We have a 3-part Alaskan adventure.  The first 7 days of the trip is a driving tour we designed with a couple of day cruises of the fjords and a train ride thrown in.  The second part of the trip is the bus/train portion of the Holland America trip we booked which starts in Fairbanks, goes to Denali NP, and ends in Whittier.  The last part of the trip is the 7-day cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam from Whittier to Vancouver.

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    Our trip starts at KCI for our flight to Fairbanks, Alaska where we pick up our rental car and drive south on the Richardson Highway to spend a night at the Denali Cabins in Paxson, AK.  The next morning we'll start our drive to Girdwood, AK along the Richardson Highway, then we'll continue on the Glenn Highway, and finally we'll drive the northern part of the Seward Highway.  Along the way we'll stop at the Wrangell-St. Elias NP Visitor Center, Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the Anchorage "Log Cabin" Visitor Center before arriving at our condo near the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood.

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   During our 3-night stay in Girdwood we'll take the 26 Glacier Catamaran Tour out of Whittier and take a 4-hour scenic train ride from Portage south to the Grandview whistle stop and back.  We'll also ride a mountain tram at Alyeska, visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage, the Prince William Sound Museum in Whittier, and the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center at Portage Lake.  On the last morning of our stay in Girdwood, we'll drive to Seward, AK.  

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   When we explore Seward, we'll be staying two nights at the Inn at Tern Lake which is about 35 miles north of Seward.  Although the Inn is not as convenient a location as a hotel in Seward, it's a must-see attraction is its own right.  The Inn is a bed and breakfast/wedding venue that has 4 beautiful bedrooms with private balconies.  The Inn has a large guest kitchen and dining area, assorted comfortable areas for rest and relaxation, and is surrounded by seriously impressive scenery.  The day before our first night at the Inn we're taking a 5-hour cruise of Resurrection Bay with a buffet dinner on Fox Island provided.  The next day we're taking the morning off and exploring the Inn.  After lunch, we'll drive back to Seward to visit the Alaska Sealife Center, the Kenai Fjord NP Visitor Center, and the Exit Glacier Nature Center.  After our second night at the Inn, we'll enjoy the homemade breakfast prepared by the Inn's chef and then head north for our trip back to Fairbanks (or close to it).

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  Our trip back to Fairbanks goes through Anchorage and then north to Denali National Park.  We'll visit the park briefly (be back here in a couple of days), and then continue north to the Northern Sky Lodge (about 35 miles from Fairbanks.  This will be our first good chance to hopefully see the Aurora Borealis.  We'll continue to Fairbanks the next day and visit Gold Dredge 8 and pan for gold.  I'll then drop Nancy off at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel with the luggage, drive to the airport to drop off the car, pick up our trip package at the tour desk, and catch a ride back to the Westmark where we are spending the night.  This marks the start of our Holland America booked land/sea tour. 

 

  The next morning, we take a river cruise in Fairbanks, and, following the cruise, a bus will take us to Denali National Park for two nights.  During our Denali stay, we have a 5–6-hour bus tour of the park.  After Denali, a 9-hour train ride on the McKinley Explorer will take us to Whittier, Alaska to board Holland America's ship the Nieuw Amsterdam starting our 7-day cruise to Vancouver.

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   On our cruise we'll see (in part from our port side room) the Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay.  Our first port is Skagway where we'll visit the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, and visit the Red Onion Saloon.  Our next port is Juneau where we'll see the Mendenhall Glacier and the Glacier Gardens and ride the Goldbelt Tram.  In Ketchikan we'll be taking a walking tour (and downtown shuttle riding) in the port area.  Lots to see without going too far from the ship. 

 

  After Ketchikan, we'll cruise the inside passage before arriving at Vancouver, BC for our flight home.