Land first ... Cruise later

If you ever decide to go on a cruise and land tour, please, for my sake, go on the land portion first. This is a lesson I learn time and time again when I pick people up off the ship. When people have been pampered on a cruise ship, then they go on the land tour, especially to places like Prudhoe Bay, they are quite cranky. Those that go on the land first have no idea how cushy the ship will be and are geared up and excited for their vacation.

My Alyeska tour went wonderfully. The people were great and the accomadations were amazing! This is the only place that we get to stay in the same hotel as the guests. Check out the cushy beds. There's also a great pool, hot tub, spa and workout room. Girdwood is the town Hotel Alyeska is in, and it has a population of about 3,000, but the town consists of a few restaurants, a post office and a book store. It's definitely a place where you take advantage of its beauty.




This is a view on the walk from the hotel into Girdwood. Gorgeous!









Here I am doing a meet and greet at the Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks. Doesn't this look like the tour director you would want to tour with?!










Here I am by the river in Denali. There were a couple curious foxes near by and I managed to get a few pictures. I would say they got within 10 feet of me.

Right now I'm on a "Tour 20." This tour is a really nice tour for the guests and myself. I met my 39 guests in Fairbanks and the following day we rode the train to Denali. That afternoon they could do optional excursions or soak up the scenery. Today they all went on the eight-hour Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park. They didn't go on the same tours, so I was sending people off for three hours, and greeting them when they came back for four hours. I'm not complaining though, because I could never get tired of this place. Tomorrow we're heading to Anchorage and then we spend two days in Alyeska, which is a 4-diamond resort. I'm looking forward to the cushy beds and the swimming pool.

This afternoon I went down to the river with some others to watch the rafters go by. On our way through the woods, we came across a brown fox and a red fox. They were really close. I'll share the pix when I can.

Finding Fun in Fairbanks, Part II

I spent this morning following up on my resume. This isn't the best time since it seems that a number of people are taking a long holiday weekend.

This afternoon I went to the Museum of the North and the Botanical Gardens at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. If you get the chance, you should definitely check it out. The museum is architecturly beautiful and the exhibits are very nice. There are all kinds of animal, native indian and history exhibits. Also the art is wonderful.











Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks










Ceremonial Athabascan Indian dress made by Dixie Alexander and her daughter, Rita Prita. Rita does presentations everyday at the Riverboat Discovery on beadwork and Dixie's work is displayed in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History.




UAF Botanical Gardens















I'm trying to be artsy with my pictures. I thought the colors in the flowers were amazing!

Fairbanks must be where Cabbage Patch Kids are grown. These are HUGE!













View from the top of the hill where the museum sits. This is looking toward Fairbanks, across the ag test grounds. UAF is known for its agricultural studies, especially for artic agriculture.











I failed to post this yesterday from the July 4 party. Nothing says, "God Bless America," like a man wrapped in a $.99 tablecloth eating potato chips ... Jeff, Juli and Melissa need help ...

Finding Fun in Fairbanks

Unfortunately, I have two longer breaks (4 days) broken up by my one short tour. My tour ended, and much to my joy, the family of ten left. Alaska is not a vacation spot for young, energy-filled children.

Anyway, during my break, I decided to stay in Fairbanks. I'm never here long enough to see the other sites besides the Riverboat Discovery and the Gold Dredge. These last few days I've played tourist.

Tuesday I went to the Alaska Art Gallery, wondered around downtown, went to the ice museum and Chena Hot Springs. Wednesday I went to Pioneer Park for July 5 festivities, then I worked for a few hours at the Westmark and that evening Holland America through a party for all the staff. It was a lot of fun. Today I'm briefing and debriefing for my next tour and getting all that prepared. I also plan to follow up with my resume today. Tomorrow I will go to the Museum of the North and Botanical Gardens at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

The past few days have been really hot in Fairbanks - I would say mid-80s to mid-90s. Actually the past couple weeks have been unusually warm all over Alaska. Many guests come with parkas, not prepared for short-sleeve weather ....

Fairbanks is known as the Golden Heart City because of it's locale and the gold rush that took place here. This picture was taken at Golden Heart Square, and it's a sculpture of Alaska's first family. The family does not have any ethnic origin because there are a number of different "first nations" or native people in Alaska.

This is the tent for the ice museum at Chena Hot Springs. The first rendition was made entirely of ice, but it only lasted through the winter, not the summer months. Now they've constructed this tent to hold the ice bar, sculptures and rooms.

Dustin is quite surprised about having an ice bed ... No one stays in the rooms, but in the first ice hotel, it was an option. It's safe to say that this was a bone-chilling experience.

I took a stab at being a little Eskimo girl, but I don't think I would make it. Oddly enough, the igloo was a bit warmer inside.

