Our family took a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska this summer and I can’t wait to share all about it!! We’ve been planning for over a year and I don’t think we could have asked for much more as far as how the trip went (with one big exception, more on that later).
The trip was planned for Friday, July 19 through Saturday, July 27, we flew in and out of Anchorage and planned to spend time in the coastal area “near” Anchorage then head to Denali for a few days. My sister did most of the heavy lifting for planning – these days my trip planning abilities are slow on the uptake – so we are very fortunate she follows through with the google searching after we talk about all the things we want to do.
Here is a high level breakdown of our original itinerary.
- Friday, July 19 – Fly to Anchorage, stay in Anchorage hotel
- Saturday, July 20 – Drive to Seward, stay in Seward hotel
- Sunday, July 21 – Boat Tour with Major Marine Tours, glacier hikes, drive to Bird Creek, stay in Bird Creek cabin
- Monday, July 22 – Drive to Soldotna, Fishing/Bear Excursion with Talon Air Services, stay in Bird Creek cabin
- Tuesday, July 23 – Girdwood Conservatory, 2 hikes, stay in Bird Creek Cabin
- Wednesday, July 24 – Drive to Denali, Denali NP, stay in Denali house
- Thursday, July 25 – Drive to Arctic Circle, stay in Denali house
- Friday, July 26 – Drive to Fairbanks and North Pole, stay in Denali house
- Saturday, July 27 – Drive back to Anchorage, fly home
With that said we woke up on the 19th to a major uh oh – some airlines were shut down globally due to a tech issue. Once our flights were officially cancelled we (Chris) got on the phone with our airline and got us all rebooked for Sunday the 21st. So we spent the first weekend of our Alaska trip hanging around the house and sitting in the airport Sunday all day while the issues were still sort of going on but flights were going out slowly.
We had to do some modifications to our original plan but luckily we were able to move the boat tour when we found our Friday we weren’t going to be in town. Here’s how our trip went!
Day One – Sunday, July 21
We flew from Savannah to Minneapolis then on to Anchorage. Our flight was supposed to get into Anchorage at 7:30 local time but we didn’t arrive until 12:15 am (Monday). This obviously was blah BUT seeing the sun on the horizon at midnight from the air was really cool so I think the delays were sort of worth it! Luckily the Bird Creek cabin we rented was only 40 minutes from the airport so we didn’t have to drive for hours after a full day of traveling to get to our place of rest.
Day Two – Monday, July 22
Even though we were running on only a few hours of sleep we were excited and up early Monday morning. The first thing we did was take a walk from the cabin to look at part of the Cook Inlet – which was down the dirt road and across the street.
After the little walk we got in the car and headed to our first adventure – a fishing and bear excursion with Talon Air Service. We had to drive about 3 hours to get there – something we were fully prepared to do on the original plan – but the drive back was a little draining lol
On the way to Soldotna we saw a little bit of wildlife on the side of the road. Pro tip…if you are in an area where wildlife viewing is a thing and you see cars pulled over randomly, pull over, get out and find out what people are looking it. It’s probably something pretty cool!
This excursion though!!! I can’t say enough great things about it. We flew in a small plane up (over a glacier) to Big River Lake and boarded boats to be taken around to view bear, fish basically with the bear, then rode around some more to see the salmon where they spawn, a waterfall, and to have the guides cook some of the fish we caught on the boat, before heading back to the planes for the flight back to Soldotna.
Pictures say it best!!
After the excursion we drove back to our cabin and went to bed – thank goodness for black out curtains. Our first full day in Alaska was a success but bed was in order because it was after 10 when we got back and we had to be up by 3 the next morning to drive to Seward for our boat tour.
Day Three – Tuesday, July 23
Yep…you read that right, up by 3 to be heading to Seward. We do some crazy driving things on our vacations but even this was extreme for us. Remember though, we were originally going to stay the night in Seward over the weekend but we didn’t make it to Alaska as planned so we had to move the boat tour. The drive to Seward was about 3 hours from our cabin and the check in time for the boat tour was 7 am so off we went for another great day!
This boat tour was way more than I expected – I thought it was a basic whale watching type thing but no! We went through the Kenai Fjords National Park and saw tons of wildlife and even some glaciers.
Here’s a list of the wildlife we saw – orcas, humpback whale, puffins, seagulls, seals, sea lions, mountain goat, black bear, and otter.
When we were by one of the glaciers the crew fished out some ice and brought it around to show everyone. They even had a fun activity book for the kids that included a junior officer program toward the end of the tour. I spend some time catching up on sleep aka trying not to barf while the iceberg was being passed about.
