Day Eight

After yesterday's rest day, today was another early start. Up by 5.45am and ready to leave just after 7am. Ann's hand still looked like Popeye's after he had had some spinach. We were heading to the airport so decided to take the bus. As we were about to leave I looked at the app to judge when a bus was coming but noticed there were no buses. Looked at the bus timetable and saw that on Sundays the buses didn't start until after 8am. Had to get an Uber instead.

Arrived at the airport and having already checked in online went straight to security and through. Got a drink and waited for the plane. Boarded and we set off quite swiftly. When we were looking for things to do in Alaska, we looked into the possibility of driving north to a small airfield and then catching an aeroplane tour of Denali, the tallest peak in North America. Ann contacted the tour with the best reviews but they said there weren't running any tours this year, so we didn't bother pursuing it any further.  Anyway today the flight went past Denali and we got a brief view of the peak out of the window.

Poking up above the clouds

Thought we at least we got to see it. Within forty five minutes we had arrived at Fairbanks. We chose to fly there as if we had gone there and back by train or car we would have spent two days travelling. Deplaned and headed for the car rental desks. Picked up our car for the day. It was a Ford Fusion.

Fusion

Headed out in to Fairbanks and towards our first stop. Got there twenty minutes before it opened so decided to go and find a place to get a drink. Ann decided on here buckoscoffee-ak.com

Menu

Decided on two medium bandits, a cinnamon roll and a chocolate chip muffin. Had to queue for a while as it was quite popular. Chatted to the server about where we were going today. She seemed to agree with our choices of places to visit. Headed off to eat and drink back at our first stop. When we finished we headed in. fountainheadmuseum.com

The woman on the till asked us where we were from. We told her. She said 'I couldn't decide if it was the UK or Australia'. Wanted to point out it was actually quite easy to tell the difference but instead just laughed politely.

Walked around and saw lots of cars. Here are some of them.

Yellow Car

Another car

Light blue car

Dark blue car

Beige Car

Red car

Car with bonnet up

Blue round nose car

Parasol car

Four poster bed car

Old car

Red car 2

There were plenty more than that selection. It was a typical American museum. Very clean and well designed and we enjoyed seeing the cars. Got a fridge magnet. 

Once out we got in the car and tried to find somewhere to eat. Went to one place but it was very busy. There was a twenty minute wait just to be seated. Decided we didn't have that time to waste so went looking for somewhere else. Eventually ended up here cjsdriveinfairbanks.com

Menu

It was fairly empty. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. Ann had something. From there we headed downtown to the icemuseum.com 

Arrived just after the 2pm show (If you could call it that) had started. Woman told us we could either go in as we had only missed two minutes or wait for the 3pm one. Told her we couldn't wait and would go in. She said the ice sculptor, Andy, would show us in. Andy was Chinese and spoke very little English. Doubted his name was really Andy. Went into a cinema which was very, very dark and there was a screen just showing some pictures of ice sculptures. 

As it finished 'Andy' did a big reveal and switched on some tacky coloured lights which revealed some ice behind some glass. It was very underwhelming. He then told us that we would have up to twenty minutes to go into the cold place and look at the sculptures and take snap snaps. We borrowed some jackets to wear and then went in. It was -7C. The first sculpture we saw was a moose which had one antler missing. That set the tone. It was very un American in terms of the quality of the place. Still we were there so we larked about taking snap snaps.

Broken Moose

Bear back riding

Muppets

Cheap lights

Husky?

Snow mobile

As cold as ice

There was an ice slide. Ann refused to go on it. I gave it a go.

It was the best thing about it. Eventually we left the cold bit and then sat in the cinema part to watch 'Andy' carve some ice. It was naff. He drilled some holes into a block and then filled it with some food colouring. We thought he would get a chainsaw and carve the Venus di Milo.

