Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014
Think it is finally time to wind up our final thoughts on the ALASKAN ODYSSEY.
It has now been almost 5 months since we started this wonderful adventure. We have covered 12,000 in the RV alone not including all those miles in our various toads. Every day was like Christmas with a new package to open. Of course, some more enjoyable and impressive than others, but everything great in its own way.
The majesty of the mountains and the vastness of the ever-light skies were so very impressive. The great museums built thanks to Exxon and the Valdez spill were some of the best ever. Learning the history of the settlement of Alaska and the gold rush adventures were fascinating. It was hard to imagine that this land has very little sunlight in the winter, along with snow and frigid temperatures. For those of us who do not like the heat and humidity of the south in the summer, Alaska was the place to be.
As we are heading south, we are remembering how our shorts were hardly worn this summer. Blue jeans were the major dress code. Rarely did we see temps above 70 during the day. We saw lots of misty rainy days, but nothing slowed down our activities. Consider ourselves to be fortunate enough to view Mt. Denali (part of the 30%).
Haven driven from Spokane to Alabama we're rethinking the quality of the Alaskan/Canadian roads. Yes, they were extremely bunpy, graveled, and dirt in many places. Unfortunately, we have encountered plenty of interstates almost as bumpy.. We've even gotten another chip on the windshield in the lower 48. Using the roads as an excuse to not make the trip is "no excuse", BUT, it is a long trip to get to Alaska. Having so specific plans and going with the flow made it more fun. No deadlines or places we had to be! Whatever we decided for the day was what we did.
It is extremely difficult to pick out any one favorite, but some of the highlights were the LuLu Belle boat cruise in Valdez, eating fresh caught fish on the spit in Homer, bus ride into Denali, visiting with all the dogs that provide dog sled transportation in the winter.
We have to remember that a good bit of the trip was in Canada. Some interesting places were Dawson City, White Horse and we can't forget the problems of getting fuel without having card lock cards. Also found Canada is be extremely expensive for groceries and fuel, but beautiful mountains.
Our bodies will be glad to be off the road for awhile and our RV's will be happy to rest and returned to their clean, pristine state .
When given the opportunity to make the trip to Alaska, say YES, just realize it is a long way up and a long way back, but well worth it!!!!
