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

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

After checking out of the hotel and returning the rental car this morning, we started the second leg of our trip with a one-hour Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to King Salmon. 

Cook Inlet

Anchorage Away

We didn't have much on the schedule for today, so that gave us the opportunity to explore the area around Anchorage at a more leisurely pace. From Wasilla, it took less than 30 minutes to drive to Chugach State Park. We paid the $5 day use fee at the kiosk in the parking lot of the trailhead and started the hike (~1 mile, one way) to Thunder Bird Falls.

100-foot elevation gain in the first 0.1-mile

Flights of Fancy

Due to high demand for the 16 rooms at Brooks Lodge inside Katmai National Park, they hold a random lottery for the opportunity to make reservations. So just for grins, in December 2023 I submitted entries for the four of us for the *2025* season, requesting up to three nights for any available dates during the peak times of July or early September to see the bears of "Fat Bear Week" fame. They said that having a flexible schedule would improve our chances of getting a reservation.

I'm not sure exactly how many entries were received for the 2025 lottery, but there were 3649 for the previous year's drawing, with more than 2500 parties ending up on the waitlist. When I found out in January 2024 that we lucked out and were given September 4-7, 2025, I immediately plunked down our deposit and started planning an Alaska vacation around those dates.  

So excited that after more than a year and a half we're actually starting our trip!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Since we had time before our flight home later today, we decided to pad our stamp stats with a re-visit to Manassas National Battlefield Park. But we took a slightly longer route to get there via VA-28 and VA-234 so that we could check off two more municipalities, Manassas and Manassas Park (see my earlier post on collecting counties).

40 miles, 1 hour

Going to the DMV

Our Wagons Ho! road trip in May allowed us to make some significant progress towards our amended goal of earning the Gold Master Traveler Award from the National Park Travelers Club in 2024.

 

    Units: 36 (minimum 50)

    Stamps: 83 (minimum 100)

    Regions: 4 (minimum 6)

And now that we have visited 190 National Park Service units (184 for R, technically), the 200-unit Silver Lifetime Achievement Award is also within reach. So, this trip to the DMV (DC-MD-VA) will put us over the top for both! 🙌

Animal Kingdom

The last time I attended this scientific conference in person was four years ago in Atlanta. Due to the pandemic, the next three were virtual. However, this year we are back to "normal" along with thousands of other attendees in Orlando. 

My colleagues and I flew in yesterday, but instead of going with them to check into our hotel next to the convention center, I rented a car and headed about 45 minutes east to Titusville. I was a little nervous about driving and staying overnight solo, but when chasing national park units, you gotta do what you gotta do...

Up in the Air

After saying our goodbyes to RH and C this morning, we headed over to R's cousin's house for breakfast. The navigation app sent us on some small, local roads, but the drive through the forest was quite pretty. We had gotten to see Y, C, and the kids back in July at the family reunion, but it was nice to be together again, quick visit or not. 

Change of Pace

This trip has been a departure from how we typically travel on vacation. That is to say, I didn't do as much planning ahead of time, and we have not constantly been on the move. Other than a lunch date at 1:00PM and a basketball game tonight, we had nothing else on our agenda for today. So, after finishing breakfast (the free hotel breakfast was actually served at the Denny's across the parking lot), we decided to check out the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville.

Rain or Shine

When I asked the family where they wanted to go next, J immediately said, "Portland."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Nike and Adidas are there. And there are a lot of food places that look good."

Fair enough.  So, when I found a cheap one-way airfare ($59) from LAX to PDX for spring break, we were set. But since the return flight was $340 (ouch!), we will be getting home another way. More on that later...

Got Opinions?

It has taken me a little while to get this recap written up, but I can backdate the blog so it doesn't appear to be quite as late - haha! Here are the family's thoughts on our most recent Saiki-delic road trip...

What are some of your favorite things that we saw or did on this trip (top 3)?

M / R: Sledding at White Sands, going to Carlsbad Caverns, and the Pima Air & Space Museum

J: White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Cubs game

Me: Carlsbad Caverns, getting passport stamps from a new region, and seeing parts of the country we've never been to before

Physics Is Fun

Hurry up and wait. That's what we did this chilly (below-freezing!) morning to get in line for the Trinity Site Open House. I had been told that the queue to get through the Stallion Gate Entrance of the White Sands Missile Range could get quite long, so we arrived around 7:15AM for the 8:00AM opening.

 

Guesstimating there were ~25-30 cars ahead of us

Easter Sun-day

HE IS RISEN!

He is risen, indeed!

We celebrated Jesus' resurrection this Easter Sunday morning with Calvary Chapel Tucson. They held their service at the Tucson Convention Center, with special music by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was nice to be able to attend church while on vacation, but we missed our #smallchurchbigfamily!

The 37th President

Who was the 37th President of the United States? 

Richard Milhous Nixon

What comes to mind when his name is mentioned?

Watergate.

Tricky Dick. 

"I am not a crook"...

When Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, I hadn't started grade school yet. I do remember hearing about "Watergate" on TV and, at the time, thinking that someone must have opened a dam and caused a flood. Even though I was too young to grasp the details correctly, I could definitely comprehend that this person was in BIG TROUBLE...

Interview with the Road Trippers

With this trip, we've visited 86 of the 397 National Park Service units, and the boys have earned 68 junior ranger badges! In keeping with tradition, here's the debrief of our latest adventure...

In the 3 amusement parks we've visited, what are your favorite rides (top 3)?

M / R: Millennium Force (CP), Tatsu (MM), Raging Bull (GA)

J:  Maverick (CP), Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth (MM), Ninja (MM)

Me: Millennium Force (CP) x3, because it's the best one of the few I could ride that didn't make me sick!

Dayton History

For our last day in Ohio, we went to visit the rest of the sites in the Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP. Starting out at the Wright Dunbar Interpretive Center, the boys worked on the other half of the Jr. Ranger booklet that was relevant to this location in order to earn another patch.

The Heat Is (Still) On

We spent Wednesday night in Canton, while K went back to Cleveland since he had appointments with customers on Thursday and Friday. I stopped looking at the weather forecast because, really, what difference does a few more degrees make once you've moved beyond "cooked" on your way to "well done"?! Ugh. So thankful that the A/C works well in the car and that most of the places we're going to are indoors!

Hoodoos

We got up early this morning (considering that this is Day 25, I'd say that 7:00AM could still be considered "early") so that we could catch the first shuttle into the park at 8:00AM. It picks up at the stop right in front of our hotel, so it doesn't get much more convenient than that! While taking the shuttle is voluntary (unlike the mandatory shuttle in Zion NP), we wanted to take advantage of it so that we only had to hike one-way, downhill.