After the boat tour we went to another part of Kenai Fjords National Park and hiked to the Exit Glacier view point.
Then we headed back toward the cabin we were staying at and stopped at Byron Glacier to hike. We were able to hike right up to the glacier and play around on it some, Shauna even got her feet wet 🥶 and yes, Ada had a jacket, she just choose to take it off for a little while.
After Byron Glacier we headed back to the house for some MUCH needed sleep!
Day Four – Wednesday, July 24
Our main plan for Wednesday was to make it to Denali so we opted to sleep in just a little then head to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for some animal viewing. Christopher was the photographer for most of this stop and I haven’t gone through his pictures yet so only a few to share from my phone.
When we were done at the wildlife center we started the 5+ hour drive to Denali. When we got to the Denali area we got settled in our house and went to the grocery store for some steak to grill. You might have noticed outside of the salmon I mentioned earlier I haven’t talked much about food…that’s because when you travel with us you better not be hungry and better pack your own snacks. Everyone apparently forgets we need to eat until we are all hangry and finding the nearest gas station to see what hot food they might have. 🤦🏽♀️😂🤷🏽♀️
Day Five – Thursday, July 25
On Thursday we got up at a decent hour and drove the 3+ hours to Fairbanks because why not 😂 In Fairbanks we all wore matching plaid shirts – something I wanted a family photo in at the Arctic Circle sign but decided to change to the Fairbanks day because after Fairbanks we went to North Pole and saw Santa! and also because some of us decided driving to the Arctic Circle sign wasn’t going to be on our agenda lol
The North Pole was very very touristy but actually pretty cool. The building was slap full of everything you could ever want or need that is Christmas themed – including letters from Santa that you can have mailed home. I think I saw Chris at that counter…
They also had reindeer that you could feed. Did you know reindeer are considered livestock in Alaska. The reindeer were a little pushy but they don’t have front teeth so you don’t have to worry about getting bit while you are feeding them.
After Fairbanks and North Pole we headed back to Denali and went into the park. You can only go 15 miles into the actual park on your own – you have to book a 5 or 10 hour bus ride if you want to go further in – so we went down to the Savage River (the furthest you can go) and spent some time playing in the river and hiking around. The temp was a warm 80 degrees – we were very surprised at how warm it was.
We saw a caribou leaving Denali – I’ll have to revisit this post with a photo later.
Day Six – Friday, July 26
Divide and conquer was the theme for Friday. Earlier in the week myself and my dad did a little boycotting on wanting to drive the 6 hours one way just to see the Arctic Circle sign – and rightfully so, even though I get it, it’s once in a lifetime – but we have been driving for the entire trip and sleep was finally catching up but the thought of getting up at 4 am again to drive 12 hours round trip for a sign was no longer appealing so we split up.
Mom and Shauna got up at 4 and hopped in one of the rentals to head to the Dalton Hwy and Arctic Circle – turns out it was more like 9 hours (yes, NINE!!!) each way but they got their photo!
Dad, Chris, the kids, and I slept in then went back into Denali to visit the dog sledding kennels.
Did everyone have a great day – I think so. Did some of us enjoy our leisurely day more than others…well…I think so but they will never admit it hahahaha!!!
Day Seven – Saturday, July 27
For our last day in Alaska we packed up early and left Denali for Anchorage – about a 5 hour drive. We had saw a moose on the side of the road on the way down and actually ate lunch at a restaurant 🤩. I can recommend Spenard Roadhouse if you are ever in the area.
After lunch we went a little east of Anchorage and made a few stops along the side of the road to kill some time before heading to the airport for our red eye to Detroit. The first stop was Beluga Point. It was pretty windy and chilly so my dad and I warmed ourselves on the rocks.
The next stop we made was at the McHugh Creek Day Area pullover where we walked through the drainage tunnel and down to a waterfall. Christopher and my dad didn’t think I’d come through but since Alaska has no snakes I was all in.
The final stop we made before the airport was at Potter Creek – it had a boardwalk over the marsh and we got to watch some salmon making their way upstream.
That’s the end of our trip – thankfully the flights home were uneventful and on time. Christopher stayed awake for the entire 5 hour flight from Anchorage to Detroit but fell asleep in the Detroit airport during our layover and Ada fell asleep during the flight from Anchorage and didn’t wake back up until we landed in Savannah – good thing kids don’t count as carry on bags lol.
Want to see more of our adventures?
Check these posts out from some of our past trips
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