Hey MUSHERS!

I am jealous - we went to Alaska last year alone. I mean, yeah, there were a few hundred others on the ship, but no one from this great group!

You will love Alaska - it is gorgeous. Looks like Europe with all the ice covered mountains. I would definitely recommend a land tour as part of your trip. There is so much to see in Alaska, that no matter what, you will not cover it all in one trip.

Land Ideas are:

- a few days to go up to see Denali - it takes about 8 hours to drive there from Anchorage, basically a full day to go into the park, and then another day to drive back to Anchorage. We didn't have time to do it.

- Take a wildfile viewing boat tour out of Seward for the day. We missed this and I want to go back. Highly recommended boat tours that go up to the shoreline to view wildlife and sealife and glaciers. Called Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Tours or something like that.

- Take a small plane flightseeing tour up along the side of Mt. Mckinley or over the top. FANTASTIC VIEWS! You can get these from Anchorage or Talkeetna. This was one of the most exciting things I have done.

- Take the College glacier veiwing boat out on Prince William Sound. Can't remember the name of the boat but it is the best one and you see almost all of the college fjord glaciers up close.

- Victoria is a beautiful British style city. Lots of B's and B's, flower baskets, shopping and dining. Vancouver Island itself is worth a week's visit. Very beautiful. Let me know if you want more info on it.

Ngaire,

Yes, it is Captain Larry that runs the whale watching tours in Juneau. Only takes about 20 people on his high speed boat - really fun when he goes full throttle to get from place to place fast. Then he cuts the engines when he finds whales. You can go out on the open deck on the back of the boat and up to the top deck for viewing. It was a blast. I also did not get any pics - too difficult with a digital camera.

Ginny

PS I can find specific info on some of this stuff if anyone wants it.