Thursday, September 26, 2013

Alaska - 7 day itinerary (Part 2)

Day 5 and 6 - Denali.

 
 Six million acres of wilderness and we only covered 12 miles of the park accessible by car.  



Everything pales in comparison... 


Day 7 - We drove back to Anchorage by the end of day 6. On Day 7, we spent some time visitng the local book shop, coffee shops, and took a short drive back on Seward highway with stops at Beluga point and Girdwood before catching our flight back home!




Friday, September 20, 2013

Alaska - 7 day itinerary (Part 1)

Alaska is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. The ocean, mountains, wilderness and the vastness of the place is overwhelming. Here are a few of my favorite pics from our journey to cover a small part of it in 7 days.

Day 1 - A long time back, T read about the Seward highway in 'National Geographic - Drives of a Lifetime' and that was the first time Alaska popped in the head as a possible vacation spot for this year. So when we landed in Anchorage, that was the first thing we did. The drive was magical...



We were just in time to catch the guided tour to 'Exit glacier' by the National Forest ranger at Kenai Fjords National Park. The knowledge dump from National Forest rangers was very much appreciated.


Day 2 - Exploring Alaska by rail is a whole new experience and Alaska railroad passes through places not accessible by road. Its such a wonder how they built those rail tracks along the steep mountains. The journey from Anchorage to Whittier and the glacier cruise in Whittier were lifetime experiences.


We were very lucky to see an amazing show of the Blackstone glacier calving too!


Day 3 - We stopped at Wasilla, AK  enroute Denali for an overnight halt. Hatcher Pass near Wasilla was not on our initial plan, but I am so glad we drove the scenic 12 miles and did the short hike to get panoramic views of the mountains.




Day 4 - Talkeetna has an old-time rustic charm and it was a perfect place to stop for lunch before reaching Denali. Lunch at Talkeetna Roadhouse was the best food I had in the trip!

 To be continued...

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Chimes

Happiness = A no-agenda weekend and enjoying the faint sound of the wind-chimes.



Monday, September 9, 2013

Garden Inspiration

How pretty is this?

Spotted this at a local gift shop in Denali and I had to stop-by and compliment the owner for her garden.


I am really inspired to do something like this, specially after reading Suni's email today.