Alaska on My Mind ...
Well, I didn't make any summer vacation plans, what with starting my new business and all. But here I am wishing I had, and maybe it's just because of the heat -- but I find myself thinking about Alaska!
Now, I've already been on 2 Alaska cruises, but they were very different and I don't see why I couldn't justify going again. For one thing, there's Mt. McKinley. Steve and I drove up there twice just to see it, and both days it was too cloudy. People have since told us that they have had success seeing the mountain because they stayed in Denali National Park or at the Princess McKinley Lodge, and were up early in the morning before the day's weather set in and they got to see it in all its fabled glory. So you see, we just have to go back!
Then, there are the bears. Same problem -- bad weather. We were totally fogged in the first time, when we had reservations to go see the grizzlies fish for salmon at Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park. Instead, we took a floatplane shore excursion in Ketchikan and went out to see the black bears at Neet's Bay. This is an amazing excursion, by the way -- I highly recommend it. Still, the Brooks Camp brown bears are the most famous, so we'll try again some day to fulfill our dream of seeing them.
Next is Juneau. I just love Juneau, but haven't seen that much of it since on both cruises we took tours. The first time, we went out to Mendenhall Glacier (a must-see, by the way) and a salmon hatchery, and the second time we went whale-watching. We've gone whale-watching now in Hawaii, Mexico, California, and Alaska, so now I want to get out and explore the town. There's a lot of history there, I'm discovering in my research. Actually, if the weather were nice, I'd like to spend an afternoon at Mendenhall again -- it's a great park with hiking trails, visitor center, park rangers -- the whole bit. There's probably enough time in port to catch up on all the sights we've missed.
And, we haven't been to Sitka, Tracy Arm Fjord, or spent any time in Seward or Vancouver. See? There's still a lot to explore! The only way it could happen, though, is if we used some free Southwest Airlines tickets to Seattle and did a round-trip Inside Passage cruise. Maybe if we went at the very end of August or the beginning of September, hmmm ...