North-By-Northwest: A Vancouver and Alaska Family Vacation, Days 6-8 (The Interior)

Monday was our departure day from Anchorage.  After morning runs toward the University of Alaska-Anchorage, we had breakfast then packed up for the trip north.  Along the way, we stopped in Wasilla and met Sarah Palin and picked up groceries before continuing toward Denali National Park.  I also managed to leave my planner on the roof of the van in Wasilla, so will need to pick it up from a good Samaritan on Thursday who grabbed it off the highway.

We stopped in Trapper’s Creek at a gas station/diner for lunch, which is a little more than 1/2 way to our destination.  As we continued north after lunch, we were able to take advantage of the clear day and get spectacular views of The High One from both South and East/Northeast exposures.  It’s massive façade was breathtaking. 

Alaskan Mountain Range

The crew with Mt McKinley (Lily took the picture)

After multiple photo stops for Denali, we headed further north to the park gate where we drove the 15 miles to the end of the line (for personal vehicles) at Savage River.  After all day in the car we were looking to walk a bit so did the riverside trail; a 2 mile flat loop that meanders along both sides of the river.  The short hike was eventful since we had a close encounter with a caribou and ended the hike getting caught in a pop-up hailstorm.

Monday night ended with us driving a little further north to Healy where we moved into our cabin for the next couple nights and grilled out for dinner. 

Tuesday morning started early with a quick breakfast on the way out the door before heading back to the park Wilderness Access Center, where we picked up our 8am shuttle into the park.  Our tickets were for the Eilson Visitor’s Center 66 miles along the park road and only accessible by park busses.  Once you get past the portion of the park road open to the public, the road turns to dirt and gravel and the amenities are pretty much nonexistent.  It’s an intentionally wilderness oriented park.

We had expected to hop from shuttle to shuttle and take hike breaks along the way, but the weather was drizzly and overcast and hiking would have been difficult without any groomed trails while carrying a baby and her car seat.  Also, the bus trip was longer than expected; 8 hours round trip for with a couple restroom breaks and 30 minutes at the visitor center turnaround.  Instead we watched for wildlife from the bus and were very lucky, we managed to see 2 foxes, 4 grizzlies, numerous caribou and dahl sheep, and other smaller animals.  There was also a lynx sighting by the bus, but we mostly missed it.

A herd of dahl sheep on the mountain
A herd of caribou taking a walk

Susan and Lily at an overlook

A little fox trotted along with our shuttle for a while

Momma grizzly with her two cubs

After our shuttle returned, we took a quick 3-mile hike to Horseshoe Lake which included a beaver dam at the turnaround point.

At the turnaround

Heading back to the car

The one animal missing from the day was the moose.  In the evening we drove back to Healy and had dinner at the 49th State Brewery Restaurant.  It was a surprisingly nice gastropub with a great beer selection.  After dinner, it was back to the cabin where we made a fire and played some cards before bed.

Wednesday morning we were graced with the missing moose from Tuesday.  It was grazing on plants along the driveway in the cabin’s backyard…very up close and personal.

Miss Lily got to eat her breakfast with our new moose friend

Once the moose continued on its way, we checked out and started southbound again.  Most of the early afternoon was spent driving with a lunch stop at a Denali overlook café, but unfortunately the rainy day meant no mountain views.  We checked into a new cabin (or small lodge) in Talkeetna then went in to explore the small town.  It is mostly restaurants, coffee shops, and souvenir shops…a little tourist town.

In the evening we took a quick break at the cabin before heading back into town for dinner at the Denali Brewing Company Café.  The food and beers were pretty good but the highlight was getting the info on their casual World Cup watch party the next morning.  Otherwise, with it being a rainy evening we returned to the cabin to hang out for the rest of the night.

Leaving the interior tomorrow.

North-By-Northwest: A Vancouver and Alaska Family Vacation, Days 4-5

Saturday morning, we woke in Vancouver and had breakfast before packing our bags and heading for the airport.  It was a good thing we arrived early because we had to go through US customs while still in Canada, then got flagged (randomly) by Homeland Security for a full inspection…at least we were able to bypass the lines because of Lily.

Finally at the gate, the rest of the flight went off without a hitch and Lily slept the entire time.  Our route took us along the Inside Passage of both Canada and Alaska and at times we were rewarded with spectacular glacier and mountain views.

Slept the whooooole flight!

A couple photos of the glaciers from our plane window

Once in Anchorage, we grabbed our bags and headed to the hotel to pick up my sister and her husband who had arrived a couple hours earlier.  We then grabbed a late lunch at a nearby diner before heading downtown to the Saturday Market where we all picked up some treats and/or souvenirs.  Then we returned to the hotel to run some errands before heading to dinner at the Moose’s Tooth Brewery and Pizza Pub…it was delicious and walking distance from the hotel.  It also just so happened that it was the summer solstice so we were able to enjoy the longest day of the year in the state that has the longest summer days in the US.  On our way home from dinner at 10 pm, it was still bright as could be outside.  Sunset was close to midnight and sunrise was just after 4 am so it never truly got dark.

On our walk home from dinner

Sunday morning started early with breakfast at the hotel before heading to the train station for a day trip on the Alaska Railroad.  The route we chose took us southeast from Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm before heading into a mountain valley for a whistle stop at the Spencer Glacier.  It also included an out-and-back layover at the port city of Whittier.  Once in the Spencer area, we did a flat 5 mile hike that took us to a small glacier-fed lake the gave us close-up views of the glacier itself.  I had never been that near a glacier and its size was impressive. 

Lily had a great time on her first train ride!

