Living in California had its benefits, chief among them was access to unique regional attractions, and relatively cheap flights around the greater Pacific Ocean area. A while back, Cory and I decided that we would try to save money to give our parents each a vacation as a general thank you, for well... not screwing up too badly I guess.
Fortunately, in August of 2018, Cory and I were in a position to complete one of these trips. My mother, Wanda, has been saying for as long as I can remember, that her dream vacation would be to go to Alaska; and we decided that we should do it now when we had little real adulting to do.
We invited my mom out to California to stay with us for a little while. She was in California both before and after the planned trip to Alaska, kind of book ending the trip. Growing up on the east coast of the U.S.A. we always dreamed of going to far flung places like California and Alaska, but somehow never really believed we would get there.
The trip almost never came to fruition though. A week before mom was supposed to arrive in California, I started to feel terrible. I went to hospital and was diagnosed with laryngitis. Cory was all concerned about whether we should go, given the state I was in. I felt like a giant bruise and I could not talk, my vocal cords were so soar, and I had a sinus infection to boot. But I decided we were going to do this, we had made all the plans and I was not going to disappoint my momma.
When mom arrived in California, there was about 4 days until our flight to Alaska. Again I did not want to hold my mom back from experiencing as much as she could while she was staying with us. So we took mom to Malibu and El Matador Beach where the water has eroded the coast and has left natural arches along the shore line. We took her to Hollywood Blvd, to see the Chinese Theater, famous impressions in cement, the walk of fame, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and then she was almost abducted by King Kong. We then went to the Griffith Observatory, to see the Hollywood sign and to go in. Unfortunately the observatory was filled to capacity and we were not able to.
When we got to Alaska several days later, I still felt like a wart and still could not speak. But the landscape was stunning. We landed in Anchorage, got our rental car and made our way to the Seward Military Resort, a resort for military service members and veterans to relax and recuperate. Seward is a neat little town, it is a fishing village and resort town near/in the Kenai Fjords National Park. While in Seward we took a short hike up to Exit Glacier, a trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where were guaranteed to see native Alaskan animals, and we traveled to Whittier, Alaska where the only way in or out of town is through a narrow railroad tunnel. The railroad tunnel operates on 15 minute intervals of car traffic towards Whittier, train, car traffic away from Whittier, and then a train, one way direction of travel at a time. Cory was a bit unnerved by the tunnel, he felt as though he was on the wrong end of a Looney Toons railroad tunnel gag.
Possibly our best experience in Seward, AK was the amazing Kenai Fjords tour. The tour took us by small yacht around the Kenai Fjords, to the Aialak Glacier, to other glaciers, and around coastal isles and inlets where sea lions, seals, puffins and other sea birds hung about. We saw for a brief moment the hump of a humpback whale, we witnessed a gull feeding frenzy and we were able to photograph numerous Orca during the tour.
While in Seward we got some limited 3-4 day fishing licenses and tried our luck fishing. Needless to say we did not have very much luck. We tried fishing the way the Seward Resort employees suggested for 2 days. They suggested snagging with a large treble hook, by quote "casting at a school of fish, and then ripping through the water with the treble hook" physically trying to snag a fish. First problem we should have gone with a guide, second problem we could not see through the water to see a school of fish, third problem it is really tiring and leaves you really soar. Cory did manage to snag a Silver Salmon by sheer dumb luck, though. Finally, Cory decided we would go to the Kenai River, near Cooper Landing, west of Moose Pass, AK, where Cory could fish, "like he knew how to fish." We had slightly better luck at this attempt, Cory caught a large rainbow trout and a post spawning, mutated, Sockeye Salmon. Regardless, our fishing attempts did not lead to any large hall, we really should have gone with a guide. Other guests of the Seward Military Resort would come back with ten fish a person, it seemed. Oh well maybe next time we will be more intelligent and hire a fish finder.
While we were all having fun, I still felt like death. Luckily we found a pretty good restaurant in Seward with a very compassionate staff and a breakfast of biscuits and gravy so good, I think I got it every time I went in. The restaurant was called the Gold Rush something or other. On our first visit, I motioned to the menu, physically speechless, and the waiter asked if I was alright. Cory explained why I couldn't talk, and immediately the waiter came back with a hot water, lemon and honey concoction that immediately soothed my soar vocal cords and larynx. We kept going back for breakfast and dinner for several days after that, just for this treatment, which seemed to be the only real relief I could get.
After our lack luster fishing experience, we decided we would venture up to Denali National Park to see if we could find some wildlife to admire and for me to photograph. The peak of Mt. Denali, on a clear day, can be seen from Anchorage, six hours south. Mt. Denali, is the third highest peak in the world's "seven summits" and the tallest in North America. On the way north and at the southern peak viewing area we were able to see Mt. Denali in its full glory as it was a clear day and the peak was visible. Mt. Denali's peak is often concealed by clouds. Near our cabin at Denali Perch Resort, there was a pizza restaurant Panorama Pizza Pub, where apparently high schoolers and college students from Washington State and elsewhere come to work for the summer. In the restaurant we noticed that there were dollar bills all around the walls with messages on them from visitors. We decided, why not, and posted one of our own.
While in Denali National Park, we saw several species of wildlife including porcupine, grizzly bear, dall sheep, reindeer and moose. On the way back to our cabin, at dusk, I noticed a large object breaking the wood line on the left hand side of the road, I immediately recognized what it was and in a low scratchy voice I screamed, MOOOOSE! Cory slammed on the breaks just before hitting the calf trailing its mother across the road. That was the first word I had really said in over a month.
Next we made our way back to Anchorage preparing for our flight back to California. In Anchorage we found a flyer for a traditional Russian village and the oldest Russian Orthodox Church in the area. I am glad we decided to go check it out, I had no idea, but Cory informed us that some of the earliest Europeans that came to Alaska were the Russians and that the United States actually bought Alaska from the Russian Empire. The cemetery around the church consisted of little houses, to shelter the graves and coffins of the departed, this was kind of neat in a weird way.
Still in Anchorage, we found an Alaskan Native Cultural Center, where we were able to meet Alaskan natives, see some native architectural examples, watch cultural dances, and see the production of traditional tools and clothing. Then we went to a Natural History Museum, where we learned about the evolutionary history of Alaska, dinosaurs and Ice Ace peoples. On our last day we took a walk along Cook Inlet near Anchorage, found a monument to the British explorer Captain Cook who "discovered" Alaska, walked along the shore and found a local park for mom to swing and slide and have fun.
Upon our return to California, mom still had about six or so days left with us. Though Cory had to return to work, he did have a three day weekend during this time and we decided to make the best of it. We were able to experience iconic rides at Disney Land, become a part of the Wizarding World at Univsersal Studios Hollywood, get photoshopped into our favorite Harry Potter scenes and see some iconic movie props at Warner Brother Studios, get beamed up on board the USS Enterprise at Paramount Studios, and see where the end of the world begins at the closest intersection of the San Andreas Fault.
In the end I hope mom had fun, we tried to do everything, but that is impossible. Just hope she knows how much I love her and appreciate all the effort she put into raising me. I know I was difficult.
P.S. I was not fully able to talk again for another two weeks after mom left. Cory says, this should have been a good experience for me, because, supposedly, we get more things done when, "I just listen to him."
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