My, how time flies.
First off, the collection of about 200 photos can be found here. This is not nearly all the photos I took, but some of the best and most relevant.
An overview. on May 14th, Mom and I hopped on the train in Boston, and took it to NY. There we visited with my grandparents for a bit, and stayed the night at their place. We got up early the next morning and hopped on another train to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I've been on that ride before, at least as far as Buffalo. From there we went a different route than the Lakeshore goes. We went through Niagara Falls, stopping at Niagara Falls, NY, and then Niagara Falls, ON. Border crossing was simple; we had our passports. We did see the mist from the Falls as we crossed the river, so that was sweet! We got into Torono aroudn 7:30, I think, and then had to find our way to the hostel we had reservations at. Well, unbeknownst to us, they had changed our reservations to a different building. They'd sent the email less than 24 hours before, as I found out later, so I never got it, because I'd been travelling all day. Fortunately, I had the phone number, and we called them when we couldn't find the ride, and they came to pick us up. In the end, I wouldn't recommend that hostel to anyone. It wasn't a terrible pleasant experience. Oh, while we were walking aroud, some guy asked us if we had a loony...neither one of us knew what it meant, so we just said no.
The next day was Saturday, and it was a rainy day. Mom and I walked around Toronto a bit. We checked our luggage in the VIA Rail Station (Union Station) and then did some exploring. We went out to Toronto Island, on Lake Ontario, and it ended up raining so hard that my umbrella became utterly useless. So we took the ferry back to the mainland...oh, some observations. The CN Tower completely dwarfs all the other skyscrapers in the city! What an impressive building! Back in Toronto, we wandered aroudn some more, got some dinner, rode the subways, and then waited in Union Station for our train to leave.
We got on the train, and would be on it for the next...3 days. We got on around 10pm. Of course we got out whenever we could, in places like Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and other smaller stops where we had a little extra time and could go walk around. Sitting on a train for 3 days...that took a toll on my legs and body! I was so excited to get out every time we could, I'd just walk...the entire time. Sometimes run. but I had to use that to my advantage. Oh, and our train was 26 cars long, which is about a half mile, and we never saw the end of it. Not until Hornepayne, Ontario, where I got out and walked to the end of the train and back, so that I could take a picture of the end of the train. It's one of those things i can't explain well, but it was an impressively long train!
So the ride was beautiful. Winnipeg was a windy city. Saskatoon just has a cool name. It snowed in Edmonton, and all the way to Jasper from there. The prairie is gorgeous, just as it is in the States. We met some really fun and interesting people aboard that train. I made some friends...at least for the train ride...and played games with them and just talked. They were all about my age, and some heading home for the summer while others were heading to the Yukon to work for the summer. I asked them what a "loony" was, to which they replied "wait, where are you from?" They were surprised I was American! They did tell me that a loony is what they call the dollar coin, because it has a picture of a loonon it. We saw lots of bears, and some caribou toward Jasper. We also got a glimpse of what we'd see on the train the next day (Wednesday) as we started our journey through the Canadian Rockies.
In Jasper, Alberta, it was Tuesday the...19th...when we got there. We stayed overnight there. But we got there in the early afternoon, so we checked into our hotel, took showers, and then went exploring. We went to a small museum about the history of Jasper and the area, which was very interesting, and worth the 4.25 we each paid to get in! We went downtown, too. Well, downtown was maybe 1 kilometre long, with two roads parallel to each other. That was about it. The train station and RR tracks were across the street. Very hard to get lost, and if you do need a map, you probably shouldn't be let out of your house alone! We ate dinner at a local pizza place, and the food was delicious. Oh shoot! I realized that we never did get Poutine while we were in Canada! Bummer. I'll have to make some. Anyway, the next day was WEdnesday May 20th, and our train did not leave until about 12:30 or so. A guy from the hotel came and drove us to the station, even though it wasn't far at all, but with our luggage we didn't want to walk it. We checked our luggage, then found out that our train to Prince Rupert, British Columbia made an overnight stop in Prince George. So we called a bed and breakfast and were fortunate enough to be able to make a reservation there, and they'd even pick us up at the train station. We walked around the town some more during the morning, but didn't really discover anything new, as we'd covered it all the afternoon before! Oh that's another thing. The daylight hours were ridiculously long there! We'd noticed that as we'd travelled north across the continent, but we noticed it more, what with staying in a hotel and all. It was great!