Left as soon as we could. Headed to Pioneer Park  We weren't really sure what to expect. It is basically an old village featuring historic buildings. There were quite a lot of people but wasn't much we were interested in doing. Wandered around a bit. Saw an old paddle steamer.

SS Nenana

Also saw a Pullman railway car which was used by President Harding on his Voyage of Understanding in 1923. The trip did go to well as he died whilst on it. 

Eventually we got bored so drove back to the airport. Returned the car and went through security. We were the only people there. Even so, Ann still got stopped as she tried to smuggle a bottle of water through the bag scanner. The security guy poured the water away and returned the empty plastic bottle to Ann. Bought a Fairbanks fridge magnet. 

Headed to our gate. It was empty. The screens for Alaska Airlines at the gates give you information about the number of seats on the plane and passenger numbers. Noted that there were only forty six passengers going to be on the flight. When we boarded it didn't take long and the plane pushed back early. Now the plot thickens. The Captain then gave an announcement and said we were leaving early so as we had time to kill he was going to do a fly by of Denali on the way. We thought that would be nice, as the weather was now nicer, it might be a little clearer. We took off and then waited. After a while he announced that he could see Denali and it was visible with a little bit of cloud. He said we are going to fly 3000m higher than it and pass it from about five miles away. Then he said will do the right hand side of the plane then we'll turn around and give the left hand side a view as well.

As we approached the cloud started to part and then suddenly there it was. We were so close it was unbelievable. Everybody on board including the stewardesses tried to get a look.

The money shot

If we had paid a shed load of cash to get on a tourist plane as we had originally thought about, I don't think we would have got such a great view. Sometimes fate gets it just right. 

Soon we were back at Anchorage and then made our way back home to start packing as we leave tomorrow on the next leg.

States visited - 2

Mountains buzzed - 1

Day Seven

The first day in a week where we didn't have to be up early to be somewhere. Took the opportunity not to get up. Eventually did and had breakfast. Looked out the window. It was hammering down. The plan was to spend the day in Anchorage doing bits and bobs. Decided to wait a bit to see if the rain would subside.

Had a shower. Spoke to mum and dad. Listened to the end of the day's play in the Ashes. The rain showed no sign of abating. We tried to come up with some plans that we could do without getting too wet. Eventually decided whatever we did would involve getting soaked so made the decision not to go out. Considering everything we've done in the last few days it seemed like a good choice.

It does mean this is the shortest blog ever as not much to report. Ann has a monster hand. It has swollen up after yesterday's bite which was actually two bites close together. She has spent most of the day with it wrapped in a cold towel. We used the washing machine to do a wash making the most of the opportunity.

Now watching Forrest Gump, a movie which has led us to many places on previous trips. Nice to watch it and say 'Been there' 'Saw that'.

Going to take the opportunity to get an early night as we are back up early tomorrow as we have a flight to catch.

Apologies for the lack of interesting things.

States visited - 2

Incredible Hulk hands - 1

Day Six

Another early start. Up at 5.45am. Caught an Uber just after 7am and arrived at the Anchorage Depot of the Alaska Railroad. Train wasn't until 8.20am but we had to be there an hour before departure. Bought a fridge magnet from the shop whilst we waited. Boarded the Denali Express at 8am and then we left on time. 

Unit

An announcement stated that along the journey they would keep us aware of any wildlife spotted. Two minutes in whilst we were still in Anchorage they said there was a black bear. We saw it.

Bear

It is the first time we have seen a bear in the wild on all our trips. And that was as good as the wildlife got. There was a moose in a field at one point. 

Although the train goes all the way up to Fairbanks we were only riding it to a town called Talkeetna. Only one train runs in each direction a day so therefore it was the furthest we could travel on the train and still get back here on the same day. Train ride was ok but mainly had trees each side so couldn't see much. We could have paid a lot of money to sit in special viewing car with a domed glass roof but we were glad we didn't bother. Michael Portillo did a journey on this train once so I started doing impressions of him, 'My Appleton's Guidebook tells me the train is full of twats' 

At around 11.15am we got to our stop. Detrained. Walked up to the town. Looked around some tat shops. Only bought a Talkeetna fridge magnet. Persuaded Ann not to buy any tat. Ann got bitten on the hand by something at this point. Had lunch at shirleysburgerbarn.com

I had a Talkeetna burger. Ann had something.

