Summer Roadtrip: Seattle to Deadhorse, Alaska

Hellooo!

We just got back from a two week road trip up to Alaska. We splashed around in the Arctic Ocean and then spent a few days with Chris' family.

Here is our route:

Seattle to Deadhorse (c) and then back down to Anchorage (d). Our grand total: 3,700 miles.

Basically, it's like driving from Seattle to Miami, with a detour to Chicago, and then adding on a few hundred additional miles. 

The kids were fantastic road trippers. We swam in hot springs, saw a bunch of cool wildlife, and drove to the top of the world. nbd.

One of the highlights for me was seeing a wild wolf in Canada:

Alaska Fish & Game has allowed the big packs of Denali to be shot by trophy hunters so I'd pretty much given up hope on seeing our largest native wild canine.

Until this guy loped across the road in Kluane National Park in the Yukon.  My background is in environmental science and wildlife biology; seeing this guy made me giddy.

Other favorites:

Liard Hot Springs in BC.

And the Arctic Circle in the very, very far north:

The is only one reason that there is a road north from Fairbanks across the arctic tundra: the pipeline. Love it or hate it, this big 'ole pipe gave us access to scenery rarely seen by the casual tourist.

Don't let anyone convince you that the arctic is a flat, boring place. It is spectacular.

But when they say that Deadhorse is a dump...well, they weren't lying. :) The sweet ladies at the general store were thrilled to see kids, however. 

The road stops here: Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. Temperature: a freezing 38 degrees fahrenheit.

And then we headed south to spend a desperately needed week of relaxation with my in-laws. After two weeks of roughing it in the truck camper, we were ready for showers, clean laundry, and a bed that wasn't on wheels.

Observe: the laziest fisherman that ever lived. 

And now, time to start school. We have a KINDERGARTENER this year!! Eek.

xo,

Sonja


Two more favorites:

Mama Moose.

Kluane Lake in the Yukon (Canada).

Alaska - Prince William Sound - Fishing Adventures

Last Alaska post, I promise!

My in-laws were major sweethearts and took us out for a watery excursion on their fishing boat. We left from the tiny town of Whittier (so small that the entire population lives in a single condo building), which is about an hour southeast of Anchorage. 

Prince William Sound is known for its stunning glaciers, dramatic mountain backdrops, whale watching, and fishing. It was pretty foggy when we left port but that made for some nice misty pictures and calm waters. Always a good thing, given my husband’s seasickness tendencies. 

Lounging sea otters. 

We anchored in a deserted bay and ventured out into the life boat for a little jaunt to shore.

It started out well. 

They boys were excited. 

[I was a bit less so since we were in prime bear country and I’d just had a run-in with a giant black bear in Anchorage. Still game though.]

But then the reality of an unusually warm Alaska summer kicked in.  All those circles? Bugs. Hundreds, thousands, and millions of tiny bitting bugs. And their legions of family members were waiting for us upon disembarkation at the shore. I got a little panicky and we soon abandoned land for the (somewhat) calmer water. 

Sure is pretty though. And we couldn’t have asked for flatter water. The bugs finally went to bother somebody else and we had a nice lunch on board. 

After gorging ourselves it was time for a bit of fishing and shrimping.

Alaska Chris.

Hauling in our prey.

And my very least favorite part: getting ready to whack the wee beastie on the noggin. It’s over quickly but man it’s not pretty.

Ben looks about as impressed by his first fish as I did with mine. 

Slightly better.

Holding up an imaginary fish of his own, perhaps?

He perked up considerably when we told him that smoked salmon was on that night’s dinner menu. His favorite food of all time.

This kid is seriously addicted to water. Keeping him out of various lakes/rivers/pools has become a huge issue for us.

"I’m thinking that Alaska is a-ok, mama. Lots of water, lots of fish - I could really dig this place"

Who didn’t participate in the fish whacking? This gal. 

Hypocrite alert: loves going out on the boat, loves the thrill of seeing a fish tugging on the line, loves eating loads and loads of delicious fish, is not a super huge fan of the killing. I’ll do it. I just won’t like it. Which, come to think of it, is probably how it is for most people. At least I hope so. :)

After that it was time for a wee bit o’ shrimping. A new activity for me. We were in an area that was pretty heavily shrimped so were pleasantly surprised to find a few in the traps upon hauling up 400 feet of line. 

I should mention that I was purely a spectator here. My in-laws have this process down to an exact, coordinated science. 

Shrimp are kind of beautiful in an alien sort of way, no?

Ben was definitely not sure about the shrimp and I'd guess the shrimp was feeling the same about my child. Mutually unimpressed.

Shrimp death is slightly quicker than salmon death. One decisive twist and “Off with his head!” There is something to be said for a speedy departure from life. And shrimp cocktails. 

I absolutely refuse to end this post with a picture of a decapitated shrimp head so here’s a video of Ben playing in my in-laws hot tub. Just a quick note: They were super great and cooled it down to temps that were acceptable for both toddlers and pregnant gals. Win-win!!

xo, 

Sonja

Alaska - The Zoo

One of my all-time favorite activities in Anchorage is visiting the Alaska Zoo. It’s a small park that is the perfect size for toddlers and they specialize in animals that are native to Alaska and other Arctic regions around the world. 

They can say that now that Maggie, their African elephant has permanently relocated to sunny California, courtesy of Mr. Bob Barker and the US Air Force. Honest. I don’t make this stuff up. 

