Mille Fiori Favoriti

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Denali National Park

When my husband and I left the accommodations in Fairbanks, Alaska, that Princess Cruises provided after the fire at their Fairbanks Lodge had displaced all their guests, we had a two-hour bus ride south towards the Denali National Park area. We passed beautiful scenery along the way and enjoyed the informational banter of our Princess Cruise Line bus driver who told us tales about his life in Alaska, the high price of goods (a quart of fresh milk can cost $12!), the sad story of Christopher McCandless, the non fiction story "Into the Wild," who perished after camping in an abandoned bus 113 days in the Alaskan wilderness, and about "frosties," which are slight roller coaster type waves in a road formed by melting permafrost. As we passed Nenana, Alaska, we learned about the Nenana Ice Classic, which is a betting pool event in which individuals attempt to guess the exact time the Tanana River ice will break up at Nenana. Tickets are on sale from February 1 through April 5 of each year throughout Alaska. The Nenana Ice Classic is a non-profit charitable gaming organization. As such, the proceeds benefit many volunteer and non-profit organizations in the area. It was a fun ride, and I have to say this bus driver earned a nice tip from all the riders that day!

The Denali Princess Lodge was beautifully situated only a mile away from the entrance to Denali National Park. The Nenana River could be seen behind the hotel. It lived up to our expectations after the disappointing beginning to the land portion of our Alaska vacation in Fairbanks. I think we were still exhausted and stressed from that experience, but we looked forward to seeing the national park and all its beauty that afternoon!

After checking into our room we had a little time to explore the lodge and watch river rafters from the expansive deck behind the lodge. I would have liked to stay here longer, but the tour we were on only had us scheduled here one night.

Please double click on this photo to enlarge x2

I thought the facts on this placard on the grounds of the lodge about the challenges of constructing the lodge and about living in the extremely cold winters of Alaska were fascinating! Average winter temperatures can be minus 40 to 60 degrees below freezing.

That afternoon we boarded a regulated park green school bus to take our pre-scheduled Natural History Tour of Denali National Park! Denali National Park is six million acres of wilderness, bisected by a 92 miles long Denali Park Road that parallels the Alaska Range and travels through low valleys and high mountain passes.

The Savage River and Mountian Vista

The park only allows cars and campers to travel a short fifteen miles into the park to the Savage River and Mountain Vista portion of the park and then all visitors must transfer onto one of the different green school buses for a paid tour or free buses for transportation that is used to travel the rest of the way. This method was devised to help preserve the park's wilderness and wildlife. In winter the rangers still use dog sled teams to traverse the park, keeping with the "no machines" rule in the wilderness.

Please click on to enlarge

More information on a park placard about the George Parks Highway, the highway which mostly parallels the Alaska Railroad, is one of the most important roads in Alaska. It is the main route between Anchorage and Fairbanks (Alaska's two largest metropolitan areas), the principal access to Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park, and the main highway in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. The route's Interstate designation is not signed; rather, its entire length is signed as Alaska Route 3. It also cites the reason the park restricts driving and uses shuttle buses inside the park.

Denali National Park has rare cloudless days in summer and the day we toured the park the weather was cloudy but the views inside the park were still mesmerizing! The skinny black spruce trees of the relatively low-elevation taiga forest would give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,310 foot ( 6190.488 meters) Mount Denali. Unfortunately, we were not to be among the one-third of visitors who actually sees the great mountain.

Even so, the beauty of Denali National Park was a dream come true for us to see!

The Denali Natural History Tour we were on was a 4 ½ to 5-hour tour that would travel to the Teklanika Flats (mile 25) in the park and was narrated by our bus driver with interesting facts about landscape, history, and geology of the park.

Most of my photos of the park had to be taken from the bus window up to this point, but I hope they still can convey the vastness of the six million miles of wilderness in the park.

There were several interpretive stops along the tour, with an hour of off-bus experience. We made a stop at the Savage Cabin, the original ranger’s cabin, built by road crews in 1924-25, where a guide told us about the history of how the cabin was once used and how it continues to be used today.
At the Primrose Ridge stop, we listened to a memorable Alaskan Native presentation that narrated how the land has been used for nearly 10,000 years.

