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Elizabeth's Alaska

Prince William Sound Cruise and Denali Tour - August 7-13, 2007

I admit it. We are travel snobs. We pick an area, buy a few good guide books, gather detailed maps and find our way on our own terms. We have never traveled with an organization and were a bit wary of our Cruise West Alaskan tour and cruise -- but it was for a good cause, a family reunion to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.

A long flight from Rome, Italy finally landed in Fairbanks to cool drizzle and mist. This is summer? Visions of the beach flashed before my eyes, but a Sunday brunch at the Pike’s Landing restaurant and a side-trip to the Chena Hot Springs the next day took care of our travel-worn bodies. We were fed, rested, relaxed and ready to begin.

“Here we are, on a tour”, we whispered as reality hit at the opening wine and cheese meeting with its discussions on luggage protocol and excursion reservations before we boarded our bus the next morning. First stop, the oil pipeline and then the Chena River cruise aboard an historic sternwheeler.

With expectations of a nip up and down the river, we were pleasantly surprised when Bob landed his bush plane port side and chatted with us via microphone before an exhibition take off and landing. In the winter, bush planes are the main means of transportation and 80% of year-round families own one. He was followed by a series of locals who showed us their ways, from a training camp for dog mushers to an Indian fish camp preparing salmon for the winter. Reindeer even came out to meet us.

There was a Disney-like flavor to it all, with people popping up on shore as we paddled by to talk to us via microphone, but heck, this in America and where else would you expect to find a professional well-organized show!

Next stop the University of Alaska museum for lunch with a video and visit before continuing to Denali. I was beginning to relax and enjoy the tour part – just having to show up at the bus on time without having to figure out where we were going. Everyone was pleasant and our guide, Chris, told us personal stories on life in Alaska as we headed on our way. When we arrived, we found our properly tagged luggage already in our rooms! We had mastered luggage protocol after all.

Denali park was beautiful, breathtaking actually – well worth the long, bumpy school bus ride. An afternoon white water rafting trip (dutifully reserved at the opening meeting), a couple of very good meals complete with Alaskan Crab legs and salmon and an evening hot tub overlooking the river under a hint of midnight sun put us into true vacation mode. Here we are, in Alaska, soaking away after a day immersed in uncontaminated wilderness. Life is good.

Sun led the way past THE mountain itself the next day on our scenic train ride and Anchorage gave us back to city life, at least for a few hours, before we headed to Whittier and boarded the ship.

Within our first half hour, we had already seen a bear scooping up some fresh salmon for supper and by the end of our three days on the boat, we had seen another bear doing the same, a mother with two babies playing on the beach and a swimming bear whom we followed and cheered on until he landed on a nearby island. The bears were accompanied by humpback whales, orca, lots of sea otters, harbor seals, steller sea lions, bald eagles, jumping pink salmon, tufted puffins, glaciers calving away and more. We saw it all, even the sun – a special treat.

The only other signs of civilization we encountered during our cruise were a few fishing boats in a small harbor and Dave, the oyster farmer, who boarded the ship to tell us about his lifestyle and profession. For those of us who live busy city lives, the silence, stillness and magnitude of nature were wonderful gifts, although we weren’t above tucking inside to warm up and enjoy some very nice meals with family and fellow sojourners.

The biggest problem we encountered was choosing between that last bite of dessert and following a whale sighting. Great vacation problem to solve. The whale won.

Thanks to Cruise West staff for a wonderful trip and a perfect introduction to the joys of organized tours.

See you in…..

Elizabeth Abbot.