When we left Jasper, the ride through the rest of the Rockies was beautiful. Nothing else like it on earth, I think. I thought our Rockies in Colorado and Utah were pretty...but they don't even come close to the grandeur of the Canadian ones. Wow. They were mostly still snow-covered, and beautiful! We saw a lot more wildlife on that day, Wednesday. We got into Prince George a bit late, but our b&b dude was still there waiting for us. He drove us a ways out of town, we thought (though found out later we were still in P. George!), to where his home was. There, his wife greeted us and got us settled in. We socialized with them for a bit, but went to bed early as we had another early morning. And again, we went to bed before the sun. And got up a short while after the sun. Had a delicious breakfast, and were on our way again.
The ride from P George to P Rupert was another beautiful and enjoyable ride. We made friends with the service Manager, so we got a tour of the back two cars of the train, which were first class. There were only two people in 1st class, but he still couldn't technically let us back there to enjoy the lounge car and the park car. Our train was much shorter this time, with only one engine, a baggage car, a coach, and the lounge and park cars. OH! I forgot to say that before we got into P. George, we got to go retrieve some stuff from the baggage car. can't say I've ever done that before!
Our arrival in Prince Rupert was for about 8:30pm, if I remember correctly. We were running ahead of schedule, and as soon as that was announced, another announcement was made saying to scratch the last one, because we had to wait for a freight train! We ended up waiting upwards of an hour for it to come, and when it did, Mom counted the cars. Moun (our service manager, which is equivalent to a conductor in the US) gave a prize to the person who got thenumber of cars right. In the end, everyone got something. He was a great service manager, and handed out freebies left and right! We finally arrived in PR and got to our hostel. Yep, we stayed at another one, and had a much better experience at this one. The people there were so nice and so friendly!
We had a few days in PR, but saw everything in abot a day and a half. Yeah, we got there Thursday evening and left Monday morning. Anyway, we saw lots of totem poles, went into a fascinating museum, enjoyed the waterfront, saw tons of bald eagles, and made some new friends in the local branch! We did go to church on Sunday, at a branch with about 30 people. Funny story...I knew one of the missionaries serving in the branch! We were one of the same classes at BYU my freshman year. So that was pretty cool! That night, we went over to the BP's house and had dinner with his family. We went on an eagle hunt, too, down by the docks. So good to make new friends! I love this church!
Monday morning, the....shoot, I lost track. hang on, let me check. Monday the 25th of May, Mom and I got on the ferry to go to Alaska. Whittier, to be exact. We wouldn't arrive there until Thursday morning. Yes, we like to take our time to travel...you see so much more! :D Anyway, going through the border was again simple, what with our passports and all. The only thing I didn't udnerstand was why they had to ask why we were coming to the United States...maybe because I LIVE HERE?!?!? Gawsh! Anyway, we departed right on schedule, at 7:15am. We made stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Yakutat along the journey to Whittier. We met some fun people aboard the ferry too. It was a great journey, though mostly overcast. We saw whales, Mom saw an orca, and the views were beautiful. Lots of mountains through the Inside Passage. And once out on the Gulf of Alaska, we didn't see land for a while, so that was pretty great. The water was uncharacteristically calm!
Whittier. We got there on the 28th, and James picked us up from the docks. We had an enjoyable day traipsing around the Kenai peninsula and Seward and such. we saw tons of glaciers, James gave us the same tour info that he gives his guests, and it was great. i wasn't feeling too well that day, so we took it easy, but had a wonderful day just the same. We took an easy hike up to the toe of Exit Glacier, where I got to stand on a glacier! It was huge, but really...this one was a small one! Geology all around! :) We also went to the Alaska Sea Life Museum... where I got a student discount, and when I showed my ID, the guy told me he went to BYUI and the other guy working there goes to BYU. Small world! Slash a ton of BYU/I kids go up to Alaska to work in the summers, so it wasn't too surprising. Eventually, we went back to Anchorage, and to our hotel. Another minor fiasco, but it ended up working out.