Ben wigged out a bit because we moseyed past the Siberian Tiger exhibit and there was a zoo keeper hanging out in there.  Ben is not currently a fan of bears and tigers and he wasn’t interested in seeing a recap of the Alaska Zoo’s infamous incident. Fortunately the tigers were backstage but soon made an appearance (after the departure of the keeper) to scrounge around and find the tasty treats he’d hidden in their exhibit. 

Don’t ask why, but I love porcupines. They’re like beavers with attitude.

Info:

The Alaska Zoo

http://alaskazoo.org/
4731 O'Malley Road, Anchorage, AK 99507, 
Phone:  346-2133 [Oh hey, once again they forgot the area code. It’s 907, fyi]

• Adults ages 18 and over:  $12.00 each
• Senior citizens over 65:  $9.00 each
• Military adults (with ID):  $9.00 each
• Youth ages 3 - 17 years:  $6.00 each
• Ages 2 years and under:  free

Alaska - The Reindeer Farm and Hatcher Pass

A while back there was a Groupon for the reindeer farm in Palmer. I jumped at the chance. You know I’m a sucker for animal parks and Chris, Ben, and my mother-in-law Cherie were sweet enough to tag along for the ride. 

It’s lovely having a toddler: I get to say we’re doing all these fun activities for his benefit when really I’m the one that wants to visit the zoo, ride the tiny trains, and play mini golf. Plus he’s too young to disagree. :) 

Anyway, back to the reindeer farm. Besides making tasty sausages, reindeer are also prized for their hides, antlers, and milk. We learned a bit about the animals and then ventured into the pen to meet the wee beasties, kibble in hand. Anybody know the difference between caribou and reindeer? Ten points to you. 

They are not at all shy:

Ok, let’s take a minute to check out this guy’s rack!!! Or maybe it was a lady reindeer. Both sexes grow antlers. Know the difference between antlers and horns? Another ten points!

Despite their somewhat intimidating appearance and eager begging for food, the animals were completely gentle. I bent down to take a picture at one point and got my ear slobbered on by a hopeful beastie. Perhaps there is food in here?

Ben was content to be carried and direct the doling out of treats. Probably a place you wouldn’t want to put your toddler on the ground anyway. Too many feet/hooves. 

After our reindeer experience we had a little meet-and-greet with Denali the Moose. 

Let’s just say that getting close to a male moose is an experience. They are gigantic. 

They had this thing where you could volunteer to place a banana in your mouth and Denali would come pluck it from between your teeth. Can you say Moose drool?!  We passed on that particular experience. 

Cue the disappointed moose face.

We promptly fed him willow branches to get back in his good graces.

The petting zoo is always a hit. 

Prices are $7 per adult$5 per child (ages 3-11) Under 3 are Free.

Going for the ear grab in 3...2...1..

And the pony rides. Ben’s all-time most favorite activity of the month. [Side note: Oh yeah, there’s that Abercrombie shirt...from 1998. I was never cool enough to rate the Abercrombie threads]

This kid is going through a serious cowboy phase

You could hear him shouting “Giddyup, giddyup, Yeeehaw” all the way around the track. The pony was not so amused.

It’s really a shame that our zoo no longer has their pony rides. Ben would be their biggest customer.

Here are the details:

Palmer Reindeer Farm

http://www.reindeerfarm.com

5561 S. Bodenburg Loop Rd. Palmer, AK 99645

7 days a week, 10am-6pm

No appointment necessary 

Next we headed up to Hatcher Pass, on the other side of Palmer. It’s worth it, just for the drive alone:

There are lots of hiking trails and beautiful scenery:

Hatcher Pass is also the site of Independence Gold Mine (now defunct), which is a charming peek into the workings of a small 1920’s mining community. 

Be sure to check out the interpretive center. You can also mosey around the buildings, read the sign boards, or go on a ranger-led hike through the mine itself. 

Most of the buildings are still mostly standing, although many of them are having a rough life in Alaska’s climate.

We elected to skip the ranger talk as our little cowboy was dead tired and getting a little cranky. 

Whoa. Pregnant lady alert. 

These are slightly out of order as this series was taken before the meltdown episode. Gotta love those toddler mood swings.

Seriously, Alaska looks exactly like all the illustrations from my geology text books back in college. Would you like to learn about erosion today? Well then study this photo:

Info:

Independence Mine State Historic Park

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/indmine.htm

Here is a pretty nifty map of the site.

The Visitor Center phone number is 745-2827 [Sonja here: haha, I love how Alaskans never bother to put the whole telephone number because THE ENTIRE STATE HAS THE SAME PREFIX: 907]

The Visitor Center is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m to 6 p.m. from mid June through Labor Day.

The gate on the road from Independence Bowl to Independence Mine opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m.Wednesday through Sunday. Park pedestrian visitors can access Independence Mine after hours from the Independence Bowl parking area.

A day use parking fee of $5 applies at Independence Mine—no overnight camping

And the answers to our daily double:

There really isn’t much difference between caribou and reindeer. Reindeer are said to be the semi-domesticated versions of caribou. A very anal biologist might disagree slightly, especially since many of the reindeer in Alaska were imported from Siberia a while back, and since wild caribou tend to be a bit larger than their friendlier brethren, but that would be splitting hairs. 

Antlers vs. Horns:

Antlers fall off every year (moose, deer, caribou). Horns are permanently attached (sheep, goats, etc). 

xo, 

Sonja