During the brief exits off the bus, I tried to walk around to experience the spongy permafrost ground. It was an amazing experience! I wished I could spend much more time in the park, exploring trails and soaking in the silence and beauty. I definitely hope to do that someday. My husband and I feel that now I've had an introduction to Alaska we would not hesitate to do a visit on our own.

Some of the wildflowers I was able to photograph while I was off the bus.

Some of the wildlife we saw in the park. We saw quite a few Caribou (reindeer) and Snowshoe Hares (they have such big feet!), and a moose crossing the road in front of our bus. We missed seeing grizzly and black bears, wolves, fox, Dall Sheep, wolverines, etc, You can see a beginning list of the wildlife that lives in the park--and a beautiful photo of Mt Denali--on this NPS link. There is also an interesting video about what the rangers do if they encounter a bear, moose, wolf, etc, in the park while hiking, camping, or cooking food, and how to use bear spray effectively, on this link.

We really enjoyed all the spectacular vistas from the bus windows on our tour...

I just wish we had more time and days to explore more of the park by foot, and a chance to visit the Denali Visitor Center on our visit. I love National Parks and have visited many in my lifetime. You can see the ones I've blogged about on this link--keep scrolling through the pages to see them all!

There is an Alaska Railroad Depot Located less than 100 yards from the Denali Visitor Center, so perhaps someday we will make another visit on our own! We did ride the train on a portion of our land visit to Alaska and it was a very comfortable ride--more about that in a future post.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner at the Princess Denali Lodge King Salmon Restaurant, where we enjoyed wild-caught Alaskan King salmon along with delicious appetizers and dessert. The next morning we left for the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, and another chance to see Mt. Denali. Come back to see that in my next post!

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook
Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Little Cottage Link Party, Blogging Grandmothers, Hearth, and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Travel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade, Something Old Is New, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesdays With A Twist, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, Say Cheese!, Party in Your PJ's, Wordless Wednesday, Nanahood WW, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Worldless Wednesday at Sky Girl, Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday, Little Things Thursday,Thankful Thursday, Thursday Encouraging Hearts and Home, Thursday Favorite Things, , Friendship Fridays, Friday Features Linky Party, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Saturday Critters,

Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade, Grammys Grid-Month Long Linky Party

Monday, August 19, 2019

Alaskan Pipeline and Gold Dredge

I had to begin this post with scary fire photos. This is not the lodge fire we experienced in Alaska--see this post to read about that--this was a fire about four to five miles away from where I live! It occurred in Deer Creek Canyon Park. The suspicion is that teenagers exploding fireworks caused the fire. It has been hot in the 90s for a while and very dry and windy--all creating high fire danger. I was picking up my granddaughter from school when I took the photo in the upper left of the collage. My heart fell when I saw the smoke and heard the fire engine sirens. I knew it could be disastrous! The other photos were on social media sites for our fire department and sheriff. It took over 100 firefighters, 36 apparatuses and a helicopter to drop water to put out the fire. Hundreds of homes in the Deer Creek Canyon area were evacuated for safety precautions. Thankfully, there was no injuries or damage to any structures. We have incredible firefighters and law enforcement officers and they did a wonderful job keeping us all safe. Fire in the west is a persistent danger due to drought and low humidity which dries out the grass and brush. We always have to be vigilant!

Back to our Alaska land and sea trip! The same day we took the Riverboat Discovery trip in Fairbanks we also had a bus ride to see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices in the United States. It is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.

Please click on photo to enlarge it to read facts about the pipeline.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline travels 800 miles (1,287 km), has a diameter of 48 inches (1.22 m) and conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. The crude oil pipeline is privately owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.

A cross-section view of the pipeline

Construction of the pipeline was challenging due to the extremely cold Alaska winter weather, isolated wilderness, and permafrost. The project attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska, most who settled in Valdez, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. Every year Alaskan residents get to share oil revenue from the Alaska Permanent Fund. The amount paid to each citizen varies year to year, depending on the value of the state's vast oil reserves. 2015 saw the highest ever payout of $2,072 (£1,550) per citizen.