Nice burgers

After lunch we walked through the rest of town to our booked activity. Signed in and then got on the shuttle bus to AK Sled Dog Tours

The group was spilt in two. Half of us had a guided tour of the kennel and met some dogs, the other half went mushing. When they were waiting to go the dogs got quite excited.

We heard all about how the dogs are trained and how the place works. It is owned by Dallas Seavey who is a five time Iditarod Champion. The Iditarod is a one thousand mile race which crosses Alaska in early March each year. One musher and sixteen dogs go unaided for eight to fourteen days across the course. Bit of a pricey business with a the cost of running the training and taking part costing a million dollars per year. Hence getting idiots like us to part with our cash.

Having heard all about it, it was our turn to do some dryland mushing. This had been something Ann wanted to do, so when it came to deciding which of us would mush and which would just sit and be driven obviously I got told by her I would be doing all the mushing. I tried to argue that I should get to sit and do nothing but to no avail.

Got to meet our team of four dogs and then got on board the sled. It was like a four wheeled bike. Handle bars and brakes except it was pulled by four mental huskies.

They run the dogs at 8mph so a quadbike set the pace and the dogs follow. I wanted to go much faster but couldn't as we had to follow the others. I think Ann was pleased at this as she was clinging on in the seat. One dog kept trying to take a shite whilst running.

We stopped at points to water the dogs as they are used to much colder conditions and it was actually quite warm. This gave us a chance to take some photos of the team.

Eventually made it back to the kennels and said goodbye to our teams. Got back on the bus to head back to Talkeetna. When we got on the others had sat in a way which meant Ann and I had sit separately from each other with other people. This led to us having to talk to other people. I was sat with a woman called Christy from California. I think that was her name, I had forgotten three seconds after her telling me. We chatted about various things, mainly how little of her own country she had seen. Ann gave her phone number to her woman in case she ever came to England. The bus dropped us off at the station.

Waited an hour for the train. Got on. Had more comfortable seats on the way home. Spent most of the journey trying not to fall asleep. Train got back half an hour late. No idea why, just went really slowly. Got an Uber back home. Ann's bite has swollen up. She is now sleeping it off.

States visited - 2

Bear watch - high

Husky watch - extremely high

Day Five

Another early start. Out the door by 7.10am. Have downloaded two Anchorage bus apps. One is a ticket app and one is a map and bus updates. We've bought a week's pass so we can hop on and off whenever we like. Used the other app to watch a bus approach. Walked out the house to the bus stop 20 yards away and got on the bus that arrived within 3 seconds. Rode it all the way to the airport. Got off and walked to the Enterprise car rental desk. Collected the car we had booked for the day. We had booked the cheapest one possible but were given a Toyota Camry. 

Candid Camry

Got in and drove off. 

Our first stop of the day was to go back to the ATV tour company and retrieve Ann's phone. Drove north up Alaska 1 to Butte. Collected phone. They had found it down the side of the seat in the minivan. 

Here are yesterday' videos to prove it!

Ann said she was hungry so we Googled diner's on our journey back south and found one. Stopped at it. Bobby' Cafe and Bakery in Chugiak. I had pancakes. Ann had something.

Stopped at a garage to get some drinks and then headed all the way back to Anchorage and then south to our first proper scheduled stop.

Arrived at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - Animal Sanctuary

Parked up and wandered around. Tried to avoid the Insta generation who were just repeatedly taking pictures of themselves in different poses. Saw lots of animals. Here are some.

Moose

Muskox

Brown Bears

Elks just chillin'

Caribou

Mike Bison

Wily Coyote

Bald Eagle

Hairy Wolves

Also saw this new breed.

