Author: Diane

Gotta say I’ve seen a lot of young people here taking jobs in hospitality and tourism.

There are jobs here for you if you’d like to explore Alaska in your free time.

Opportunities to study abroad and earn some good money exist. We heard several times about young people who came here for better wages than at home.

They’re working hard in tourism serving people like us while we travel. We appreciate that.

There seem to be staffing shortages at the same time. We’ve been the invisible table at restaurants, been ignored after ordering and waiting for the rest of our order, been refunded for food we never received, and sat in the ZONE between being finished with our meal and waiting for the check to arrive.

That tells me that if you decide to come and work here you will WORK. You may be put in situations where you don’t know or have’t been trained. The businesses need you and don’t have time to train. Seems like Alaska hasn’t quite caught up again to post Covid slumps.

Tomorrow we fly home. What a trips it’s been. dmc

We are now in our final hotel after our trolly tour. Btw, I’ve gained a lot of respect for trolly tour guides, and tour guides in general. They store an enormous amount of information and history on the area, in their brain and Miss Donna not only has roots here through her native husband, but seeks out learning more and more to satisfy the endless amount of questions people ask. Hooked to a headset mic, she dropped us off, emptied her trolly and filled it up again with 30 more people then started her story all over again, and again, and again. So pleasant and so friendly. You can tell she loves what she does.

The Don, this is The Don a trolly which was built in Maine. She went there to pick it up and drove it all the way back to Alaska.

While going through Indianapolis she actually drove this trolly on the Indianapolis speedway with two police men in the seats. Can you picture that? A city trolly bus banking the turns on the speedway? Too funny.

The Iditarod race went through here in Anchorage. Balto is credited with bringing the serum that saved Nome, AK but one of the real hero dogs in an important mission of mercy was Togo. Togo and his musher tag teamed through blizzard conditions and ice breaks nearly loosing all. Togo instinctually knew what to do. It is said this musher, Leonhard Seppala – Born in Norway in 1877 could sleep for three hours increments and Togo knew the way and led his team safely to their destination. Here’s to Togo, Balto and all the people who gave so much to save the children and people of Nome, AK.

According to our tour guide Donna, this is an area where a whole neighborhood slid right into the water.

Earth scientists now recognize that the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake resulted from plate convergence: where the Pacific Plate is being overridden by the North American Plate, it descends, or subducts, into the Earth’s mantle along the Aleutian Trench. Unlike the San Andres fault where the plates rub each other. The wavy nature of the place we were standing basically turned the dirt in to liquid quicksand.

Dan and I are between the two plates here. Donna took pics of all of the riders doing this. I must say, I was a bit uneasy standing there. I have my hood on because Alaska’s state bird is mosquitoes. Donna actually sprayed the air with OFF before we got off the bus. Didn’t help.

Perfect crunch on the bread loaded with crab meat. It was amazing. dmc

Yesterday’s travel on our viewing car was stunning. A two floor car where above gives you panoramic views of wilderness, lakes, vistas, mountains, and wildlife. And below the dining car where you ride thru Alaskas countryside without a care in the world.

This pic was our goodbye to the train. We’re solo now in Anchorage, AK. Now both with head colds it’ll be nice to sneeze and cough on our own. Lots of people were getting sick by the time Denali came around. Close quarters on coaches, boats, planes and trains, we’ve done them all.

Good meals on the train. This burrito tastes like a good smoked sausage. You wouldn’t know.

We get settled into our room after a long day of travel. Turn on the TV and I see travel Alaska channel on. I’m watching this and thinking dang, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what there is to do here. It’s all about nature. The mountains, the wildlife, the sea, the lakes, the glaciers, the weather, and how it affects things. It’s massive, historic, ancient, beautiful, and if you can you must try to see it with your own eyeballs.

I understand how it makes people want to move here. It’s rough and rugged but it takes your breath away.

Man is in the forest. There are times I just shake my head at people. Those with ancient ties here understand respecting the land, the animals, and nature.

The disrespect of things we’ve seen here like in the gold rush was out of control. If you’ve seen it, your head would shake too.

The natives weren’t motivated by gold and riches. It didn’t help them like fur, food, or tools would. In all of this, it seems to come back around to protection and preservation. We are slow to realize that there is only one earth, only one of that species that drop our jaws. Respecting the land and what it gives you can’t be under stated. It’s a delicate balance. Ok, I’m done ranting. I’m part of it too. dmc

Happy Anniversary to us!

To celebrate, we chose Alaska, as big as it comes. This is a different kind of vacation where relaxing time is when you can fit it in. All the rest of the time, it’s go, go, go. We wanted this “go Alaska” before we weren’t able to “go” quite this way. Oh there are plenty of “go” types here and we are on the younger side of the older side if that makes sense. So hats off to the “go people”.

Traveling to Alaska should be on your bucket list. Plan to go, go, go also. It’s really the only way to see what this state has to offer.

PUPPIES! For us the trip is complete with holding a puppy. These 10wk old pups were a feature visiting in the main lobby of the chalet. Actually dogs are a popular attraction here. The story of how Balto saved the children and town of Nome Alaska from dysentery lives on. It’s an amazing story. Our family grew up on the story which they made into an animated feature. We all loved it.

Which brings us to these amazing puppies. They have a job to do. It’s in their DNA. They get so excited as adults to pull the sled.

So for now our job is to love on them and acclimate them to humans. No problem. We got this.

Dinner, ah the halibut nuggets. Amazing! The best of the best. Flaky beer battered halibut, fresh tartar sauce. Delish!

I “schmooshed”my Bernaise sauce before I took the pic but boy was this tender and delicious. Me with a side of asparagus and Dan a side of potatoes au gratin. And to celebrate our Anniversary….Thank you!

It was fitting to order this dessert while in Alaska don’t you think? We ate it all.

So here’s to 35! I love you. Where do we go to next? dmc

It’s a common story of when the runt rises. It’s the same here with Granite. Named after a strong rock, Granite was a runt and passed over by all the men mushers. Susan Butcher saw him differently. She worked with him and he with her to form a winning team for the Iditarod for 4 consecutive years.

They don’t treat the women any different than the men for this race. It’s grueling and she did it. Lost to cancer, her legacy lives on as does the race. She wrote the words of her story before she passed. These dogs are amazing.

There isn’t a motor on this 4 Wheeler. She doesn’t need it. Pure joy when the dogs were released to run. dmc