Thursday, May 27, 2010

Some background

Dick and I lived in Alaska from 1995 - 2000.  It was, without a doubt, the greatest experience of our lives and we love Alaska like no other place on this earth.    We've experienced REALLY REALLY cold temperatures and loved the novelty of it!  I saw -53ºF while there and yes, your tires do get "square" and you just can't imagine how frozen and cold a vehicle can be when its been soaking outdoors in those kind of temps!

During our time there we had a pickup camper and spent our summers camping and driving.  We haven't come to a complete agreement on our favorite vacation but its between our trip through the Yukon and Northwest Territories to Inuvik, Katmai National Park,  or our trip to Cordova. 

The trip to Inuvik took us on mostly gravel road to within a 20 minute plane ride of the Arctic Ocean.  If you've watched Ice Road Truckers you may have seen something of Inuvik.  We rode on a very small airplane from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk so that we could dip our toes in the Arctic Ocean.   This was really a spectacular vacation  - a trip to Inuvik is definitely worth the time and effort if you ever get a chance.  The road to Inuvik crosses mountains and plains and is just a long ride through awesome scenery unblemished by civilization for the most part.

To get to Cordova, you have to take a ferry or airplane 'cause you can't drive there!  Out of Cordova is a 50 mile gravel road that takes you to the Million Dollar Bridge and Childs Glacier.  The glacier is undercut by the Copper River and so the glacier cracks and falls into the river and the accompanying noise is like a warzone!!  The force of the ice hitting the river throws boulders and fish onto the river banks and eagles and bears anxiously await these easy meals.

I'd have to say my very favorite trip was to Katmai National Park where we were up close and personal with lots of big brown bears!  I mean close like less than 50 yards.  Like good friends close, LOL!!   If you want to go to Katmai and stay overnight, you generally have to plan at least a year in advance, but it is completely worth it!

We begin our journey tomorrow, good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, as we say here in the South! 

The pictures you see are photos I took on our various vacations when we lived in Alaska and a few from a  quick trip in March of 2007.  Please leave us a message and let us hear from you!

1 comment:

  1. awesome, how cool to be able to live and see bears there

    I hope you have a grand time there!!!

    Looking forward to your updates

    ReplyDelete