We flew from DC to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (with a transfer in Denver) on August 22, 2023.
We then spent 3 nights in Vancouver. We left from Vancouver on an Alaska cruise for 7 nights on
August 25. We headed North and stopped at Juneau, Icy Straight Point, Sitka and Skagway and passed by the Hubbard
Glacier before ending in Seward. At Seward we were supposed to continue on the same ship (and the same cabin) for
the next cruise. It would have left from Seward on September 1 for another 7 nights returning to Vancouver,
stopping by the Hubbard Glacier and stopped in Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Icy Straight Point,
and Ketchikan before returning to Vancouver.
However, the second cruise from Seward was cancelled due to problems with the ship's propulsion system. Susan
and I made a quick decision and decided to spend some time in Anchorage. We got a hotel room for 5 nights in
Anchorage, booked a flight later in the week from Anchorage to Vancouver, and rented a car. The ship let the
passengers stay as a hotel for a couple of days and once we figured out how to get from Seward to Anchorage
(we finally found out the ship was providing a shuttle) we headed out on Saturday. On Sunday we visited some
of Anchorage including the Anchorage Museum. On Monday we drove to Portage and took a Portage Glacier tour
and later on visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and saw some wild animals. On Tuesday we took a
longer drive up to the area around Denali (we went to Talkeetna) but unfortunately it was quite overcast and
we couldn't get a clear view. (We drove through Wasilla, about 45 miles north of Anchorage.)
On Wednesday we visited around Anchorage some more.
We flew back to Vancouver on Thursday and spent two more nights there before flying back to DC on Saturday.
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