Alaska Cruise ...
Our Alaska vacation started with a cruise on a small ship departing from the port of Ketchikan.  While in Ketchikan we went on a Misty Fjords & Glacier tour and landed on one of the many Alaskan lakes. Starting the cruise we sailed to the Misty Fiords National Monument and then to the port of Matlakatla.  Our next stop was the port of Petersburg and then we crused the Frederick Sound & Tracy Arm Fjord. The port of Sitka was our next stop and then we moved to the Glacier Bay National Park where we viewed some very large glaciers. Moving on to the port of Skagway we boarded a motorcoach and took a tour through the mountains to Canada and returned by train along the side of the mountian. Our next port was to be Haines but the weather turned bad and the winds picked up to 50mpi and the Captain for him to dock would be too risky because the dock in Haines was a floating dock. We continued to the city of Juneau where we ended the cruise.  While we were in the city we went to the Mendenhall Glacier where you can get as close as 1/2 of a mile to the glacier.  That evening we stayed at the Goldbelt Hotel in Juneau.
The first Alaskan land tour ...
The following morning we were bused to the airport and flew to Anchorage where we had dinner on CruiseWest and spent the night at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel. The next morning we had breakfest complements of CruiseWest and then boarded the motorcoach to Talkeetna.  In Talkeetna we boarded the train for lunch and the long ride to the Denali National Park, where we spent the next two nights at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. The next day we took a nine (9) hour tour on a school bus through the Denali National Park stopping at various rest stops along the way.  The scenery was very beautiful and we did see some animals, but the ride in that stupid school bus was not a highlight.  More of a low light. After we returned from the exhilarating bus trip we embarked on a McKinley flight with a glacier landing.  The glacier was below Mt. KcKinley where three mountains formed a glacier path. The next day we continued by motorcoach to Fairbanks where we boarded the Riverboat Discovery and cruised the Chena and Tanana rivers.  Then we had lunch and a tour of the Anchorage Museum.  We spent the evening at Pikes Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks where we had a farewell dinner hosted by CruseWest. The following day we went to the El Dorado Gold Mine for a trip through Alaska's gold mining history.  We panned for gold and between us we managed to collect $18.00 in gold.  Next we went to Alaska Tails of the Trail with Mary Shields.  A personal home visit with the celebrated musher and author, Mary Shields.  Mary was the first woman to finish the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
A rest day ...
Today we rented a car and proceeded at our own pace.  We went shopping in Fairbanks and then we drove to the North Pole to shop at the Santa Claus House.
The second Alaskan land tour ...
We started our Artic Circle Adventure with an eight (8) hour drive up the Dalton Highway.  This is a gravel road and we traveled it in a 11 person van with 11 people.  There were rest stops along the highway (better called a back road) with outside bathroom facilities.  We crossed the Artic Circle and spent the night in ColdFoot. We spent another 7 hours on the road and arrived in Prudhoe Bay and spent the night in Deadhorse. The following day we had a tour of Prudhoe Bay and flew along the coastline to Barrow. After spending a day and a half in Barrow (a day too long) we flew back to Fairbanks. We spent the last day in Fairbanks shopping and resting up for the 15 hour flight back home.