Has anyone gone to Alaska?
10-10-2012, 04:43 AM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 976
My husband and I would love to go and do plan on going "someday". I have done research and since we aren't big fans of crusies are considering traveling on the marine highway, then heading inland in a rental car. Has anyone rented a berth on the marine highway boats? I've heard that its beautiful and get to skirt up the coast closer to shore than the crusie ships can go?
10-10-2012, 05:43 AM
#12
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Southern Ohio
Posts: 215
If you have a chance to go don't hesitate. Have been to every state in the US and it is the most beautiful place I have ever been. My husband and I traveled 3 months through Alaska. If you go, buy a Milepost book, it will guide you through Canada and Alaska, every mile, campgrounds, food, lodging and fuel. It is a wealth of information. Enjoy!
10-10-2012, 06:01 AM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 683
Yes and would go again! Our daughter (and future son-in-law) were Park Rangers at Glacier Bay few years ago. We took trips by train, boat, plane, foot and enjoyed them all. An old song came back to me one day as I was hiking. Gordon Lightfoot sang : "Great majestic forests - too silent to be real". The whole experience was wonderful. Our daughter has also been Ranger in Hawaii, Maine, California and Midway Atoll so we get to visit all around. Our son is a college professor in England at Imperial College London so we see Europe too. I hope you enjoy Alaska, but be warned, you won't want to leave.
10-10-2012, 06:28 AM
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Abingdon, MD
Posts: 1,659
I lived in Alaska when married to a service member. It is definitely worth visiting. Google quilts shops, they are plenty there. Be sure to take your camera, extra batteries and storage discs. Enjoy your trip.
10-10-2012, 06:32 AM
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 2,723
My husband and I went to Alaska in 2004 and loved it. We vowed to return and we did in 2011. It is wonderful and so beautiful. We talked to a lot of the folks that live there year 'round and it is not an easy life but to them the beauty and frontier feeling of it keeps them there no matter what. We would love to go a third time in the future.
I know you will have a wonderful, wonderful time.
I know you will have a wonderful, wonderful time.
10-10-2012, 06:42 AM
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: central indiana
Posts: 686
Used to live there and brother still lives in Anchorage. I have never heard a complaint from anyone who went. Mostly "it was a trip of the lifetime" type comments. I love it.
We are thinking of taking a Road Scholar trip and combining it with a visit to my brother's place. I want to go back to Denali and the Seward Sea Animal Rescue Center.
We are thinking of taking a Road Scholar trip and combining it with a visit to my brother's place. I want to go back to Denali and the Seward Sea Animal Rescue Center.
10-10-2012, 07:00 AM
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: northern California
Posts: 1,098
So far I haven't seen any negatives! That alone says a lot. DH and I went up our first time in 1983 and it turned out to be a world changer for us. We were in our 43 and 51 at the time and had chosen to back pack for 5 weeks (using the 6th week of our 2 year-combined vacation) to go up and back on the "Alaska Marine" ferry (we were deck passengers).
It was glorious! We took our time on our 5 seperate trips, hitch-hiked (was very common in Alaska then) and savoured every moment. On the last week of our camping DH said, "Next monday I'll be back at the office (dealing with problem children, and worse, problem parents... he had chlldren he had been working for die at the hands of their parents, although the courts had removed them the mother, usually, got them back because of "budget" problems of the state). I looked at him and thought WHY should anyone have to do a job they don't want to do. 15 years was long enough! It took us a year to get our ducks in a row but we sold everything and worked in Asia at mission schools, a very rewarding job! We came home when my dad need us 10 years later.
We would never choose to go by cruise ship because it isn't "our thing". But the ferry deck is awsome! If one person sees something they call out and everyone runs and gets to see it also. If you drive up, go one way on the Cassier hwy (if you come from the south, turn west at Prince George and north on the Cassier; it is shorter, and at that junction area there are 3 towns with totems featured, not for tourists but for local families. A mile or two beyond that junction going north is one of the best native craft shops at the best prices you'll find. You can return by the Al-Can just to see it. Get a current "mile post" book if you drive.
