Vacation for me is about slowing down. It’s about feeling life again. This summer, we discovered Alaska.
Thank you Russia, for giving it away for 2 cents an acre to US. It was the 49th state, and like the saying goes – “save the best for the last,” Alaska truly is. It is state unlike any other. The people who live there did not just end up there, they chose to live there for they were worthy of it. Living in Alaska is not everyone’s cup of tea. There is something in the wild Alaskan air that draws fiercely independent and almost eccentric folks to its shores. Why else would teachers from NC and students from CA move to Alaska during the summer to drive buses and be tour guides. These folks travel to Alaska not to escape life, but so that life does not escape them.
Imagine wilderness without any fast food chains, major restaurants and a single road going in and out of cities. The whole state is an open playground for both kids and grown ups alike. The 20 hour day frees its residents from the clock and they make the best of the midnight sun to climb mountains, dive into oceans or just sit and marvel at the beauty of Mt. McKinley.
Join me today as I relive the magnificence of the state. While most people take the cruise, we decided to forego the cruise; instead we did something much better.. we took every mode of transportation possible. It was “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” at its best and we added boats, ATV too.
We start off with a trip on the Alaskan Railroad. Not sure of what to expect, the kids and I think grown ups too had their own doubts, however once we boarded the train, we were all in a happy zone. It’s a treat and a ride on the Alaskan railroad is a must. 
As we travelled from Anchorage to Seward, we were beginning to see why Alaska attracts 1.5 million visitors annually.
After a 4 hour journey, the shores of Seward welcomed us with clear blue skies.
From the Seward Harbor, we set sail on the Kenai Fjords Cruise – a 6 hour boat ride to experience the raw unbridled frigid waters of Alaska.
Through out the entire vacation, I could not get over the skies of Alaska. They created magical wisps of air that I had never seen before and even better than that was seeing a smack of Jelly fish right next to the boat. Nothing that I write can do justice to this experience. To see these invertebrates up close alive and swimming in an open ocean was surreal.
PC: Ansh Verma
And then this – I am sure you know this one; but wait, its not the Orca. These are Porpoise – their cousin the Dolphin is more famous. But the Porpoise are just as friendly. As soon as the captain saw them, he asked us to make more noise. The rails of the boat were being beaten by the frozen palms of excited audience and the Porpoise excitedly showed off.
PC: Ansh Verma
And then the boat sped towards the final attraction – the glaciers.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
As we head back, everyone was still in a trance and scanning the pictures they had clicked when the captain announced Humpbacks.. and off we all jumped to get a glimpse of this beautiful mammal and we were in for a treat.
After the cruise, we took the Park Connection bus back to Anchorage. As the bus made its way back through the one way road, I could not help but marvel at the raw beauty of this magnificence state. I had seen whales before too, however to see them agains the majestic mountains and glaciers is an experience to be experienced.
It is true, everything about Alaska is larger than life. From Mt McKinley at 20,320 feet, its’ the highest peak in North America to the glaciers that are bigger than countries, days that never end and nights that never start, Alaska had given us a glimpse of its unpolished humongous beauty. The basic human instincts to explore was alive and we all were experiencing life again.
Tomorrow we take a ride with an Iditarod Dog Musher and then fly around Mt. Mckinley to land on a glacier. Stay tuned.