Alaska 2000 - Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks

This is 'the' bear that chased Tim in Denali.

The highlight for the Van Hammond family in 2000 was our two-week camping trip to Alaska, where Tim’s Dad and Toni were spending there first summer of retirement. The boys had quite the education in wildlife, geography, and keeping entertained while riding in a big red truck. “Hau, Hau, Hau” were the words expressed each time any of the boys (the big ones too) saw a “dually” truck (one like their Grandpa really wanted to be driving!). In Denali Park we saw moose, elk, dall sheep, fox, ptarmigans, hares, and a few more grizzly bears than Tim wanted to.

One of the first questions Erik asked was, “How do we know when it is time to go to bed when it is always morning!” The long daylight hours made it easier to see the sights with a more relaxed schedule. Still, we almost missed “Mountain McKinley”, which is what the boys called the tallest mountain in North America. Luckily, the day before we left Denali Park the sky cleared up and we got to see the AWESOME earth formation. Later in the trip we actually saw Mt. McKinley from Anchorage, which is 258 miles away. Can you imagine seeing a mountain in Chicago while standing in Appleton??

We took a train from Denali to Fairbanks on which the boys were more interested in playing with their Hot Wheels down the aisle of the passenger car, than viewing the scenery outside the train. Can’t say they didn’t enjoy the ride!! We got to touch the Alaskan Pipeline, stop at North Pole to see Santa and his reindeer, see salmon spawning in Valdez, and take a boat tour in Seward. On the boat tour we saw a humpback whale, otters, puffins, common mur (like little penguins), sea lions, dolphins, jellyfish, and lots of sea gulls (just like in Wisconsin). Along our tour in Alaska, we also saw a couple swans, eagles, beavers, numerous beautiful flowers (at least Toni and Roxanne did), many high mountains, and quite a few glaciers. Our Christmas photo was taken at Exit Glacier near Seward, which was one of our favorite because we could walk right up to it and touch the blue ice. It was a MOST interesting trip for the entire family.