Best Western Golden Lion Hotel Anchorage

Last September, my passion for volcanoes incited me to visit Katmai in Alaska. In June 1912, a volcano – Mount Novarupta – erupted, generating a huge amount of ash and pumice that filled the Utak valley. The place was called "The Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes" because of the countless fumaroles discovered by the first explorers.

Visiting Katmai National Park in Alaska is quite an ...

... I hate these overnight flights...)

Anchorage airport is interesting as it is a cargo jet haven. They must just stop to refuel from Asia - the cargo carriers here have been Eva Air, China Airlines, Korean Airlines, Asiana, UPS, Shanghai...none seem to empty any cargo...just park for an hour or two.

It's been a great trip...pictures will be on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmbell64/c ollections/72157622360839812/

... full so we met them at the Snow Goose which was great. We had outdoor seating with a view of Mt McKinley.

Perfect!

The next day we just bummed around for a bit and went for a walk. We flew out at 20:30 to Denver going via Dallas. We missed our connection by minutes as the plane was still at the dock but made the next flight which was 2 hours later giving us time for breakfast. We arrived into Denver at 09:30 pretty tired!

... to be totaled. Thank God they are not any worse.

We had a travel meeting at 6 p.m. since we'll be loading up and heading to Seward tomorrow. At 7, the campground sponsored a potluck cookout in the pavilion. We didn't include ourselves in the potluck, but joined the crowd for the charity auction held during the meal. There wasn't anything we were interested in bidding on. In our opinion, it was mostly junk.

The last night at Alaska. No specific schedule, just shopping, and easy short drive to the berry farm to see the chocolate fountain. Our flight was like 1:28 a.m., so we got to the airport around 10 p.m. Finally, the night fell. I was so glad to see the night. My eyes felt comfortable. No wonder we all felt sore for the eyes, the sun's been shining all day long!

... 90 on the Seward Highway which made for a nice point to stop enroute to Seward. The 4 hour whale watching tour cost $55.20 (special booking online discount was available - regularly $69) and the transportation was $70 roundtrip. They are also running a special that includes one night lodging. As this was early in the season, the shuttle was the only option available - they also have ...

... it has been cool, cloudy or overcast, and frequently rainy. The beautiful glistening mountains of my first visit have been hidden in layers of low slung clouds. All in all, the dreary weather has made people here pretty grouchy. Snow in the higher elevations on Wednesday prompted the comments of "Termination Dust" which I think means the end of summer! YIKES. I myself have wished I had left the skirt, shorts, and short sleeved tops at home and packed a ...

... a glacier- talk about huge. It was a huge glacier. Enormous- it filled the entire valley floor. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. By the time I arrived in Palmer, the skies were clearing up and blue peaked through gray clouds. The trees in Palmer began to have more leaves on them- golden and glinting in the pale fall sun. I drove right into Anchorage, around Anchorage. I stopped at Earthquake Park, drove out to Beluga ...