Apparently they have been bred to go skydiving and white-water rafting hence the name.

Went to the shop and bought the world's most expensive fridge magnet. Then left. As we were driving out we saw a black bear, but Ann said she couldn't be arsed to stop and look at it. Racist.

Headed not far to the Portage Glacier Cafe for lunch. The less said about that the better. Let's just say if you ever visit the area, don't go there. From there we headed a couple of minutes to Portage Glacier Cruises. Arrived a bit early for our 3pm departure, so stood around a bit in a queue so we could get a good seat up top.

Boat

As we had an online booking, when they let us on they made us go to some bloke who didn't know what he was doing. By the time he had sorted absolutely nothing out, everyone else had boarded meaning we didn't get an upstairs seat. So we just had to stand which worked out really well as we got cracking views of everything.

Cruise was an hour long. Took us down Portage Lake and up to the Portage glacier.

Another day, another glacier

Panorama

V shaped Valley

Whilst we were close to the glacier the crew dragged some broken bits of it onto the boat. They had been floating in the water. People could then be photographed holding it. One got broken up into pieces so people could eat it. Needless to say Ann and I didn't. We just spent the time drinking in the stunning scenery. It was absolutely staggering to be so close to something so awe inspiring. We did see a large lump of the glacier break off and fall into the lake. This is called calving.

Eventually the boat headed back to shore and we deboated. Got in the car and drove back to Anchorage. As we still had a bit of time left we went to Walmart and bought some food. Noticed this oddity in the shop.

What the hell is that?!

Apparently made with nitrogen for a smother feel!

Drove the shopping back to our place and dumped it before driving the car back to the airport. Topped up the gas before we did. For the first time ever we could pay at the pump without having to go inside as they now use chip and pin!! No need for a zip code. We have even been able to use Apple pay at most places to tap and go, it's like the USA has nearly caught up. Some places still require the pointless signature though.

Dropped the car back and hopped on the bus back home. Had some tea. Ann made me sign a waiver for tomorrow's activity so she could send it back online. It promises to be another exciting day. Ann was almost still awake as I typed this although that didn't last long.

States visited - 2

Bear watch - high

Moose watch - high

Wolf watch - high

Danger Bison watch - high

Phones recovered - 1

Day Four

Again woke up really early. Partly due to brain still thinking it is in the UK and partly because we had to be at a rendezvous at 8am. Showered and breakfasted and then set out at 7.35am. Walked north into downtown Anchorage and by 7.50am we were stood outside the Anchorage Visitor Centre waiting to be collected.  There was a bus already there except it was for a tour which we were not doing. Further down there was a small white minivan and a woman stood by it. 

We waited for a while thinking that our ride would turn up in a clearly marked vehicle. Eventually Ann dispatched me to go and talk to the woman. It was our ride so I beckoned Ann over and we got in. The woman introduced herself as Katie and then we set off on our journey. 

Three quarters of an hour later we ended up at our destination - 49th State Motor Tours

Katie introduced us to Jerimiah who was going to be our tour lead. We were the first there so Jerimiah started to get us ready and gradually other people arrived. We had deliberately brought old clothes over with us just for this day. We then were given waterproofs, wellies, helmet, googles, gloves and a company branded neck gaitor. 

Once everyone else had arrived and got suited up we were installed into our vehicles. We had booked a side by side ATV as opposed to a quadbike each, a decision that later turned out to be wise. Ours also had a windscreen whereas all the others didn't. This would to turn out to be both a positive and a negative. 

We got given our safety talk, instructions and then hand signals we would need throughout the day. Then after one practice loop we were off. We headed out down the drive then across the road and then into the wilds. Jerimiah led from the front, then there were three quads, then us, followed by all the other side by sides. At the back was Latrael, who was mopping up ensuring everything was ok. 

We covered a couple of miles at a decent pace before making a first stop. Saw an eagle.

