I hope you had a chance to read my previous blog about Alaska. I didn’t think I’d write again about our trip, but decided to share a few recommendations and takeaways for friends planning a similar trip. The best advice we received from my Alaskan cousin was to give ourselves time to explore. Alaska is – of course – a huge expanse of land and water, with large distances between. That is largely why we decided to concentrate on the Kenai Peninsula and proceed in a relaxing albeit active pace.

During our two weeks of travel we experienced three full-day adventures. And yes, expensive excursions at that. We decided to treat this trip as a bucket list. (We even flew home first class for the first time since being bumped up on our honeymoon in 1988!) Too, we learned that traveling in Alaska today is not cheap: high food and lodging costs to begin with; many companies struggling to hire workers. I give a huge shout out to those folks who try (or need) to cater to the “Alaskan Tourist” including those who come off as difficult. And yes, by camping and avoiding some of the excursions we took, one could travel more cheaply.

Recommended Full Day Trips

Katmai National Park Bear Viewing (see prior blog for more). We highly recommend Emerald Air for the float plane and guide services, including our guide Libby. Just know it’s a hefty cost.

Northwest Fjord (boat) Tour with Kenai Fjord Tours. This was another highlight including eight hours on the water with food provided, leaving and returning from Seward. Again, we highly recommend. We saw humpback whales, sea otters, puffins, sea lions, harbor seals, eagles and a variety of birds. The Captain/Tour guide was very good.

Water Taxi (we used Mako) to Kachemak State Wilderness Park from Homer. We chose a Glacier Trailhead drop off and arranged for pick up on the other side of the island seven hours later at Halibut Cove. Grewingk tram, glacier and lake were absolutely beautiful. Highly recommend this full day trip.

In addition to the full day trips, we took MANY hikes, including:

• North Face Trail (above the Alyeska Tram) in Girdwood
• Tonsina Trail and Point adjacent to Derby Bay near Seward
• Full day into Kenai Fiords National Park up to the Exit glacier from the Harding Icefield (and yes, the ice sheets and glaciers are melting)
• Beach walks near Anchor Point outside of Homer
• Two part-day hikes in Kenai Wildlife Refuge between Cooper Landing including Skilak Outlook and Kenai River Trail. (Yes, fireweed blooms all over and is not considered an invasive plant as it is in parts of Oregon.)
• Russian River Falls near Cooper Landing
• Eagle River Nature Center loop
• Finally, on our last full day, we drove to Hatcher pass near Palmer, investigated the the Alaskan gold mine Independence, and joined or passed hundreds of blueberry pickers as we hiked to Lower Reed Lake.

What made this trip even better were the various Alaskan friends and family we connected with. We are grateful two of our Waldorf cousins and partners live in Homer where they graciously welcomed us with both advice and relaxing dinners. I also enjoyed an impromptu visit with my colleague, Naomi, near Anchorage with whom I did in fact talk a bit about Total Worker Health. Finally, we we were hosted for dinner by my friend Nancy, a fellow Bedazzled Ink author near Palmer. We were reminded of the gift we had of time and beautiful weather.

Our Alaska Kenai Peninsula Itinerary

Night 1: Anchorage airport to Girdwood. Highly recommend staying at the Ski In. Hike the steep North Face Trail or spend the bucks on the tram ride above the Alyeska hotel, hike a bit above and grab a cold drink admiring the view up top.

Nights 2-3: Seward. Highly recommend Brown and Hawkins Historical Apartments. (We were grateful for flexibility in our schedule as our plan if due tour was canceled due to high waves, we were able to fit it in during our night at Cooper Landing).

Nights 4-8: Homer. We stayed here longer because of family ties but would still advise several nights here to do nearby day trips, fish or kayak. Highly recommend lodging at Penny Pond near Anchor Point (and owned by my cousin Wally and Carol).

Nights 9-10: Cooper Landing. we were grateful to have two nights here to accommodate driving to Seward to make up our cancelled boat fiord trip. We also were pleasantly surprised by the availability of hiking in the nearby nature reserve wildlife. We stayed in an OK but tiny cabin.

Nights 11-12: Palmer. We were glad to be so close to Anchorage flying out, but also to have time to take in this part of the state. Although on a busy road, the newly updated Palmer Motel with its very friendly staff worked well for us. Hey – they had free chocolate chip cookies and cans of beer!

Final recommendation? On route to the airport, we wandered into The Kobuk for coffee. This place reminded me of Missoula’s Butterfly Herbs. I learned this shop had once been the oldest general store in Anchorage, beginning in 1915 and with only on other owner since. A perfect final stop.

And now? I feel grateful we have both time and ability to travel. It’s a bit hard to feel okay about it given everything else happening (or not happening!) now, but we did enjoy the opportunity to finally take this time. Soon enough, I knew I’d be back to those other things that need attending to. Our Lyft driver home, a young man from Ethiopia, reminded us of our privilege. He shared how he currently supports his extended family as he has citizenship, but other family members await their papers and are afraid to seek work. This young man drives as much as he can in addition to working as a caregiver for elderly 36 hours per week. Yes, we are back.