Alaskan Excursion

On the evening of May 19th, Annika, Eli, and I did something very unexpected--we flew to Alaska!  A few weeks earlier I'd found cheap nonstop flights into Fairbanks ($118 Roundtrip).  On a whim I decided to take the littles out of school to explore this last frontier.  The best part is that Papa Kay was able to join us for our adventures, even connecting to our exact flights.  As for poor Brooklyn, Talia, and Jason, they all stayed behind to go to school/work.  So responsible.

Eli is ready for adventure!

As for Miss Annika, she traveled in her PJs since we wouldn't be arriving until 1am.   I oughtn't have bothered.  She stayed awake for nearly the entire journey.

Our flight path followed the setting sun. Here we are pulling into Fairbanks in the wee hours of the morning. The light of an Alaskan summer is fascinating! I think the dark of an Alaskan winter would unhinge me.

Checking out our brand new rental car at 2 am.  Just a note to the Chevy Malibu makers--their vehicle is not friendly for the vertically-challenged.  I often found myself sitting on a pillow to see better.  The back windows are also really narrow and high for kids to see out of.  Otherwise the car was great.  

The next morning I went for a run while the kids slept in.  On the way I met this fox who was scavenging road kill.  It ran ahead of me on the trail for a segment, so I got to watch it for a while.

Given the beautiful weather, we decided to take a day trip to Chena Hot Springs.  The kids were delighted to discover all of these metal sculptures that they could play on.  The dragon was our favorite.

Annie, Eli, Papa Kay, and the giant chair.

Queen Annika dominating her serfs.

After our picnic lunch we headed out for a short hike along the Chena River.

I think Eli's javelin was inspired by watching Wonder Woman 1984 on the flight over.

Papa Kay seems quite at home in his Alaskan surroundings.

Back at the resort, we learned that the hot springs are not open to those under age 18. Bummer.  Fortunately, the hot tubs and indoor swimming pool are.  

If you look at Annika's lobster legs, you can see how toasty the hot tubs were.  I think she's debating whether or not she would be allowed to climb into the fish pool.  That would be her dream come true.

No fish pool, but the family pool was fun!

Even though the kids couldn't enjoy the actual hot springs, Papa Kay and I each took a turn.  Pretty fun, but really hot in places.  It would be amazing in cooler weather or even in winter with snow all around.

Dinner that night was amazing.  In general, we tried to economize on breakfast and lunch but allowed ourselves to splurge on a nice meal in the evening.  Thanks to some recommendations on Yelp, we found this place called Soba that served Moldovan food.  Papa Kay's batuta (pan-fried chicken schnitzel) brought me back to dining with Dorli as an exchange student in Austria.

Annika loved her dumplings as well.

For dinner, we all shared a slice of honey cake.  Yum!

The next morning we set off on a new adventure with Eli as our navigator.  Destination Denali!

To get deep into the heart of Denali, we boarded the Toklat Transit bus that drove us 53 miles in.  Our bus driver was great, stopping to point out any wildlife that we passed.  I was amazed by how light the caribou were!  Apparently their fur coats get darker throught the summer.

The grizzlies were also blonde.  All in all, we saw three bears.

Papa Kay's favorite animals were the Dall sheep.  We got to see rams, ewes, and a lamb.  Their ability to climb steep and rugged terrain is pretty impressive.

Not much of Mount Denali could be seen on this overcast day, but that's not particularly surprising.  Denali is so large that it creates its own weather.  Apparently only a third of the park visitors catch a glimpse.

Happy travelers.  

All in all, the journey was over six hours long, so we got to know our bus well.  There was another family from Salt Lake aboard whose Mom attended our neighborhood school, Wasatch Elementary.

So beautiful!

Papa Kay and Eli with their impressive racks at the Toklat Visitor Center.  

Now for the real treat: this is a side by side with Uncle Lance, taken about  fifteen years ago in the exact same spot!

Other fun wildlife spottings: a porcupine, lots of ptarmigan, a gyrfalcon (the world's largest falcon), and the American kestrel (the smallest falcon in North America.)  Even with so much wildlife, it was a long bus ride.  Annika got bored and started taking selfies with my phone.

That girl is a riot.  Eli, on the other hand, is super mature.  Annika's antics often drive him crazy, but the two of them did really well on this trip.  Here's Eli at Denali Princess Lodge where Lance worked for several summers.