Our oldest son, a troubled lad, went to Alaska when he was about 20 and was astounded that there is a "real" place in this world that doesn't think of "styles, 'in' things", "what others want you to do," etc. You can be yourself. Now he is an engineer with two beautiful children. Three years ago our summer trip with the children (a tradition) was to go to Alaska (we took 3 up, ages 6, 7, and 8 and met the other two up there), took 10 days to go and come back, stopped at every rest stop (first stop: "Grammy, there is NO toilet, only a big chair and a great big hole" AKA outhouse)! Took a bin of books and activities, lots of nutritious snacks, and it was a great trip!
Oh dear, don't let me REALLY get started talking about the glorys of Alaska!
It was glorious! We took our time on our 5 seperate trips, hitch-hiked (was very common in Alaska then) and savoured every moment. On the last week of our camping DH said, "Next monday I'll be back at the office (dealing with problem children, and worse, problem parents... he had chlldren he had been working for die at the hands of their parents, although the courts had removed them the mother, usually, got them back because of "budget" problems of the state). I looked at him and thought WHY should anyone have to do a job they don't want to do. 15 years was long enough! It took us a year to get our ducks in a row but we sold everything and worked in Asia at mission schools, a very rewarding job! We came home when my dad need us 10 years later.
We would never choose to go by cruise ship because it isn't "our thing". But the ferry deck is awsome! If one person sees something they call out and everyone runs and gets to see it also. If you drive up, go one way on the Cassier hwy (if you come from the south, turn west at Prince George and north on the Cassier; it is shorter, and at that junction area there are 3 towns with totems featured, not for tourists but for local families. A mile or two beyond that junction going north is one of the best native craft shops at the best prices you'll find. You can return by the Al-Can just to see it. Get a current "mile post" book if you drive.
Our oldest son, a troubled lad, went to Alaska when he was about 20 and was astounded that there is a "real" place in this world that doesn't think of "styles, 'in' things", "what others want you to do," etc. You can be yourself. Now he is an engineer with two beautiful children. Three years ago our summer trip with the children (a tradition) was to go to Alaska (we took 3 up, ages 6, 7, and 8 and met the other two up there), took 10 days to go and come back, stopped at every rest stop (first stop: "Grammy, there is NO toilet, only a big chair and a great big hole" AKA outhouse)! Took a bin of books and activities, lots of nutritious snacks, and it was a great trip!
Oh dear, don't let me REALLY get started talking about the glorys of Alaska!
Last edited by Sierra; 10-10-2012 at 07:05 AM.
10-10-2012, 07:29 AM
#18
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: New York
Posts: 5,665
We lived in Alaska for 14 yrs and we LOVED it. The scenery is gorgeous and the air is clean. We loved seeing all the different kinds of animal life there and especially enjoyed having Moose bed down in our back and front yard when we lived in Ancorage!! The stores sell things you can only find in Alaska too!! The Fireweed flowers must be blooming up there about now! I hear they had snow last week in Anchorage!
If you get a chance to go and see native dancers it is so worth it!!
GO you will love it!!
If you get a chance to go and see native dancers it is so worth it!!
GO you will love it!!
10-10-2012, 08:06 AM
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 492
I went on an Elder Hostel 2 week trip 14 years ago. I loved it. I would have a summer home in Valdez if I could. We spent a week in Anchorage and a week in Valdez. The trips are so well organized. I would like to see other parts of Alaska. Hawaii was my fov place before the trip to Alaska. One of the other ladies in the group and I hired a small plane tour. Breathtaking scenery. I have been to all but 2 or 3 states, Alaska is my favorite, but all have something to see that is different than home. I think Elder Hostel goes under another name now, you could probably Google it.
10-10-2012, 08:33 AM
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Ky. USA
Posts: 2,829
we lived in Alaska for 5 years, and it was wonderful! would I go for another visit, YES in a heart beat! A milepost is a must have, so much info in it. So much wild life and such beauty, well there are just no words, I say GO! and have a wonderful time!
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