Anchorage was cool. We were there Friday and Saturday, the 29th and 30th. The 29th, James didn't have to work until 8pm, so we got to spend the day with him again. We walked around town and saw the sights there, set up a tour the next day to go see Portage Glacier, and then went to Earthquake Park. You could see there where part of the earth just slid into Cook Inlet back in the 1964 earthquake. It was pretty intense. Saturday, Mom and I took the Portage Glacier Tour. It was about 7 hours in total, so it took up a good chunk of the day. It was AMAZING! We got to see the glacier calve! And see that picture in the post below this one, the picture I stole from the internet? That's actually Portage Glacier, and I've been there now! I have lots of pictures :) We got up pretty close (well, relatively) to the glacier. It really was amazing. Put this on your bucket list: see and hear a glacier calving. It's nothing like anything you've ever seen before. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We ate at a pub downtown, which had DELICIOUS food. Then we caught the last bus back to our hotel, and had a pretty entertaining bus driver!
The next day, Sunday the 31st, Mom and I took the train up to Denali. In passing, I saw a bus driver I know from BYU who was in one of my freshman classes. Didn't get to talk to him, but still cool to see him. We got on the train and got to ride the Princess cars. Lunch on there was pretty good. We didn't see Denali (Mt. McKinley), because it was cloudy and overcast. That was typical of the majority of our trip, actually. Anyway, we got to Denali, and had yet another hotel fiasco. We ended up switching hotels, and got a hostel. It was set up like a campsite, along a creek. Cabins, tents, and a central house with bathrooms and kitchens. We saw a moose and her baby walking in front of our door! It was so cute! Also, they offered a shuttle to and from Denali National Park and Preserve.
Our time there was fantastic! I would've liked hiking more, but Mom was a bit limited with her arthritis. It was enjoyable nonetheless. We saw tons of wildlife- bears, moose, Dall sheep, mosquitos, ptarmigan, snowshoe hares, red squirrels, ground squirrels, wolves (actually, we saw that one on the Kenai peninsula, not in Denali), no salmon, and some funny people. Actually, the guy at our hostel who checked us in was the life of the show...he was a character, and hilarious! We took a tour into the park 66miles....we actually did it twice, and it turned out that going a second time was great, because the first time we went was overcast. The second time we went it was clear as a bell, and we saw Denali so clear! That mountain is HUGE! I can't even describe how it feels to see that landmark before you. It's grandeur is unfathomed if you've never seen it. I realized yesterday that in the last few months, I've been to the lowest point on the continent, and I've seen the highest point on the continent. What an amazing year 2009 has been so far! We really did enjoy our time in Denali, though I was glad to be heading home when we did. 3 weeks is a long vacation! Someone just pointed out to me that "the best vacation is when you have fun, but you're also glad to be home." How true that is! Anyway, Denali was fantastic. Alaska is not like any other place I've ever seen, and is indescribable. I've told pretty much everyone this, but...if you ever get the chance to go to Alaska, for whatever reason, GO! Don't turn it down!!!
We took the train back down to Anchorage on June 4th. Another great ride, and we DID get to see Denali briefly this time from the train. Friday the 5th we flew from Anchorage to Seattle, and Seattle to JFK. I sat in the middle on both flights. :( And our flight was delayed from Seattle to JFK, so we didn't get to Nana's and John's until about midnight! We stayed up until about 1am talking to them about the trip, and more the next morning, which was Saturday the 6th. We took the train home that day, getting into Boston right around 5:30. I stopped at the grocery store to get my schedule for this week, but they hadn't scheduled me. Oh well. Gives me time to catch up on other projects before EFY begins, which I leave for in a week.
All in all, the trip was fabulous! I'll post some pictures here soon, though I have the link above to my facebook pitures. My mom updated her blog while a couple times while we were in Canada, so you can look at that too if you want. I think I'll probably bring my laptop to Virginia with me during EFY, though I haven't decided. if I do, I may be able to update on the weekends, but not very frequently. If not, I'll only be gone about 3 1/2 weeks again before I get back. And it'll be 3 weeks of EFY. I'm so excited for it!!! I love EFY!
