WooHoo !! Alaska!

[mivy00]

Hey guys I just found out today my company is sending me to alaska for 4 days ...and I was able to take some vaction time and stay for the whole week!!

My question is so little time and so much to do anybody been to Alaska have any suggestions ? I will be staying around Anchorage.

[Detonate]

How awesome! That is the same way we ended up going to Australia. My wife got sent for business, but then extended the trip 1 week for vacation.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by mivy00

Hey guys I just found out today my company is sending me to alaska for 4 days ...and I was able to take some vaction time and stay for the whole week!!

My question is so little time and so much to do anybody been to Alaska have any suggestions ? I will be staying around Anchorage.

Take a drive from Anchorage down to Kenai Peninsula for sure.

Have a late dinner one evening at Top of the World Restaurant in the Anchorage Hilton. If the weather is good you can see some great views of Denali and have a great meal.

You might also want to see the Independence Mine State Historical Park. It's just a couple of hours from Anchorage.

Check out the steaks at Club Paris my favorite Anchorage eating place.

This time of year is never really dark but for an hour or less.

As you can tell I spent a lot time in Anchorage in the past.

[mivy00]

Thanks John I will look into going to these places.
Would you say Denali national park is worth the drive ?
They say its about 4 hours....Not sure I wanna make that drive with my 2yr old and 1 year old

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by mivy00

Thanks John I will look into going to these places.
Would you say Denali national park is worth the drive ?
They say its about 4 hours....Not sure I wanna make that drive with my 2yr old and 1 year old

Unless you stay near the park you are looking a 8hrs round trip back to Anchorage. I would say it's not worth it unless you stayed near the park and took one of the bus tours (I did that and then you didn't have try to drive and play tourist at the same time.

One of the driving hazarods there is, "Oh, look at that!" as you don't see the curve.

[mivy00]

Now all I need is a long lens for my 20D....know of a good place to rent one ? or maybe some nice person here would let me borrow one for the week.

[zeroendless]

Homer's Bald eagle!! All you need is 70-200 even as wide as 24-70 for portrait.

Be careful, be safe and have funs

[mivy00]

I have a 70-210 f/4
and a 70-300 Tamron marco
I guess those will work ? I thought I would need something in the 400-500mm range

[Thomas Creel]

The other side of the Kenai Peninsula, Seward, is nice too. There is Kenai Fjords National Park for whales and glaciers, Exit Glacier is an easy hike, a few nice restaurants in town, etc. Here's a link to a travelogue from our trip in 2004: http://www.creelphotography.com/A%20...f%20Alaska.htm

[Jay Henley]

wife and I are going in August on a cruise. I have not been before but have done a lot of research last couple of months. Denali may not be the best with your limited time.

I would suggest like the Thomas did of going to Seward. You could take the train which would be nice or drive to seward along "Turn Again Arm" which is suppose to be a beautiful drive. Dave K who lives in Anchorage has some great shots from that road. Just DO NOT walk down to the water where the sand is. It is like quicksand. Animals and people have sank in it and can not get out before the bore tide comes in and drowns them. We are also doing Fjords glacier tour. From what I have heard you want to make sure you do the longer tour that goes all the way up to the calving glaciers. They turn the motor off and you can hear the glacier popping and breaking. We are using Alaska Coastal Tours. Smaller boat, holds 40 people but they only book 25 so it is not crowded. There are many other companys offering tours.

Restraunts in Seward.....Rays-very good but pricey, Chinooks-almost next door and is also good, The Salmon Bake-on exit glacier rd.,good food resonably priced, Thorns Showcase Lounge-Best halibut in town, Harbor Dinner Club-locals favorite for 25yrs.,above Elks club in downtown.

I got the restraunt stuff from cruisecritic.com boards If you log in cruise critic you can go to alaska forum and find a ton of info. There is a lady on that forum called "BudgetQueen" who can answer any question you have. She would be a great one for advice for alaska and your family. If you think you have any questions for this lady and do not want to log in to cruise critic, let me know your question and will ask her for you.

[Steelsun]

Alaska is a blast - spent almost 2 weeks there and I definatly want to return.

With only a few days based in Anchorage here's what I'd suggest:

1) Kenai Peninsula - Seward- nice little towns, a great drive by the bay that has awesome tidal actions and plenty of inland waterfalls hitting it. Once you get to Seward - take a little boat tour (4 hour or so) to see the glaciers, whales, bays, etc. Also a neat aquarium there.

2) Denali - great place to go, but only really worth it if you can a) Backpack and camp or b) take a 8-12 hour bus tour of the interior. (You can't drive through the park after a few miles - only park buses allowed)

[mivy00]

Originally Posted by Jay Henley

From what I have heard you want to make sure you do the longer tour that goes all the way up to the calving glaciers. They turn the motor off and you can hear the glacier popping and breaking. We are using Alaska Coastal Tours. Smaller boat, holds 40 people but they only book 25 so it is not crowded. There are many other companys offering tours.

Hey Jay thanks for the input any reason you would suggest the boat tour you did onver this one http://www.kenaifjords.com/733.cfm their tour is about an hour and a half longer ....it is a bigger boat.... but they also have a custom tour on a smaller boat for not much more

[Steelsun]

When we did ours, it was one that stopped at Fox Island for the Salmon lunch, that was neat.

[jchooper12]

Not sure if I am supposed to do this here or not but here goes.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...essage=9872815
If this is bad to post a link to another site I will pull it.

[Jay Henley]

Very nice John. Hope to get some of those myself in August. hopefully a whale tail shot like you got.