Alaska

I’ve been lucky enough to travel many places. I’ve never ever seen anything as magnificent as Alaska. My husband and I made our own arrangements and took the Anchorage-Seard train, and drove inland all the way to Fairbanks and back. If you like self-guided tours, I highly recommend this way of seeing Alaska. When you get off the beaten tourboat track, you get to meet wonderful people and see sites the likes of which you never had. We saw the Aurora Borealis at a little lodge called The Point Lodge in Glenallen and ate eskimo ice cream in Dillingham (eskimo ice cream used to involve berries, sugar and seal blubber. Now, it’s berries, sugar and Crisco. Oh, yeah.)

I have one caveat I picked up while there. The Alaskan people suggested strongly that we not use the Princess Cruise lines, as none of the money people spend on them comes to Alaska. There is no sales tax in Alaska, and Princess owns every concession they use. It’s just something to think about. If you get a chance, meet the people. Ask about their lives, their backgrounds (there is a village on the Kenai peninsula that speaks only Russian), their lore(ask any Yu’pik native about Big Mouth Baby). Be adventurous. It’s worth it. Oh, one suggestion from the locals. If you want outdoors travel, the best time to go is after the middle of August when the first cold snap happens. It kills the mosquitos. If you want the Aurora, the temperature must be below freezing. The colder the better. There’s actually an aurora watch site http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/. Enjoy!