After another lunch of cheese and crackers, we were all excited to dine on "real food" that evening.  McKinley Creekside Cafe was delicious!  Here's Eli relishing his mooseburger.  Annika got salmon chowder, and Papa Kay enjoyed some freshly caught halibut.  As for myself, the fried goat cheese on my salad was a revelation.

Despite the light, the kids crashed in the car during our drive down to Talkeetna.  Hard to believe this was taken around 10 pm.

We stayed in a cute little cabin called the Talkeetna Wilderness Lodge.  It wasn't large, but it was clean with a small kitchen area.  Perfect takeoff point for our excursions.

Speaking of excursions, in Talkeetna we splurged on an adventure to remember.  We went mushing!

As you can imagine, both kids were ecstatic about dog sledding.  We began our tour by meeting some of the retired sled dogs who get to hang out in the comfort of the house after years of racing.  On the coffee table, you also can see one of Dallas Seavey's trophies.  

I had no idea who Dallas Seavey was before taking the tour, but apparently he's a pretty famous dog musher.  He was the youngest person to ever race the Iditarod, the youngest person to ever win the Iditarod, and with five victories under his belt, he's already tied for the most wins.  The course record, however, belongs to his father Mitch Seavey, who completed the 1000 mile journey in 2017 in 8 days, 3 hours, and 40 minutes, with Dallas coming in behind two hours later.  The sled dog tour took place at Seavey's homestead where the dogs are raised and trained.

We met Dallas very briefly.  I saw him smiling and chuckling at Annika who was obsessing over all the dogs.  Only later did I learn that he has a seven year-old daughter who coincidentally is named Annie as well.

As for the guy Papa Kay has his eye on...

...well, he really enjoyed geting to know our soft-spoken tour guide Chad Stoddard.  When asked, Chad told us how he and his dogs ran the Iditarod for the first time in 2021, winning Rookie of the Year.  

As for the kennels, they were quite a sight with over sixty different dog shelters.  It was really hilarious when the dogs would all start to howl at the same time in a deafening malamute chorus.

As a teacher, I thought herding preschoolers was chaotic, but it's nothing compared to sled dogs!  The cacaphony of dozens of dogs barking is a bit surreal.

Papa Kay gets ready to mush with Eli riding as passenger.

So fun!  Here's Papa Kay with his favorite dog, Candle.

We all knew Annika would be over-the-moon to go dog sledding, but Eli enjoyed it just as much.

Taking my own turn to manage a team with Annie aboard.

While there weren't any small pups in the kennels, we did get to meet some rowdy six-month olds who stole Annika's glove and devoured it.

Running around tired the pups and kids alike.  

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race takes the musher and his/her dogs all the way from Anchorage to Nome.  I can only imagine the flood of emotions that come when the finish line is in sight.

After our tour, we mushers were ready for some lunch so we walked around quaint Talkeetna to see what we could find.  Little did we know that the mayor of Talkeetna is quite literally a cat!

We finally landed on a cute little pizza joint.

Feedling adventuresome, we ordered the "Game On" with reindeer sausage and gyro meat.  Flavorful.

Reenergized, we then found a cute little park where the kids could run around.

We caught Papa Kay mid-howl in this photo.

We then took a stroll along the fast-flowing Susitna river and discovered these gorgeous ferns.

The hollow reeds also made great finger traps.

After getting back to the cabin, I went for a run while the kids watched a movie.  I got such a kick out of seeing this airplane sitting in somebody's front yard.  It feels so Alaskan!  

Afterward we all indulged in some birch syrup ice cream.  Yum!  It made up for our absolutely horrible dinner.  I'd brought some backpacking just-add-water meals in order to save a bit of money on dining out.  Apparently they are only edible after hiking for fifteen miles.  I'd thought about adding some to our emergency storage but have changed my mind since.  It would only pile misery upon disaster.

The next morning it was time for the long drive back to Fairbanks.  We left fairly early because we wanted to catch a 2:00 pm church service.  On the way, Denali decided to peek through the clouds.

Such a stunning range!  Thanks Papa Kay, for the great company, the sled dog tour, and the tic tacs!

I found this cartoon at one of the Denali lookout points and it totally cracked me up. 

