At approximately the midpoint of our Alaska Adventure, during our last night aboard the Royal Princess among the many glaciers of College Fjord.
I know what you're thinking. Just how much ice cream did Jon eat on this trip?
A lot, my friends. A lot.
But fortunately - and unbelievably - the scale revealed that I actually lost two pounds in Alaska rather than gain fifteen like I had feared.
So, what did we learn from our time in Alaska?
In no particular order:
Going forward, I'm going to minimize my flying as much as possible. Some of our flights were miserable.
I told a few folks before this trip that I was curious how I would like a trip planned by others versus the kind that I plan for myself. On the whole, I prefer doing it myself. For one thing, flexibility is important. Perhaps destinations could have been re-arranged and Denali salvaged had I been in the driver's seat.
Vastness. Probably the most striking thing about Alaska is the sheer scale and scope of its land. There's a lot of it. It was amazing to come across mountain range after mountain range, large river after large river, lake after lake in our travels. There is a lot of wide open space up north. And we only saw a piece of it.
Correspondingly, there was a shocking lack of wildlife. One of our main reasons for traveling to Alaska was to have encounters with wildlife. Certainly missing out on Denali had an impact. But even taking that off the table, I was expecting to see more animals. We did get to see three moose and one bear, many bald eagles, some sea otters and seals, and a wonderful group of whales on our whale-watching tour. I think we saw more than many others on our voyage. We overheard (more than once) a reference to Jurassic Park: "Do you have any dinosaurs in your dinosaur park?" Perhaps things would have been different if our trip had been shifted slightly later in the summer when the salmon were more active.
Our tour was called "Off the Beaten Path," and I did enjoy exploring some parts of Alaska that are not widely visited. Seeing Copper River, Valdez, and Fairbanks was a treat.
The weather, especially while we were on the ship, was surprisingly cool and wet. The interior was warmer and drier and about what I expected. Debbie is fond of saying that one thing she learned on this trip is that Alaska's coastal region is a rain forest, temperate not tropical. We had lots of precipitation.
I've been asked which portion of the tour I enjoyed more - the cruise or land? That's a tough question. I think the cruise has the edge with the wildlife that we did see, the meals and entertainment, and the shore excursions.
One decision that I really wrestled with in booking the trip was the question of a balcony. An unobstructed balcony for the week added approximately $3,000 to the cost to the trip. Researching the issue showed that most people strongly recommended getting the balcony. In retrospect, I'm certainly glad that we had it, and it did enhance our experience. But, in the final analysis, I would have to say that was a corner we could have cut. There are other areas on the ship suitable for watching the glaciers on those special days. But it's a fairly close call.
Towards the end of our trip, I began wondering if I would need to venture up to this land again, to return to Alaska someday. While there is certainly more to see, and I would always love to visit additional National Parks, including those in remote regions, I do feel like we did Alaska well in the thirteen days we had there. I think we're good.
Finally, I once again feel drawn to give glory to God for His amazing creation. Witnessing the interaction of land (mountains and glaciers and coast) and life (migrating humpbacks and spawning salmon and hibernating bears) testifies to God's incredible, intricate design. Voyaging to new lands always brings home to me to a deeper appreciation and wonder of God, and I think that's the way it is supposed to be.
