I am a little sad that this is my final post on Alaska because it's been so fun blogging about the trip. I thought I needed one more post though to wrap everything up!
If you missed any of my Alaska posts, here they all are:
Some other things about Alaska:
Weather?
A lot of people have been asking me what the weather was like in Alaska. It was cool, but I never thought it was overly cold. The temperature typically got into the 50s or 60s most days. I pretty much wore jeans, a sweatshirt, and a jacket every day and would be comfortable. When you were by the glaciers, it did get a little colder (around the 30s or 40s), but I just piled on a few extra layers and was fine.
Favorite Part?
Every time someone asks me what my favorite part of the entire trip was, I always say the Hubbard Glacier. I have simply never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.
My favorite excursion that we took though was definitely the float plane!
This would be my advice if you were planning a trip to Alaska.....
Do both a land and sea portion.
I loved that we stayed a few nights on land and then did the cruise because I felt like I got to see so much of Alaska. You would miss a lot if you just did one or the other.
Do the land portion before the cruise.
The land is a lot of late nights and early mornings, and it can get pretty tiring. I enjoyed having some relaxing days on the cruise after being so busy traveling on land.
Book a shore excursion in every port!
All of the towns in Alaska are pretty small and it doesn't take that much time to walk around them. When you have a whole day in port, you might as well see as much as you can by doing excursions (plus, who knows if you'll ever get back to Alaska again?!). The float plane is an absolute must in Alaska. We also did a glacier tour, whale watching cruise, and jeep adventure. I really enjoyed all of them. If we would have had more time, I would have liked to visit a dog sled camp (apparently they let you hold baby Huskies) or a helicopter tour. We would schedule our excursion in the morning and then still had all afternoon to explore the town.
Bring a good rain jacket.
It rained more than not in Alaska. You have to be prepared because you don't want a little rain getting in the way of your tour. For the most part, the rain was tolerable. The only place it really bothered me was in Denali and the fact that we couldn't see Mount McKinley. But a waterproof jacket is a must if you want to stay dry and warm! I got a North Face one for Christmas, and it was well worth the money!
And a pair of rain boots.
I've had my rain boots for a little less than a year now, and I absolutely love them. I kept going back in forth as to whether I should bring them with me though. They're big, so I couldn't just pack them in my suitcase. I ended up bringing them, and I am SO glad I did. I wore them on the plane (and they were actually really easy to slide on and off going through TSA), and then I wore them probably about 80% of the trip. Even if it wasn't raining right when we left in the morning, there was almost always a chance of some rain, so I would wear my boots. They kept my feet dry and warm the entire time. Hunter boots are expensive (it took me a while to actually decide to spend the money on them), but honestly, it would have been worth the money to just wear these boots on this trip alone. Hunter boots are money well spent!
Alaska was the prettiest place I have traveled to so far in my life. I love the beach, and I've been swimming with dolphins in the Cayman Islands, but there is just nothing like Alaska. It's so different from anything I had ever seen before. We kept saying that it was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, but I would go back in a heartbeat. Plus I need to go back because I really want to hold one of those Husky puppies..... :)
If Alaska isn't on your bucket list, it should be. It was probably the best trip I've ever taken, and I am SO blessed that I was able to travel to Alaska!