First off, the collection of about 200 photos can be found here. This is not nearly all the photos I took, but some of the best and most relevant.
An overview. on May 14th, Mom and I hopped on the train in Boston, and took it to NY. There we visited with my grandparents for a bit, and stayed the night at their place. We got up early the next morning and hopped on another train to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I've been on that ride before, at least as far as Buffalo. From there we went a different route than the Lakeshore goes. We went through Niagara Falls, stopping at Niagara Falls, NY, and then Niagara Falls, ON. Border crossing was simple; we had our passports. We did see the mist from the Falls as we crossed the river, so that was sweet! We got into Torono aroudn 7:30, I think, and then had to find our way to the hostel we had reservations at. Well, unbeknownst to us, they had changed our reservations to a different building. They'd sent the email less than 24 hours before, as I found out later, so I never got it, because I'd been travelling all day. Fortunately, I had the phone number, and we called them when we couldn't find the ride, and they came to pick us up. In the end, I wouldn't recommend that hostel to anyone. It wasn't a terrible pleasant experience. Oh, while we were walking aroud, some guy asked us if we had a loony...neither one of us knew what it meant, so we just said no.
The next day was Saturday, and it was a rainy day. Mom and I walked around Toronto a bit. We checked our luggage in the VIA Rail Station (Union Station) and then did some exploring. We went out to Toronto Island, on Lake Ontario, and it ended up raining so hard that my umbrella became utterly useless. So we took the ferry back to the mainland...oh, some observations. The CN Tower completely dwarfs all the other skyscrapers in the city! What an impressive building! Back in Toronto, we wandered aroudn some more, got some dinner, rode the subways, and then waited in Union Station for our train to leave.
We got on the train, and would be on it for the next...3 days. We got on around 10pm. Of course we got out whenever we could, in places like Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and other smaller stops where we had a little extra time and could go walk around. Sitting on a train for 3 days...that took a toll on my legs and body! I was so excited to get out every time we could, I'd just walk...the entire time. Sometimes run. but I had to use that to my advantage. Oh, and our train was 26 cars long, which is about a half mile, and we never saw the end of it. Not until Hornepayne, Ontario, where I got out and walked to the end of the train and back, so that I could take a picture of the end of the train. It's one of those things i can't explain well, but it was an impressively long train!
So the ride was beautiful. Winnipeg was a windy city. Saskatoon just has a cool name. It snowed in Edmonton, and all the way to Jasper from there. The prairie is gorgeous, just as it is in the States. We met some really fun and interesting people aboard that train. I made some friends...at least for the train ride...and played games with them and just talked. They were all about my age, and some heading home for the summer while others were heading to the Yukon to work for the summer. I asked them what a "loony" was, to which they replied "wait, where are you from?" They were surprised I was American! They did tell me that a loony is what they call the dollar coin, because it has a picture of a loonon it. We saw lots of bears, and some caribou toward Jasper. We also got a glimpse of what we'd see on the train the next day (Wednesday) as we started our journey through the Canadian Rockies.
In Jasper, Alberta, it was Tuesday the...19th...when we got there. We stayed overnight there. But we got there in the early afternoon, so we checked into our hotel, took showers, and then went exploring. We went to a small museum about the history of Jasper and the area, which was very interesting, and worth the 4.25 we each paid to get in! We went downtown, too. Well, downtown was maybe 1 kilometre long, with two roads parallel to each other. That was about it. The train station and RR tracks were across the street. Very hard to get lost, and if you do need a map, you probably shouldn't be let out of your house alone! We ate dinner at a local pizza place, and the food was delicious. Oh shoot! I realized that we never did get Poutine while we were in Canada! Bummer. I'll have to make some. Anyway, the next day was WEdnesday May 20th, and our train did not leave until about 12:30 or so. A guy from the hotel came and drove us to the station, even though it wasn't far at all, but with our luggage we didn't want to walk it. We checked our luggage, then found out that our train to Prince Rupert, British Columbia made an overnight stop in Prince George. So we called a bed and breakfast and were fortunate enough to be able to make a reservation there, and they'd even pick us up at the train station. We walked around the town some more during the morning, but didn't really discover anything new, as we'd covered it all the afternoon before! Oh that's another thing. The daylight hours were ridiculously long there! We'd noticed that as we'd travelled north across the continent, but we noticed it more, what with staying in a hotel and all. It was great!
