Did you know? Alaska is nearly three times the size of Texas!
The many spots around the state draw in countless visitors who travel in the summer. With vast wilderness and landscapes, Alaska summer travel allows visitors to explore towering glaciers and pristine forests.
Reaching every spot the state has to offer is no easy feat, so many, like Kari, use different ways to travel.
Winter Wardrobes in Summertime
Beating the summer heat was an easy ask for Kari’s family, so the group planned an early August reunion. Kari’s adventures started abroad: A Princess Cruise set sail from Vancouver and voyaged north toward Alaska. Shipped along the West Coast, the family saw Glacier Bay in Juneau and ended up in College Fjords along the state’s southern coast.
“Going into my closet and pulling out winter clothes in August was strange,” Kari said. “I was in my coat almost the entire trip.”
Hitting the Road
After the cruise, the family changed gears and traveled by road. The gang rented two vans and drove 2.5 hours from Anchorage to the port city of Seward. Spending three days in Seward, Kari’s mom Linda said Kenai Fjords National Park was her favorite part. The family saw sea otters, seals, and whales off the peninsula.
At this point in the summer vacation, Kari traveled by sea and road. The last way to travel across Alaska was by air!
Reaching New Heights
Everyone packed into the vans leaving Seward and drove four hours north to Talkeetna, a former gold mining town. Traveling roughly two hours north to Denali, the family flew on a 10-passenger sightseeing plane to Mt. Denali and landed on a glacier.
“Mt. Denali was my favorite part of the trip by far,” Kari said. “Flying on a small plane and landing on a glacier was scary at the time, but I would do the ride all over again.”
After two weeks, the family reunion had wrapped up.
Everyone flew their separate ways home, and Kari returned to Reston safe and sound with timeless memories.