The next place that our tour brought us to was the Gold Dredge 8 National Historic District in Fox, Alaska. There we rode aboard a replica of the narrow-gauge Tanana Valley Railroad and heard the conductor tell tales of prospectors who arrived by the thousands during the Fairbanks Gold Rush. We saw first-hand how the dredge worked the Alaska goldfields. The ladder dredge operated by the Fairbanks Exploration Company from 1928 to 1959.

At the Gold Dredge 8 camp, we were given instructions on how to pan for gold. It was fun trying to separate the gold flakes from the rocks and water.

These tiny gold pieces were the end results of my panning.

My husband and I combined our pieces of gold and brought them to be weighed, where we were told we had $27 worth of gold. The pieces can be added to earrings or a necklace sold at the camp but we opted to just bring them home as souvenirs. There was a nice gift shop at the camp and I bought other souvenirs, and we enjoyed the free hot chocolate and cookies offered to the customers.

Please click on photo to enlarge to read the timeline of gold discoveries in Alaska.

The search for gold opened many a western territory to exploration and settlement and it was interesting to step back in time to see a historic portion of the Fairbanks gold rush! The next day we would visit Denali National Park--my next post.

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook
Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade, Grammys Grid-Month Long Linky Party

Monday, August 5, 2019

Riverboat Discovery in Fairbanks, Alaska

After a rough beginning to our trip to Alaska, it was good to finally be able to enjoy the first excursion to sail on a fully narrated three-and-a-half-hour tour on the Riverboat Discovery along the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Since 1950, the Binkley family has operated these riverboat tours in Fairbanks, Alaska.

It was a beautiful day, complete with a rainbow in the sky!

We sat on the top of the riverboat so that we would have a good view of the river.

The Riverboat Discovery goal is to give a complete Alaskan experience, and one of the unique aspects of life in Alaska is traveling by bush floatplane. A bush pilot took off and landed right next to the riverboat as the pilot shared his stories of village life and explained the vital role planes play in remote Alaska.

As we sailed we saw an eagle sitting along the river, and saw some caribou.

We also saw many beautiful homes along the river banks!

The riverboat stopped alongside the shore of the home and kennels of the late four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, and the Trailbreaker Kennels, located along the Chena River. We learned first hand about kennel life and the challenges that go into making a champion dogsled team from Susan's daughter. We also saw the puppies play in anticipation of joining the team.

The riverboat later stopped at the replica of Chena Fish Camp, where we saw a demonstration of how Alaskan Athabascan

natives traditionally prepared salmon for smoking and drying.

We also enjoyed a one-hour stop at a replica of a Chena Indian Village, where Athabascan native guides showed us what a traditional village looked like, and gave us insight into their heritage. We learned about their connection to the land and animals of Alaska, their modes of travel, traditional living quarters and their traditional clothing made of animal hide and furs and decorated with beautiful beadwork.

It was wonderful to relax and enjoy the views along the river. After the tour, we returned to the landing and dined family-style in the dining room. After lunch, we had a few more adventures--more about that in my next post!

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook
Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade, Grammys Grid-Month Long Linky Party

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Unfortunate Beginning of Our Trip to Alaska

Thank you all for your very kind comments and prayers on my last post. My husband is doing well and almost completed his cancer treatment. We feel fortunate it was discovered in an early stage and he should have full remission.

Visiting Alaska was on my husband and my bucket list for many years. We heard so much about going on both a land and sea cruise version of the trip from many friends that traveled that way, so that is the type of trip we planned. It was with great anticipation that we left our home at 6am on an early June morning to fly from Denver, Colorado to a connecting flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then on to Fairbanks, Alaska! As we approached Alaska and began to descend in altitude I took the photos above from our airplane window. Seeing so much green was a surprise! It turns out we were going to have many surprises in Fairbanks.

