recent travels
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With the exception of two soggy days in Denali State Park, we couldn't have asked for better weather -- warm sunny days for the majority of the cruise; clear, but a little cooler in the interior of the state. The scenery, as expected, was spectacular. We saw otters and whales. We witnessed some incredible glacial calving in which enormous chunks of ice would fall off a glacier into the water with a thunderous, resonating boom! We participated in some awesome shore excursions. We kayaked with the Crooks family in Orca Cove while in Ketchikan, and although we saw no marine life, we did spot several bald eagles. The Kessers and my other sister, meanwhile, went to a wildlife refuge where they watched countless bears feeding on salmon in the river that day. In Juneau, the two of us had a day of fly-fishing. We took a seaplane to a national forest containing a river that was black with salmon. You could've walked across the river on the backs of them! Doug stopped counting after the dozen he caught, and there were others catching over twice that many. Suz, neither the experienced nor talented angler that her husband is, struggled to catch a measly five fish over the course of six hours.
At Denali National Park, we went white-water rafting down the Nenana River with the Kessers. Tamara and Theresa got to experience what our guide called a "glacial facial", and we all pretty much looked like drowned rats at the end of it. The next day, Mickey joined us as we took a breathtaking two-hour flight to the summit of Mt. McKinley. The views were unbelievable! Alaska is an awesome place to visit, and the combination cruise
and land tour is an ideal way to do it. We'd be happy to share more
details and our recommendations if you're considering this once-in-a-lifetime
trip! (Although we hope to be back again soon!)
Other trips: |
In
August of 2003, the entire Drgon clan met in Vancouver, B.C. for
the start of what would be an incredible family reunion vacation.
We sailed aboard the Sun Princess for seven days through the Inside
Passage of Alaska, with port calls at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway
and visits to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Disembarking in Seward,
we were bussed to Denali State Park for a two-day stay at a Princess
Lodge, and then took the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park
for another two days. 
We
doubled-up on excursions in Skagway. In the morning, we took the
most incredible helicopter ride as we skimmed over the tops of glaciers.
We were dropped off in a forested area where we hiked four miles
to the foot of another glacier. Instead of choppering back down
the mountain, we rode the White Pass & Yukon Scenic Rail back
to town. That afternoon, Mickey and the Kesser females joined us
for our second helicopter ride of the day -- this time to a sled
dog encampment on an icefield. After touring the camp and meeting
some of the dogs, we went on a fun ride led by a team of eight Alaskan
Huskies.