When we left Jasper, the ride through the rest of the Rockies was beautiful. Nothing else like it on earth, I think. I thought our Rockies in Colorado and Utah were pretty...but they don't even come close to the grandeur of the Canadian ones. Wow. They were mostly still snow-covered, and beautiful! We saw a lot more wildlife on that day, Wednesday. We got into Prince George a bit late, but our b&b dude was still there waiting for us. He drove us a ways out of town, we thought (though found out later we were still in P. George!), to where his home was. There, his wife greeted us and got us settled in. We socialized with them for a bit, but went to bed early as we had another early morning. And again, we went to bed before the sun. And got up a short while after the sun. Had a delicious breakfast, and were on our way again.
The ride from P George to P Rupert was another beautiful and enjoyable ride. We made friends with the service Manager, so we got a tour of the back two cars of the train, which were first class. There were only two people in 1st class, but he still couldn't technically let us back there to enjoy the lounge car and the park car. Our train was much shorter this time, with only one engine, a baggage car, a coach, and the lounge and park cars. OH! I forgot to say that before we got into P. George, we got to go retrieve some stuff from the baggage car. can't say I've ever done that before!
Our arrival in Prince Rupert was for about 8:30pm, if I remember correctly. We were running ahead of schedule, and as soon as that was announced, another announcement was made saying to scratch the last one, because we had to wait for a freight train! We ended up waiting upwards of an hour for it to come, and when it did, Mom counted the cars. Moun (our service manager, which is equivalent to a conductor in the US) gave a prize to the person who got thenumber of cars right. In the end, everyone got something. He was a great service manager, and handed out freebies left and right! We finally arrived in PR and got to our hostel. Yep, we stayed at another one, and had a much better experience at this one. The people there were so nice and so friendly!
We had a few days in PR, but saw everything in abot a day and a half. Yeah, we got there Thursday evening and left Monday morning. Anyway, we saw lots of totem poles, went into a fascinating museum, enjoyed the waterfront, saw tons of bald eagles, and made some new friends in the local branch! We did go to church on Sunday, at a branch with about 30 people. Funny story...I knew one of the missionaries serving in the branch! We were one of the same classes at BYU my freshman year. So that was pretty cool! That night, we went over to the BP's house and had dinner with his family. We went on an eagle hunt, too, down by the docks. So good to make new friends! I love this church!
Monday morning, the....shoot, I lost track. hang on, let me check. Monday the 25th of May, Mom and I got on the ferry to go to Alaska. Whittier, to be exact. We wouldn't arrive there until Thursday morning. Yes, we like to take our time to travel...you see so much more! :D Anyway, going through the border was again simple, what with our passports and all. The only thing I didn't udnerstand was why they had to ask why we were coming to the United States...maybe because I LIVE HERE?!?!? Gawsh! Anyway, we departed right on schedule, at 7:15am. We made stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Yakutat along the journey to Whittier. We met some fun people aboard the ferry too. It was a great journey, though mostly overcast. We saw whales, Mom saw an orca, and the views were beautiful. Lots of mountains through the Inside Passage. And once out on the Gulf of Alaska, we didn't see land for a while, so that was pretty great. The water was uncharacteristically calm!
Whittier. We got there on the 28th, and James picked us up from the docks. We had an enjoyable day traipsing around the Kenai peninsula and Seward and such. we saw tons of glaciers, James gave us the same tour info that he gives his guests, and it was great. i wasn't feeling too well that day, so we took it easy, but had a wonderful day just the same. We took an easy hike up to the toe of Exit Glacier, where I got to stand on a glacier! It was huge, but really...this one was a small one! Geology all around! :) We also went to the Alaska Sea Life Museum... where I got a student discount, and when I showed my ID, the guy told me he went to BYUI and the other guy working there goes to BYU. Small world! Slash a ton of BYU/I kids go up to Alaska to work in the summers, so it wasn't too surprising. Eventually, we went back to Anchorage, and to our hotel. Another minor fiasco, but it ended up working out.
