus points from me. At all.

A less than exciting bus ride

He delivered us to the McKinley Lodge, another run by Princess. We were staying here for one night. It is named the McKinley Lodge because it has a great view of the mountain from the main building. Of course, it only has a good view if it is clear, which it was not. But it was pretty anyway - I liked that lodge overall better, though there was a lot less to do in the area. Our cabins were way far away and a bit of a pain to get to. The rooms were nearly identical to the previous lodge.

After getting settled in, we headed to dinner at '20,320' - their standard burger type restaurant. We were seated in the corner. Dinner was enjoyable, we had a great waiter, Jason. He was pretty entertaining and very tolerant of our dinner-table antics. After that, we hung out on the deck at the main lodge before calling it a night.

Sophie trying to locate Mt. McKinley

Grandpa finally gets a big hug!

Sophie thinks her daddy is pretty funny (looking)

Our Journey, Thus Far (Part 3)

Day 15: The Mountain

Sunday, July 26, 2009
The plan for today included a very long bus tour, taking is into Denali to see the sights. But before we could do that, we needed to eat breakfast. We went to a buffet that I was less than impressed by before making our way to the lodge to catch the bus.

Our tour was basically on a school bus with nicer seats. We had about 8 hours to spend on this bus. Oh boy. We got settled in our seats, near the back (we took the row with the wheel wells, since Sophie certainly didn't need the leg space in her car seat and and I didn't actually mind either. Steve and I sat together, Sarah and Sophie, and Dad and David. Occasionally, we played musical seats. Lunch was waiting for us at our seats, we stowed them in the bins on top until meal time. Our guide was Marsha, not the friendliest person I've ever met. Her opening monologue was pretty bossy sounding. She got a bit better as the day wore on, though.

After leaving the lodge, we made our way to the park entrance. We learned that private vehicles can generally only travel the first 15 miles of the only road through the park. The rest of that road (about 75 miles) is accessible only to park vehicles and tour buses. This is so as little disturbance to the wildlife as possible occurs. The road is also unpaved.

The sun was out for our trip, so we got to see beautiful scenery all around. The bus stopped occasionally when wildlife was spotted, too. The driver had an unhealthy fascination with the state bird of Alaska, the ptarmigan. There wasn't much that was too exciting about this bird, but we had to stop nearly every time we saw one on the side of the road. She also really liked the Alaskan ground squirrel, though I don't recall seeing any of those. Darn. We did see lots of bears (including cubs rolling down hills and playing around), some moose, caribou, Dall sheep, golden eagles, and a variety of other birds. We did not see any wolves. I'm glad I brought my binoculars along because most of the time the animals were quite far away. Thanks to Sarah's awesome camera, we got some good pictures.

Ptarmigan!

Mama bear and her cubs

A playful bear cub

Caribou

Moose!

We got out of the bus at a few rest areas to look around and use the bathrooms. I would suggest, to anyone taking this trip in the future, do your best to not use the bathrooms. They are glorified outhouses - a "toilet" with a big hole underneath where you could feel a breeze while you went about your business. It was, um, strange. And apparently changing diapers was even more adventuresome because there were no changing stations. Ew.

We saw beautiful mountain ranges, fields, rivers, etc. We drove on narrow roads next to steep cliffs (with no railings...). But best of all, we had great weather to see Mt. McKinley. One of the two peaks was visible and it was really impressive. McKinley creates it's own weather so often the mountain is hidden, especially in the summer. We took lots and lots of pictures both of McKinley and the rest of what we saw.

Images from Denali National Park:

The tour was certainly better than I thought it would be, though it was a particularly windy day, which brought lots of sand from the gravel road into the bus. Every time I blew my nose for the next day or two, I was still finding bits of Denali. Sophie was pretty good, again. She slept for a little while, played, etc. She has become pretty darn good at sitting through longs bus/boat/plane/train rides.

A Gordon family portrait

Sophie making silly faces at Grandpa

Amy and Dad

Sophie decides to wear her lunch box

Amy and Sarah

And he claims to be a New Yorker?! Ha - we all knew he was a closet Boston fan...

I slept for perhaps 5-10 minutes total on the tour. During this time, Steve decided to take it upon himself to cause more mayhem with that fish. I'll soon be sending Steve to spend lots of time with the fishes if he keeps that up.

Sophie, always the lady...

After we arrived back at the lodge that afternoon, it was time for a little nap before evening babysitting duties. Sarah and Steve went on a dinner date to the really nice restaurant. Not five minutes after they left, I discovered Sophie had a poopy diaper. I am convinced they did this on purpose though they deny it. Sophie was perfectly cheerful for awhile. David and I decided it was time for dinner so we tried to get a hold of Dad (who had since moved to his own room, in a different cabin). He wasn't answering his phone, so we walked over there and knocked on the door. He still didn't answer. It drives me CRAZY when he does this. We though maybe we'd go to the pizza place but then decided we didn't really want to tackle that alone with Sophie. We finally got dad on the phone and all did pizza together. Sophie wasn't overly interested in eating her portion - she preferred to throw it on the floor and try hang out with the people at the next table. Oops. By the time we got done with that, Sarah and Steve were back from their yummy dinner and Sophie was handed off for bed time.

We had to pack everything up because our luggage needed to be left outside our door for pickup to move to the next lodge tomorrow. Dad, David, and I had our flightseeing trip in the morning. I was, admittedly, pretty nervous about this...

Our Journey, Thus Far (Part 3)