I teach English in New Hampshire.  That’s almost as far away from Denali as you can get, and I am a city person.  I don’t enjoy trips with bugs, and loud people.  I’m a fan of calm, collected, organized trips.  Needless to say, coming to Alaska may not have been the best trip for my 50^th Anniversary.  Never the less the trip was spectacular, buggy or not I would not have changed one thing.  My husband loved it, we got to briefly see Denali and the park’s animals were spectacular.  It was similar to my home, but the people were so different!  They even used weird words such as “Relax, slow-down, just go with it.”  It was refreshing!  Getting away from the city lights, and even just other personal vehicles was great.  It re-connected my husband, and me and let us enjoy the slow-going days of our youth.

Once I got over the stillness of the cabins, I finally relaxed.  At first the slightest noise made me uneasy without the once comforting sounds of human beings, but I quickly learned the sounds of nature were better than sirens and headlights.  We spent 4 days in the Denali Backcountry Lodge.  We took trips to Wonder Lake, and took hikes across the tundra.  I loved it!  I took lots of pictures, and now my classes back home want to come visit too!

Weather is unpredictable.  It’s a cure of the modern world; we can plan for everything except the changing winds.  We try to predict whether or not the weekend will be clear and sunny, or hazy, or rainy, but the truth is that we have a very limited view on weather patterns.  For instance, today started out clear, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.  It was only supposed to hit 65 degrees out.  The day was predicted to take a down turn around noon, when a colder front from the ocean would come in and create clouds, and a little rain.  Did this happen?  No, it didn’t.  It’s 2 PM and there are still no clouds in the sky and it’s a balmy 70 degrees. Keep Reading…

I’ve been all over the world. The beautiful hills of Southern China, the packed cities of Japan, the eloquent landscape of France, the thrill of Australia. None of these places can compare with Alaska. I know some of you may be skeptical, but please, bear with me. I’m the sort of person who loves to travel. I like to really get into what the locals are doing. In Tokyo, it was walking …everywhere. In France I ate, and I mean I really ate, not the sudden scarfing down of food we do in America. When I was in Ireland, I drank and I shopped, while those may not be as local as you think, you’d be surprised. Of course, I did all those landmark things too. Zip-lines in Australia, castles in Germany, lots of museums, and most obviously, I made funny faces at the guards standing at Buckingham Palace. Keep Reading…

The saying goes that if you don’t like the weather in Alaska, wait 5 minutes and check again.  Nothing could be truer.  With all the massive mountains, deep valleys and rugged coast (bordering two oceans), Alaska’s weather can be predictably unpredictable.

Sometimes we get cold weather from Canada; sometimes we get a warm front off Mexico.  Other times Russia throws us a ball. Keep Reading…