Denali - Top of North America

Driving to Fairbanks we hit the rare event of seeing Denali without clouds.  This is a magnificent sight

A more magnificent sight is Denali at eye level

We are over 20,000 feet and require oxygen.

Jo fully equipped

After we saw the summit, the plane followed a glacier down the slope.

After the plane ride and driving to Fairbanks Jo and I stopped at the Veterans Memorial.  We were there with the SMART group and it touched us to see them react to the Memorial.

Covered all 5 military branches

The next day the SMART (Special Military Active and Retired Travel club) group took a road tour of Denali National park.  Private vehicles can only go in so far before you have to get on a park tour bus.  After seeing the roads in the park we needed a break from these type of roads and were glad for the bus.

Reminds us of the Top of the World highway

We did get to see a lot of "critters" and they showed us who owned the road.

Ocean life in Seward

For the "critter" searcher Seward was a treasure trove.  The town has the look of most of the smaller towns in Alaska, keeping some of the look and feel of the gold rush/pioneer era.  The newer looking building is the Sea Center, a unique facility in Alaska.  It is the only marine animal rescue unit in Alaska.  Besides a rescue unit it has a multitude of displays from Walrus to small birds, and multiple tours.  Bird feeding is one of them, along with a behind the scenes tour.

Downtown Seward

Sea Center

A Puffin resident

Seabird chicks in warmer

Jo feeding the Puffins

An Alaskan Octopus

We also took a cruise out into the bay to catch views of the wildlife in their natural environment

Sea Lions on the rocks - order that at your next bar visit

A new drink - Puffins on the rocks

The dolphins loved to play with the boat, and they can swim circles around it.  I think this one trained Micheal Phelps.

A breaching Orca picture sequence

Another whale dive, Humpback this time.

Homer for Halibut

Homer has some interesting sights, like the 4 foot in diameter stained glass window hand made by a Homer resident, located in the post office.

Now for the main event in Homer - Halibut Fishing.  A great morning sun rise foreshadowing a successful day.

The mountains around the bay

Most everyone caught fish, including Jo.  Unfortunately my stomach and the rest of my body did not cooperate. 

The fish were in the bag

After fishing we all wanted to relax and what better place than a winery.  Not Napa but still good wine.

Another reminder of the question of how long will a bear or bears spend in your hot tub?

as long as they want.

More driving, this time to Homer

On the way to Homer more glaciers and snow capped mountains.

We will see more of this later, Denali???

On the way to Homer we stopped and visited the rescued animal preserve.  These "critters" have lost there ability to forage for themselves, and will depend on man from now on.  We do get good pix, and they will reproduce.

These are now Raindeer, not Elk

Musk Ox a critter that dates back to prehistory

and they keep on coming

and the moose reporduce

Were Santa's raindeer summer

And the Lynx have the life

so do the Black Bear

Also enroute we stopped at a wood carving bazaar.  The sculptures were unique, and thought provoking.  This on puts new meaning in the fact that you don't have out run or out climb the bear, just be faster than the other guy.

Of course we know who was "Edith Ann"

Seeing family and nature in Anchorage

One of the wonderful things about this trip was getting to visit cousin Doris in Anchorage.  She is a naturalist at the Eagle River Nature Center. 

Great to see Doris again

Doris took Don, Shar, Jo and I on a hike in the nature preserve, and we stumbled upon two adolescent moose.  We were within 50 feet of the moose, which if they were mature would have run awayh or charged us.  Thank goodness they were immature and did not know what to do.  Doris told us that the young moose will stay with the mother for the first 12 months and then somewhere between 12 and 18 months the mother will drive them away.  Doris felt these were recently "kicked out of the nest".

Moose 1

Moose 2

The next day we went out to the Portage Glacier on the Chicken oops I mean the Ptarmigan (which taste like chicken).  The glacier is behind us.

Jo and I wanted to be safe, so we kept the preserver close

View of the total glacier

Up close and personal

The "old salt" captain

The cultural center in Anchorage was informative and enjoyable.  Jo and I discovered "Jaws", at least these were from a whale who ate plankton and not other mammals

Whale jaw bones

Cultural center dancers

Cultural center floria