Storming the Castle

When the Chicago Bears schedule was released earlier this spring, R and I talked about going to watch them play the Raiders in Vegas on September 28. A few of his March Madness buddies also expressed interest. But then we saw the ticket prices ($400+ 🤯) and decided to table that idea.

Fast forward to August when we hatched the plan to spend the weekend in Las Vegas as a stopover on the way to Great Basin National Park, regardless of whether or not we actually made it to the game in person or if any of his friends joined us. We set our price limit, and then R started tracking ticket prices on Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats, and SeatGeek like a day trader on Wall Street. 

Adventure of a Lifetime

Our family vacation to Alaska was amazing! Hopefully it won't be just a "once-in-a-lifetime" adventure because there is so much more to see/do/explore...

What is still on your Alaska bucket list?

All:  Seeing Denali and the aurora borealis

R:  Taking the Alaska Railroad

Me:  Visiting the rest of the Alaska NPS units, including the remote fly-in parks

Exiting Alaska

Our cruise yesterday didn't actually take us within the boundaries of Kenai Fjords National Park, but our first stop today would remedy that. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to the Seward Chamber of Commerce to get the passport stamp for the park. The Exit Glacier Area is about 10 miles outside of town and is the only part of Kenai Fjords NP that is accessible by car.

☑ Unit #211 for me, #205 for R, and #156 for M/J

Cruising the Fjords

Our big adventure for today was the 6-hour Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise with Major Marine Tours. Since the tour didn't depart until 11:30AM, we headed out after breakfast for a look around Seward. 

At the southern end of town is the beginning of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Established by Congress in 1978, the trail celebrates the route that first connected Native Alaskan villages and later served mining camps, trading posts, and other settlements founded during the Alaskan Gold Rush Era (1880-1920). Sled dog teams were the only reliable means to transport goods and people along the route in winter. Most notably, when a diphtheria outbreak threatened the residents of Nome in 1925, the only way to get them enough serum for inoculations was by train from Anchorage to Nenana, and then mushers and their sled dog teams (have you heard the story of Balto?) relayed the precious cargo the final 674 miles in less than 5.5 days.

 

938 miles from Seward to Nome

Roll Tide

We had breakfast in the lodge before checking out this morning. Since we had a little bit of time before our float plane was scheduled to depart, we went out for one last look at the bears from the lower river platforms.

Monsters of the Midway

For our last full day in Katmai National Park, we spent most of our time hanging out with the bears. I had asked the lodge about the possibility of a flightseeing tour to visit Alagnak Wild River, Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, and the preserve portion of Katmai, but nothing could be arranged for today. Guess we'll have to come back to Alaska another time to check those units off my bucket list!

Another sign pic