After a brief interlude we got told to go into 4 wheel drive and low range gear and we headed up a large sand bank and then into the river Knik. I bazzed along merrily over different terrains, water, rocks, sand and dust. Ann held on for dear life. We stopped occasionally for signals to change gear or between 2 and 4 wheel drive. All was going well until, as we left the river to climb a steep slope, the chap in front of us on a quad turned it over and fell off. We stopped and did the given hand signal we had been shown to show there was an emergency (the idea being each vehicle would pass the signal down the line until Latrael saw it and then he would radio Jerimiah). Before anything could happen the bloke picked himself up and pulled the quad over and then sped off. By the time we had started moving he had gone so far away we could no longer see him which meant we had no idea of the route to take. To start with there was just the one path which we followed but then it split into three. So we stopped as did all behind us and then Latrael appeared. We explained what had happened so then he radioed ahead then led us up the right path so we then could join back up again.

We had the occasional stop for a drink or the use of the outdoor toilet, i.e. find a bush. Also there was a breakdown so the guys had to get the toolkit and repair one of the vehicles which took about twenty minutes.  At one point Jerimiah told us we were halfway and that if we thought the first part had been dusty we hadn't seen anything yet. He was right. As we continued most of the time there was just dust everywhere. Trying to see where the vehicle ahead was pretty much impossible but it also meant you couldn't see what you were driving towards or on as well. Here the windscreen proved both good and bad. It meant we didn't get hit in the face with the dust like everybody else but then it became dusty meaning it made it even worse to see.

Eventually after a long while we made it to our destination, the Knik Glacier.

Knik Glacier

Ice ice baby

Beast

It's gripped, it's sorted, let's offroad

All the various parties

Jerimiah cooking

We ate lunch. Jerimiah cooked some salmon quesadillas for anyone who wanted them. There were other tour parties there as well. At one point there were three gunshots just behind us. Initially we thought someone was trying to scare off some wildlife, i.e. bear, but eventually came to the conclusion someone shot one of the icebergs to try and break some of it off, as you do! One bloke got in the lake wearing just shorts for a photo shoot. Someone else fell in the lake in all their clothing. What a bunch of characters.

Jeremiah then gave us a talk about the glacier and processes behind what we could see. It turns out there were actually seven glaciers visible from where we were. This led to him talking about silt the glaciers form and the danger it poses down stream in mud flats. He told us some urban myths about a woman being stuck and a helicopter being sent to get her. They dropped a rope and she tied around her waist. As they pulled her up her legs were stuck so much that it pulled her apart at the knees and she bled to death hanging from the bottom of the helicopter. Total bollocks. Although when people get stuck they often drown as the river has a bore.

His next story was true about serial killer Robert Hansen Robert Hansen - Wikipedia

Eventually when the stories ran out we turned and headed for home. At one point Jerimiah filmed us crossing a river. We are the third vehicle back not including Latrael on the quad. I had to cut the video length as it was too big for the website. 

All in all we covered 50 miles there and back and got covered in shite. It was great.

Once back at base we removed all the wet gear and then took the minivan back to Anchorage.

We then walked back to the apartment passing a large outside yoga happening.

Yogas

Once back we thought about what we were going to do for dinner. I suggested getting something delivered. To do this we needed to know the zip code for where we are staying. Ann said it was on her phone. Cue twenty minutes of unsuccessfully looking for her phone. Eventually we rang 49th State Motors using my phone. They rang back ten minutes later saying they had located the phone in their little shop where we had been buying t shirts before leaving. Unfortunately they are not doing the pick up run to Anchorage tomorrow which meant they could have brought it down to us. We are hiring a car for the day tomorrow, so now we will have to head back up there before doing tomorrow's stuff. The other pity is Ann filmed most of the day on her phone which means I can't use it in the blog! She is now asleep. What's new I hear you ask!

States visited - 2

Gunshots heard - 3

Phones lost - 1