"With my new computer program I can scan you into a photo of any hot tourist spot, giving you the 'proof' without the time and expense of actual travel.  F'rinstance, here's you in front of Mount McKinley."  "But you can't even see the mountain in this photo.  It's all cloudy!"  "Uncanny realism, hey?"

Indeed, we were headed straight into the clouds.  That beautiful clear shot of Denali became a snowstorm within two hours.  They warned us that it can snow any day of the year in Alaska.  We just felt bad for the river rafters that we watched getting in the water right about this moment!

We made it to Fairbanks in such good time that we were able to stop at this little park to stretch our legs and/or ride a bike.

Church in Fairbanks was interesting.  They called a new bishop, so I found myself reminiscing back to when Jason was called and thinking forward to the day when he will be released.  While I'm sure it will be bittersweet, I look forward to him feeling less stressed and more able to join excursions like this one.  Between the demands of work and church, this year has been really hard.

Back to Fairbanks, after church we went to the Museum of the North, a natural history museum run by the University of Alaska.  They were in the process of creating a bowhead whale display to be hung in the atrium.  In a few months, the museum will also display Bus 142 from Into the Wild.

In the meantime, we got to see polar bears, seals, and grizzlies up close and personal.

As for myself, I felt particularly drawn to the artwork of Claire Fejes (1920-1998), an Alaskan artist I knew nothing about.  So intimate in her depiction of native women and children in their every day lives, her work reminded me of Mary Cassatt but with a bold style and regionalism that is more indicative of Gauguin.  As I went home and studied more about her personal life, I was intrigued by the contrast between her urban upbringing and arctic art.  Raised by immigrant parents in Brooklyn, she was trained by attending free classes funded by the depression-era Works Progress Administration.  While a child of the city, her greatest inspiration was a tiny nomadic whaling camp built on a stark landscape void of trees.  With nothing but sea and sky stretching before her, she found warmth and acceptance from these people who welcomed her into their circle.  I may be projecting, but it seems to me that this unique season of her life helped her reconcile her artistic identity with her role as a mother as well.

Outside the Museum of the North we got to admire totems...

...and the museum itself.  I really like it, but in true Papa Kay style my Dad couldn't resist a few comments about wasted space.

We stayed at the museum until after five, but our flight out wasn't until 1:00 am so we still had plenty of time to spare.  We opted for a twenty minute drive to North Pole, Alaska where even the McDonald's sign is striped like a candy cane.

You'll find a giant Santa checking his list, even at the end of June.

Even better, you can meet the reindeer with their fuzzy antlers.  By the way, did you know that the only difference between reindeer and caribou is that reindeer are domesticated and caribou are not?  Interesting Alaskan tidbit of the day.

If traveling to the North Pole isn't strange enough, eating Chinese food at the North Pole might be.  We headed for Pagoda , highlighted on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  It didn't disappoint!  The Mongolian beef was amazing.

The egg rolls were also delicious.  Funny story--we'd just finished off our appetizer and were talking about how we wished we'd ordered another when our server dropped by and explained that they'd made an extra.  Wish granted!

After dinner we stopped off at a North Pole playground where the kids quickly made friends.  I loved watching them play hide-n-seek until Annie decided it would be fun to hide in the portapotty.  And this would be my red-eye flight travel partner.  Blech!

A little before nine we decided that we ought to leave so that the local kids could head home.  Since we still had plenty of time before our flight, we headed to our final park of the day: Fairbank's Pioneer Park.

A quaint reconstruction of a pioneer mining town, it even included a giant ferry.

Eli discovered a treasure near the old plane: a handmade walking stick with a sign saying that the person who found it was welcome to either keep it or rehide it.  Eli'd been searching for a unique souvenir without success.  This walking stick was perfect!

At long last, it was time to return our rental car and head for the airport.  We tried to sneak in a nap at the gate since it was after midnight.

Fortunately the kids slept on the way back to Salt Lake.  Eli even managed to head straight to school from the airport since his grade was having their Amazing Race.  Poor Papa Kay had to board yet another flight after his red-eye, but he made it home too.

All in all, we squeezed an amazing amount of adventure into our four day excursion.  Papa Kay, thanks so much for joining us!  I'm so grateful for this chance to explore a corner of Alaska together.