When we landed in the Fairbanks International Airport we went through the usual picking up of luggage from the carousel and met the representatives from the cruise company who then took our luggage to be brought ahead to the lodge where we would be staying. We were then told to wait in an area for the buses that would be transporting us to the lodge. It seemed the wait was taking a long time and everyone in the group--there were about 30 fellow travelers gathered at that time-- we were all getting a little restless wondering why the buses were so late? We had arrived a day before the official beginning of the land portion of the trip as we had planned an excursion flight to visit the Arctic the next day. Others in the group also had excursions planned, or just wanted to make sure they arrived safely before the official beginning of the trip. Finally, a representative of the cruise company gathered us all to tell us the bad news. There had been a fire in the kitchen of the lodge, and the damage was so bad that the Fairbanks fire chief would not allow anyone back to occupy the lodge. Happily, no one was hurt, but now all the guests, including us as new arrivals, had no place to go at that point.

After about two hours, a bus finally came to take us to join all the other displaced guests to a large cafeteria that was part of the Riverboat Discovery tour we were all scheduled to take as part of our land tour. The Red Cross was there handing out blankets as some guests had evacuated the lodge in their pajamas or were shoeless, and in the late hour the temperature was in the chilly '50s, although the sun was still on the horizon as we were in the "land of the midnight sun." It was a slightly chaotic scene to be sure, but everyone was in good humor at first. We were offered a hot dog and water or beer while in the cafeteria, Every now and then a cruise representative would stand up on a bench and announce by name a group of people and the hotel they were going to be bused to. My husband and I waited and waited and waited. Finally, at around 4:30 in the morning we were in the last group to be told we were going to be transported a half-hour away to the town called the North Pole. I wish I could have shown photos of what must have been a charming town, but by this point, I was too exhausted to care. We all had to wait online another hour to check in on arrival to the hotel, and did not get to sleep until after 6:30 am--without our luggage or toiletries. We were also told that checkout was 11am, so we had to be awake by then. Needless to say, this was not how we expected to begin our trip!

The next morning we gathered in the hotel lobby after check out (after no breakfast or even coffee) to be told we were going to be transported back to Fairbanks and dispursed to different hotels in the area. My husband and I were still exhausted, as we did not sleep well in the four hours we were allotted. We bordered the buses again and eventually were left to check in to a riverside cottage-type hotel in Fairbanks, where we would be staying for the next two days. The accommodations were cozy and clean, but it took quite a while for the rooms to be made available before we could check-in and we did not receive our luggage until very late in the day. We had to wait in the main lounge of the complex all day. Because of all this confusion, still feeling exhausted, and because my husband's coat was in our luggage that had not yet arrived, we had to cancel our excursion flight to the Arctic, which was a big disappointment for us. That was going to be a special treat and splurge to celebrate my husband's 70th birthday. Hopefully, one day in the future, we will be able to fulfill this dream, but for whatever reason, fate had it that it was not supposed to happen on this trip.

Although the temporary accommodations were comfortable, there wasn't much to do during our stay. This location was somewhat isolated and we had no means of transportation. All we could do was take a walk along the nearby Chena River...

...and watch some of the river traffic going by.

We also met many other travelers staying at the hotel who were from all around the lower 48 states, and by the end of the cruise, we felt like old friends!

This may not have been the beginning of a long-awaited trip to Alaska that we had anticipated so long, but we were cognizant that anything can happen in life and we were healthy, safe and still going to enjoy the rest of the trip.

I'm sure you are wondering were we compensated for all our inconveniences? Yes, but not as much as we hoped. Our excursion fee was refunded, although that took many weeks to occur, and the cruise company gave all guests involved in this incident onboard credit to use on the cruise ship. I'm sure the cruise company (who I am not naming on purpose) felt they did all possible to resolve a difficult and unexpected situation. What do you think?

If you saw my prior post Postcards From Alaska you will see we did end up having a wonderful trip and I'll show more about it in my next post. Thanks for reading this long post!

ou can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook
Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade, Grammys Grid-Month Long Linky Par

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Postcards From Alaska

I'm so sorry that it has been a few weeks since I last blogged. It has been a busy summer in many different ways. Life certainly has its ups and downs, and if you have been following my Mille Fiori Favoriti facebook page you might have read an update I left there a week ago that I had a bad case of bronchitis and that my husband is presently undergoing cancer treatment. I've recovered, and my husband is doing well, and we are optimistic that his cancer has been found early and he will be in full remission after treatment. In happier news, we also went on a wonderful long-anticipated land and sea trip to Alaska! The Coral Princess cruise ship we traveled on is in the photo above.