Exploring Fairbanks

Wow...what a difference a good night's sleep makes.  And thank God for eye masks!  It never got dark last night...even at 2 and 4 am it looked like dusk!   But we managed to sleep until 6:30am and felt refreshed and ready for another busy day.

Started the day with a great buffet breakfast, courtesy of the lodge as they had promised to keep us in the same room all three nights we were here but messed that up.  We had to change rooms today...no big deal except it meant having to put everything back in the suitcases :(   We were grateful Princess recognized their mistake and were willing to try to make it up to us.

We had reserved a car today with Avis which enabled us to get out and explore Fairbanks and do an exceptional tour.  While waiting outside the lodge for our pickup, we got a chance to take a look at the lodge property.

Weather today is cooler than yesterday...some high, thin clouds with temps expected to be in the mid 70's.  Perfect for sightseeing!

Once we got our car, off we went to explore Fairbanks.  We started downtown where we found some great statues commemorating Fairbank’s history.  One was in honor of the brave men who flew from Alaska during WWII protecting America from invaders.   

The other honored the native Indians and eskimos who were the first inhabitants of Fairbanks.

Then it was on to our privately-booked excursion…Tales of the Trail with Mary Shields.  Mary was the first woman to ever finish the iconic Iditerod sled dog race, across tough Alaskan territory. 

Mary introduced us to her 4 dogs who still run and train with her every winter. 

She shared wonderful stories of how she came to visit Alaska and never left and her love for the solitude and beauty of the state.  She is an amazing woman!  What a great opportunity to meet her and learn what life is really like in Alaska.

We got a chance to try the dogsled on for size.  Can't imagine standing on the back of here for 1,049 miles!

Next stop…the North Pole where we stopped to see Santa

   We discovered Santa's not always a good little boy himself!

Lastly, we visited Pioneer Park which was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the sale of Alaska  from Russia to the U.S.   It was a bit hokey but had some historical homes, little shops and a few museums.  Nothing fabulous, but it was also free...so it worked for us.   Best thing there...we met a couple from The Villages who has a small store in the park!  What a small world!!  They spend winters in Florida and their summers in Alaska.  Not a bad deal :)  

Ended our day with another nice dinner in a great little place by the Chena River.  Good food with good friends....life doesn't get much better!

One small hitch in the day...I lost the charger for my camera battery :(   I have one extra battery that is charged, but after that...?    Thought about ordering one from Amazon but because we're up here in Alaska, it takes longer to deliver items and most likely it would never reach either of the other lodges we're stopping at this week.  There is a camera store in Fairbanks; will have to try to reach out to them tomorrow to see if they have what I need.  If not, I'll have to use the camera on the phone.   Oh, well.  The trials of traveling.   

Travel Day...Onward to Alaska

Long, long day today.  After a tough night's sleep...I guess worry about oversleeping...we were up at 4:30 and on the 5:00 shuttle to Orlando International.  Could not believe how crowded it was!!  We never realized until this morning that it was Memorial Day weekend...lots of people flying out of Orlando today.  Security, breakfast sandwich and a bit of down time and then we were off......

7:36 off to Seattle.  Long 6 hour flight that was gratefully uneventful, getting us into Seattle at 10:17 am.  (Yes, Virginia...time travel is possible!!)  Seattle didn't disappoint...it was cloudy, misty and cool there....exactly what you would expect in the Northwest.  Chris & Kim had gotten in about 10 minutes before us and were waiting at the gate as we walked off the plane.  So wonderful to see them after 10 months!!  A great lunch at the Bigfoot Grill and we were ready to board our next flight to Anchorage.

OK..another 3 hours on a plane...this was getting a bit tedious.  Never mind that we were beginning to feel the lack of sleep.  But the thrill of seeing the beautiful mountains of Canada as we traveled up the west coast really perked us up.

Then some glaciers and we were really getting excited!   

Before we knew it we were landing in Anchorage where we had another 1 1/2 hour layover and saw our first moose...OK...it was stuffed...but still....

