My Suggestions for a Trip to Alaska

vanity | June 25, 2010 | Cowgirl

[Cowgirl]

I live in Alaska and just spent several days taking a friend to see different parts of our great state. I thought it would be nice to let you'all know of a great deal here in Alaska. The Alaska Railroad is so wonderful. It is very low key with no hassles like you get at the airport. The seats a very comfortable, there is an observation dome, a nice bistro that serves drinks which they refill for free if you keep your cup. The cars a air conditioned and have huges windows for site seeing. I could actually sleep a little which I can never do on a plane. They aren't crowded either. You needn't sign up with Princess Tours or other tours that haul you around on a schedule and make you miss the real Alaska. There are a lot of things to do of course, but if you want a very nice vacation at a reasonable price, spend some time shopping for you hotels and check your maps for areas you would like to explore.

Here is a sample of what I would call a wonderful Alaska vacation. You fly into Fairbanks and stay at a hotel with a shuttle. Shuttle to the Railroad station in Alaska and take the train to Denali National park (about a three hour trip). Stay at a hotel that shuttles to a cabin or hotel at Denali (you can find all of that on line). The next day shuttle to the park and take a bus shuttle that takes you throughout the park with a guide that tells you all the history. Everyone is very friendly and the bus costs about $30 per person. We saw five grizzly, numerous carabou, gold eagles, three dol sheep herds, moose, and wolves which went right by the bus. The next day shuttle to the park and take the railroad to Talkeetna (about four hours).

Talkeetna has around 500 people and 13 historical houses. I stayed at the original Talkeetna Roadhouse which is very old and has a wonderful Alaskan atmosphere. The Twister Creek restaurant across the street was excellent with great steaks and halibut. The Roadhouse has it's own bakery and restaurant too. We walked there from the Railroad station, about a half mile. The town has gift shops with local artists. One lady we met, Laura, had lived there since l987 and had stories to tell about the time it snowed 27 feet and she was in a cabin with three small children. "I cried a lot that winter" she said.

Then, I would travel on down the coast to Anchorage, Seward, Whittier, etc. and then travel back to Anchorage for a flight out. The coastal area has beautiful scenery right along the ocean and you could stay as you long as you wanted just exploring that area.

The railroad system runs even in the winter and they have wonderful trips up north too. The lady on the train said they were running with lower numbers than usual. You can also think of using it as a fishing trip as one of the trains will actually drop you off in primitive areas and I'm sure they have guides if you need one. That area is called Curry or Chase.

I just thought I would pass this along. If anyone has any questions and I can help, I would be glad to help out. We are having wonderful weather right now with no night so things stay open a lot later.

[Cowgirl]

I’m a weather observer here in Alaska but don’t any openings. There is a great job site if you google that
tells you what weather jobs are available.

[hattend]

Really? National Weather Service or contracter? I worked for Chugach Services for 10 of the last 12 years as a weather observer

Good times and good money. I sure miss Alaska

[hoosiermama]

My son worked on a fishing boat in the Bay of Kodiak for two summers...He promised that one day we’re going together.

Right now he’s touring with The Rev Peyton’s Big Damn Band on the WARP tour.(CUZ the drummer who plays a pickle bucket with his kit.) They aren’t doing Alaska till later in the year, if it hasn’t been dropped from the schedule. The valcano really messed up their schedule....
European tour was moved to the Fall.

Spmeday I’ll get there.

[Shimmer1]

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