So many beautiful views

The glacier up close and Lily getting some camera training in

Our train

Family photo by the glacier

Upon completing the hike we did a combination of train and bus to return to Anchorage, where we had dinner downtown at a seafood bar called Humpy’s, which was good, but a little slow on service.  After dinner we called it a night at the hotel.  Tomorrow, we head north to Denali.

North-By-Northwest: A Vancouver and Alaska Family Vacation, Days 1-3

After what has been way too long, it’s time for another vacation.  Susan, Lily and I have been travelling with my parents and will be joined Saturday by my sister and her husband for the remainder of the trip.  As the title implies, this vacation is comprised of a few days in Vancouver, BC followed by a week in the the Last Frontier.

Wednesday morning started dark and early as we left the house at 5am to trek to the Cincinnati airport.  We had already dropped off Derby over the weekend for his Delphos and Hamilton Lake vacation.  My parents had come in town Monday night to help with Lily while we tied up all our pre-vacation loose ends, so we were ready to roll come Wednesday.

Our first flight from Cincinnati to Toronto (Lily’s first ever flight) went smoothly and she slept for most of it.  In Toronto we had a little mishap with Lily not having a formal boarding pass (she was flying as a lap infant so no seat number) so got kicked out of the security line our first attempt.  Otherwise, the travel logistics went well.  The flight from Toronto to Vancouver was long and Lily was awake for much of it, but was mostly quiet and well behaved.  ‘

 

Once getting our bags, car, and leaving the airport we drove into downtown to our hotel to drop off the bags and attempt to check-in.  We were early (1:30 for a 4pm check-in time), but didn’t think it was unreasonable to think our rooms may be available…the desk seemed to think otherwise.  With time to kill and bellies rumbling, we walked a few blocks to a sandwich shop for a late lunch, then set out to explore the area.

Only a few blocks from our hotel is a ferry terminal for the False Creek ferries, which includes a quick hop across the False Creek to Granville Island.  Granville Island is an old “island” (actually peninsula) that sits directly below a bridge and was once a industrial area turned derelict.  It has been revived as an artist and craftsman hub along with having the large Public Market, which is similar to Findlay Market in Cincinnati with tons of stalls of food vendors (ingredients and prepared goods), spice and coffee/tea shops, as well as some other artisan stalls.  We made a loop of the island and bought some bacon maple peanuts (Oh Canada) before returning to the hotel in late afternoon.

 

During our downtime, I snuck in a run and did some reconnaissance on the northwest Seawall.  The sun had come out at this time, so the paths were packed with walkers, runners, and bikers.  There were also sailboats gathering out in the bay.  I ran along the shore into the perimeter of Stanley Park before turning back. 

With a long day of travel behind us, we decided to get take out and stay in Wednesday night.  My dad and I walked to The Fish Shack for different varieties of fish n’ chips.  The ambience of the restaurant was neat, but the portions were skimpy.  My dad’s blackened snapper wasn’t much more than a snapper nugget.

Thursday, after a good night of rest and some great news of Susan’s passing of the EPPP, we were ready to get going again.  Breakfast was at the hotel and was standard Residence Inn fare.  Then we packed a day-bag and drove a couple miles into Stanley Park.  We drove the park loop first to see what all was around, then re-looped back to the Totem Poles to get out and stretch our legs.  After some time exploring (and shopping) here, we drove up to Prospect Point, viewed the Lions Gate Bridge overlook and then hiked some of the walking trails we could get to from the Prospect Point parking area. 

 

Post-hike we were ready for lunch so crossed the suspension bridge and grabbed food at Nando’s, a small Portuguese chicken chain.  The waitress here was a little overwhelming in her enthusiasm for Lily so we had to keep and eye out to make sure no baby-napping would take place.

Our bellies full, we drove up to Grouse Mountain, but decided not to pay for any of the activities offered since the clouds were low so we weren’t sure what kind of visibility we would get at the peak.  Instead, we drove part-way back down the mountain road and visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.  There were a variety of attractions here including the suspension bridge itself (which has been in existence in some form since the 1890’s), a treetop canopy bridge walk, a cliff walk, as well as other nature trails and educational displays.  It was a lot of fun for all of us (but a little less fun for those not fond of heights).

         

We returned to the hotel for a break in the afternoon before heading back to Granville Island for dinner.  It had started to rain a bit, so we tried to be quick about finding one of the breweries Dad and I had spotted the day before.  The only problem was…there were none.  The only actual brewery we had seen Wednesday was the Granville Island Taproom, which didn’t appear to serve food.  Apparently we had a shared hallucination.  Desperate for food and shelter, we ducked into The Keg, which was also not what it seemed.  We were expecting a sports bar, but instead found a steakhouse.  Since it was Susan’s day to celebrate the EPPP passage, we decided it was appropriate and enjoyed our dinner there before returning to the hotel for the night.

Friday morning started with a run.  I ran the opposite way along the Seawall, into the False Creek area and past the major sports arenas, through small parks and past the science center.  It was a beautiful morning for a run with great scenery.  Near the finish I ran into my parents on their run and finished with them. 

After cleaning up, we again had breakfast at the hotel and packed for our outing.  Our main agenda item today was a Whale Watching tour.  It was AMAZING, but I’ll just let our pictures do most of the talking here.

Once on shore again we shuttled back to the hotel to take care of some business and do laundry in preparation for our departure to Alaska tomorrow, where we will meet with the rest of our vacation crew.

In the evening, the skies cleared so we headed out for a walk along the Seawall before venturing into the Yorktown neighborhood for dinner at a burger restaurant where we were sure to sample the Canadian staple, poutine.  With a travel day ahead, we called it an evening early after dinner and returned to the hotel.

Onto Alaska tomorrow!