  So, checking our time...it was 2:30 Alaska time but already 6:30 EDT...we rationalized it was definitely time for a drink.  Found a great little pub in the terminal...The Silver Gulch...where they guys had an Alaskan beer and Kim and I decided on home brewed sodas...root beer for her and blueberry cream for me.  It was absolutely delicious!












Then at 4:15 our last flight of the day to Fairbanks.  This would be our shortest flight of the day...barely 45 minutes...in a turbo prop plane which had me a bit nervous due to it's size and those props, but it turned out to be OK.   The highlight of the flight was the opportunity to see Mt. McKinley - The Big One: Denali - off in the distance.

All three legs of our trip were flown on Alaskan Air and we have nothing but good things to say about their service.  The flight attendants were all very friendly and helpful, the planes were comfortable,  and, the best thing, all of our luggage showed up in Fairbanks.   But, as we stepped out of the terminal, we thought we were back in Florida...it was 91 degrees in Fairbanks today!!!  Unbelievable!!!  All those who live here, though, have informed us it is "dry heat".  This part of Alaska is just like a desert.

We hopped into a taxi and took the 3 minute ride to the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge

where we checked into our rooms and headed out to the deck to have dinner and enjoy the beautiful day...or night...depending on your time zone.

It's now 10:12 pm...and look at how bright it is out!  The sun sets at 11:32 tonight!   Since my internal body clock is telling me it is now 2:12 am...it's time for me to say good night.  There's sure to be some great adventures tomorrow.

On Our Way

After spending a busy, but relaxing day at home, most of it at the pool....we're in Orlando and ready to start our adventure.   The Hampton Inn and Suites on 436 at Gateway Village is beautiful.  We have a really nice suite...wish we were spending more than a few hours in it!

Front desk gave us a coupon for a free appetizer at Carrabba's, which is right in front of the hotel, so we wandered over, ordered some delicious bruschetta and had a few drinks.  What a beautiful night, sitting under the stars....or, if you prefer, the 747's taking off from MCO...and a great way to start our vacation.

Just set our alarm for 4:45am.  Is there really such a time in the A.M.?   Have to catch the 5 am shuttle to the airport for our 7:10 am flight to Seattle.  Ugghhhh...going to very a long day tomorrow  :(  We'll be on planes most of the day...expecting to land in Fairbanks at 5:17pm ADT which will be 9:17 pm EDT.  We'll just pray for a nice smooth flight and good movies to watch.  The best part will be we'll meet Chris & Kim in Seattle and fly the rest of the way with them.  Lots to catch up on...haven't seen them since August.

Alaska...Will we find gold???

Eighteen months ago, our good friends Chris & Kim asked us if we were interested in doing a cruise tour in Alaska.   "Uhhhh....Maybe"...we said.  It certainly wasn't on my bucket list.  Visit a place where you needed coats, hats and mittens?  Snow?  We moved to Florida to get away from all that.    "Well we're going for our anniversary and you should join us", they said.   After much deliberation and back and forth, hubby, Bill, said...."We're going!"  "I've always wanted to see Alaska"   Huh...who knew??!!!!!

So, we're booked on a Connoisseur cruisetour with Princess.  After reading many trip reports and reviews, we decided that choosing a tour where all our meals and most excursions were included in the price while we were on land made a lot of sense for us.  And we liked that the cruise would follow after the land tour, this way we could relax a bit on the cruise from the excursion heavy land portion.   We'll spend 7 days on land beginning with three nights at the Princess Fairbanks Wilderness Lodge, two nights at the Princess Denali Lodge and two nights at the Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge and then take that iconic bubble train to Anchorage and Whittier to board the ship on May 30.

So, here we are, 2 days from our departure date, and, surprisingly, I'm more excited than hubby about going.  The bed in our guest room is covered with items to pack...including those warm hats, gloves and coats.

We've made all of our reservations for excursions, checked on a cab to get from the airport to the lodge in Fairbanks and figured out how we'll get from home to Orlando International Airport and back again when we return.  (Got a great deal at the Hampton Inn near the airport for a one night stay and parking for the entire time we'll be gone.  Thanks Lynda & John for letting us use your car to get all our stuff down to Orlando!)  Now comes the hardest part...waiting to leave and the doubting and double-checking that you've packed the right things.