Two knights were jousting in one of the sculptures.

One of the ice sculptures.

On the way to the Chena Hot Springs - there is actually a hot spring pool there that we used - we saw a bull moose. This is the first bull moose I've seen here.

Ten hours driving = Denali

This morning I picked up 37 guests from the ship in Seward. I could tell from the start that this tour would be different than my others. First, the group has been on vacation for seven days, and second, they've been pampered the entire time.

Everyone seems great, but not extremely excited about the tour. In addition there is a family of ten traveling together that is causing some guests to be upset. Combined, the family has six children undr the age of 11. The problem isn't so much the kids, but the parents that let them run wild. I'm fraid this is something I will have to address shortly for the sake of the other passengrs. The worst part is the parents don't act much better.

Tomorrow they're all off on the tundra wilderness tour, so I'll see if any guests report to me concerned about the situation.

Photo Updates

I just walked to Wal-Mart to get my photos on CD ... I will try to do better about posting ... I promise!

Here I am after a flightseeing trip around Mt. McKinley. This was a spiritual experience to say the least. The plane sat six people, and I was in the co-pilot seat. We were within six miles of Mt. McKinley and one mile of Mt. Hunter. You could see mountains, valleys and glaciers for miles upon miles.

These are all views from the plane. You can't tell me that God didn't have a hand in this!

Isn't Mt. McKinley spectacular?!




















The McKinley Chalets - This is where most of our guests stay while in Denali. This is only the lobby which has a gift shop, coffee shop and the Nenana Grill in it. Behind is the Cafe and then the "cabins" where the guests stay. The accomodations are much like individual motel buildings.

Can't you tell? This is the Top of the World ... or at least according to the Anchorage Marriott.



Anne Marie and Melissa (roommates) and Janis all sit at the Top of the World. The Marriott had a familiarization party for Holland America employees where we got free food and drink. You gotta love the free food; it costs too much to buy it up here.



Janis, Juli and I decide to try out a hat shop in the mall to pass the time. I hate taking pictures with pretty people! I need to learn how to take a good photograph before the end of tour. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Step 1: Lose the Dr. Seuss hat ...

This picture is for Wyatt. I get to ride this very long train when I'm on tour from Anchorage to Denali and again from Denali to Fairbanks, for a total of 12 hours. The train car I ride in has a glass domed ceiling and then we eat breakfast, dinner and supper underneath in the dining car.





On my tour run to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse, AK, our first stop outside of Fairbanks is Joy, AK. All it is is a gift shop with refreshments and "old school" outhouses. If you get in the wrong stall, the run off proves disastorous. Good think I had the smarts to put my feet up ...





Standing in line in Joy, AK.










Our lunch stop is at the Yukon River Camp. You can see that our bus has seen better days. The Dalton Highway is rough and dirt 80 percent of the 499 miles up to Prudhoe Bay. The River Camp had great food, but it's a bit rough. They sell "bearly" worn clothing there. A couple years ago, a bear and its cub decided to hibernate in the gift shop, using the inventory for its nest. What a great marketing ploy!




The Trans-Alaska pipeline. The pipeline is laid in a zig-zag pattern to help with movement when earthquakes hit. The pipeline also sits - not bolted down - on vertical support members that are covered in Teflon to help the pipeline move and shift with the earth. It also helps with the earths movement and settling due to permafrost.









This is the Arctic Circle. I was a bit disappointed; there was a dotted line or anything at the stop. It was only the sign.

Welcome to Coldfoot, AK, and our accomadations for the evening. There is running water, but the walls are paper thin, the shower is tiny, and you're lucky if the water is warm. Oh, and did I mention there are only twin beds, no T.V.s and no alarm clocks. Enjoy!

P.S. Because there were no alarm clocks and did morning knocks beginning at 5:30 a.m. ...





Our lunch stop is spectacular on the way to Prudhoe. It's Galbrith Lake. We pack a lunch and sit out on the rocks and soak up the beauty and the sun.









Migrating caribou are a common sight from Coldfoot to Prudhoe. We had a number of caribou in the road along the way. I'm still waiting for musk oxen.






Our accomodations improved once we got to Deadhorse. We went from a double wide trailor to a Morton building. The food here is spectacular since they feed all the oil workers. This is still a working camp, but we do have the luxury of a 9" t.v., alarm clock and laundry facilities.



I did the Polar Bear Plunge in the Arctic Ocean! I really only went up to my waist, but it was like liquid ice. I got in and out so fast that my picture couldn't get taken. Some of my guests got a good shot of me going in and out. I'll have to post those once they're sent to me. One guest told me if Michael Jordan ran that fast, he never would have retired. I didn't run that fast because of the cold, but because I was in my bathing suit in front of a number of people!

Stay tuned for more posts ...