Anchorage was cool. We were there Friday and Saturday, the 29th and 30th. The 29th, James didn't have to work until 8pm, so we got to spend the day with him again. We walked around town and saw the sights there, set up a tour the next day to go see Portage Glacier, and then went to Earthquake Park. You could see there where part of the earth just slid into Cook Inlet back in the 1964 earthquake. It was pretty intense. Saturday, Mom and I took the Portage Glacier Tour. It was about 7 hours in total, so it took up a good chunk of the day. It was AMAZING! We got to see the glacier calve! And see that picture in the post below this one, the picture I stole from the internet? That's actually Portage Glacier, and I've been there now! I have lots of pictures :) We got up pretty close (well, relatively) to the glacier. It really was amazing. Put this on your bucket list: see and hear a glacier calving. It's nothing like anything you've ever seen before. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We ate at a pub downtown, which had DELICIOUS food. Then we caught the last bus back to our hotel, and had a pretty entertaining bus driver!
The next day, Sunday the 31st, Mom and I took the train up to Denali. In passing, I saw a bus driver I know from BYU who was in one of my freshman classes. Didn't get to talk to him, but still cool to see him. We got on the train and got to ride the Princess cars. Lunch on there was pretty good. We didn't see Denali (Mt. McKinley), because it was cloudy and overcast. That was typical of the majority of our trip, actually. Anyway, we got to Denali, and had yet another hotel fiasco. We ended up switching hotels, and got a hostel. It was set up like a campsite, along a creek. Cabins, tents, and a central house with bathrooms and kitchens. We saw a moose and her baby walking in front of our door! It was so cute! Also, they offered a shuttle to and from Denali National Park and Preserve.
Our time there was fantastic! I would've liked hiking more, but Mom was a bit limited with her arthritis. It was enjoyable nonetheless. We saw tons of wildlife- bears, moose, Dall sheep, mosquitos, ptarmigan, snowshoe hares, red squirrels, ground squirrels, wolves (actually, we saw that one on the Kenai peninsula, not in Denali), no salmon, and some funny people. Actually, the guy at our hostel who checked us in was the life of the show...he was a character, and hilarious! We took a tour into the park 66miles....we actually did it twice, and it turned out that going a second time was great, because the first time we went was overcast. The second time we went it was clear as a bell, and we saw Denali so clear! That mountain is HUGE! I can't even describe how it feels to see that landmark before you. It's grandeur is unfathomed if you've never seen it. I realized yesterday that in the last few months, I've been to the lowest point on the continent, and I've seen the highest point on the continent. What an amazing year 2009 has been so far! We really did enjoy our time in Denali, though I was glad to be heading home when we did. 3 weeks is a long vacation! Someone just pointed out to me that "the best vacation is when you have fun, but you're also glad to be home." How true that is! Anyway, Denali was fantastic. Alaska is not like any other place I've ever seen, and is indescribable. I've told pretty much everyone this, but...if you ever get the chance to go to Alaska, for whatever reason, GO! Don't turn it down!!!
We took the train back down to Anchorage on June 4th. Another great ride, and we DID get to see Denali briefly this time from the train. Friday the 5th we flew from Anchorage to Seattle, and Seattle to JFK. I sat in the middle on both flights. :( And our flight was delayed from Seattle to JFK, so we didn't get to Nana's and John's until about midnight! We stayed up until about 1am talking to them about the trip, and more the next morning, which was Saturday the 6th. We took the train home that day, getting into Boston right around 5:30. I stopped at the grocery store to get my schedule for this week, but they hadn't scheduled me. Oh well. Gives me time to catch up on other projects before EFY begins, which I leave for in a week.
All in all, the trip was fabulous! I'll post some pictures here soon, though I have the link above to my facebook pitures. My mom updated her blog while a couple times while we were in Canada, so you can look at that too if you want. I think I'll probably bring my laptop to Virginia with me during EFY, though I haven't decided. if I do, I may be able to update on the weekends, but not very frequently. If not, I'll only be gone about 3 1/2 weeks again before I get back. And it'll be 3 weeks of EFY. I'm so excited for it!!! I love EFY!
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