A Return Trip to Alaska Motivation
In my reading, I see several folks have made several RV trips to Alaska. You will have seen the scenery, done the tourist stuff, and satisfied your curiosity with the prior visit. If you elimina...
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My reasons are slightly different from those who grew up in Alaska or the Yukon. I first went to Alaska for my job when I was in my mid-20's and continued just going for work off and on until I was in my 50's. But, although I flew all over the state--except SE--I was too busy to "just stop and smell the roses."
I finally took my youngest son on one of those jobs when he was 16. For the first time in all those years, I did some of the "touristy things" with him--the Kenai Fjords NP boat tour, the train ride from Anchorage to Denali, the Denali Park bus trip, etc. I suddenly realized that, although I had "seen" many more parts of Alaska than any tourist ever would, for 25 years I hadn't seen it through someone's eyes who had never experienced it at all.
In 2000, I took my wife to Alaska for the first time and she loved it, despite a deluge in Juneau, cruise-ship crowds in Skagway, and mosquitos everywhere! Wildlife-filled trips to Denali and Kenai Fjords, an overnight ferry ride from Skagway to gorgeous Sitka, watching fishermen pulling 3-foot kings out of the river on Kodiak, and photographing a perfectly clear Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna more than made up for those minor annoyances.
My wife loved Alaska so much that she wanted her "retirement trip" to be an RV trip to Alaska. So, we bought our first RV just for that trip and hit the road for 3 months in 2013. We went back to some places I hadn't visited in 40 years and a couple of places I had never been--Kennecott and Chicken. And the Canada portion of the trip was just as spectacular as the Alaska portion.
Next year we are planning to spend much more time in parts of BC that we first saw on our way to Alaska in 2013. In 2016, we plan to ride the ferry back to Alaska and stop in SE Alaska wherever we want for as long as we want. Let's see now . . . that will make trip number 19 or 20 for me. And I can't wait!
I finally took my youngest son on one of those jobs when he was 16. For the first time in all those years, I did some of the "touristy things" with him--the Kenai Fjords NP boat tour, the train ride from Anchorage to Denali, the Denali Park bus trip, etc. I suddenly realized that, although I had "seen" many more parts of Alaska than any tourist ever would, for 25 years I hadn't seen it through someone's eyes who had never experienced it at all.
In 2000, I took my wife to Alaska for the first time and she loved it, despite a deluge in Juneau, cruise-ship crowds in Skagway, and mosquitos everywhere! Wildlife-filled trips to Denali and Kenai Fjords, an overnight ferry ride from Skagway to gorgeous Sitka, watching fishermen pulling 3-foot kings out of the river on Kodiak, and photographing a perfectly clear Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna more than made up for those minor annoyances.
My wife loved Alaska so much that she wanted her "retirement trip" to be an RV trip to Alaska. So, we bought our first RV just for that trip and hit the road for 3 months in 2013. We went back to some places I hadn't visited in 40 years and a couple of places I had never been--Kennecott and Chicken. And the Canada portion of the trip was just as spectacular as the Alaska portion.
Next year we are planning to spend much more time in parts of BC that we first saw on our way to Alaska in 2013. In 2016, we plan to ride the ferry back to Alaska and stop in SE Alaska wherever we want for as long as we want. Let's see now . . . that will make trip number 19 or 20 for me. And I can't wait!
