Travel Smart With Jodie – Page 40 – Travel suggestions and tips

Ten tips to a smoother trip

Even veteran travelers forget something or are so busy getting everything done before leaving town that it’s a relief to just get into the car or a taxi to the airport. Then come the oops…forgot to stop the papers and oh no, not more road construction.

Here are ten travel tips to avoid hassles that may sound obvious until one of the should-haves pops up:

1. Packing list Making a list is not enough. Check things off when packing the suitcase or car then take the list with you to check off when leaving a resort or town. Anyone who thinks the second check-off isn’t necessary hasn’t left chargers plugged into hotel outlets, slippers under a bed or a wet bathing suit out on a balcony chair -yet.

2. What-not bag Throw in a First Aid Kit, blister-style Band-aids, sewing kit and nightlight. Add a small sound machine-alarm clock to drown out hotel noise and ease worries of late wake-up calls.

3. Sun protection Don’t wait to pick up what you want when you arrive. That arm stuck out the car window can burn. The shop may not have the greaseless sun-block you like and you may stop to sightsee on the way. Bring an extra pair of sunglasses. Throw in a hat to protect the scalp.

4. Charge Take care of those tech tools ahead of time then remember to bring chargers and extra batteries. Frustration is a missed call or photo op.

5. Map it GPS is helpful but it isn’t always right. A recent experience was only funny when the GPS wandered off the highway to cut across farm fields because we already knew the roads we were supposed to take. In addition, you might ask it for the shortest route but learn while driving it that it is not the quickest way or the most scenic. So think about your route ahead of time and bring a map.

Plan ahead for fewer hassles. All photos by Jodie Jacobs

6. Check travel info websites See below for some state department of transportation websites to learn about road construction so that another route can be taken or more time allowed. If flying, check the flight time because your weather might be clear but the plane’s origination point might have problems.

7. Communicate Give someone the destination name, address and phone and your mobile phone number. Life happens. Need we say more?

8. Divide cards Split up the credit/ATM cards and money. If one wallet or card is stolen a companion will have the means to continue the vacation while the stolen cards are cancelled. Speaking of which, keep a list of credit card numbers and where to call in a separate place from the cards.

9. Car packing Put an insulated food bag into the fridge or freezer overnight to keep beverages or food that will go into the car colder, longer. Also put cold water bottles in the fridge ahead of time. Don’t forget the fridge stuff – really, it happens. Take packaged wet towel wipes, hand sanitizer, tissues and trash bag.

10. Car issues Have the tires, oil and brakes checked ahead of time to avoid problems on the trip.

Print out this tip sheet to have handy for future vacations. Have a safe trip.

Check road conditions ahead of time by going online to the Department of Transportation of the state where you will be driving. Here are the sites for some Midwest states:

For open road travel check state sites for construction

• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Wisconsin

Airline Contact Information

Weather, more weather info

Midwest weather

Coming up: Border crossing to Canada

Danali the high mountain

Maybe it was the time of year we went to Alaska – late may to early June, but we were lucky enough to see Denali, “the high one” as it is known in the native Athabascan language, four days straight.

The deck of our lodge was perfect for a double, informative view of Mt. Mckinley — The deck of our lodge was perfect for a double view of Mt. Mckinley, real and on an info board

Denali, which most people know as Mt. McKinley, is 20,320 feet above sea level. At that height, tallest in North America, it could be excused if it did have its head in the clouds.

To put it in some perspective, the world’s highest mountain above sea level, Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, is 29,029. Kilimanjaro, the summit of Africa, is 19,334 ft.

But even if we had not seen the mountain in its sun reflecting glory, just taking a bus tour of Denali National Park would have made the trip to the park worthwhile.

First designated as Mt. McKinely National Park in 1917, the park is a haven for Dall sheep, moose, grizzlies, caribou, birds and plants. Aside from the park life, Mt. Mckinley is part of the 600 mile long Alaska Range which provides plenty of backdrop scenery.

We stayed in two lodges, the first one just outside Denali National Park and the second one inside the park. Both were owned by Princess.

We left the area at Talkeetna to board a train to Anchorage and our return flight home. But Talkeetna is more than a railroad stop. The town, about 100 miles from Denali National Park’s entrance, is home to the Talkeetna Ranger Station. Everyone who plans to climb Mt. McKinley must check in at the ranger station for a permit and orientation.

Our party toasted our Alaskan vacation with Denali as a backdrop

We were lucky to see Mt. Mckinley four days without its head in the clouds

Tips

If in Talkeetna, go to the ranger station on B Street even if not mountain climbing. Pinpoints on a map on the wall show where current climbers are. When we stopped in there were several expeditions on their way up or down the mountain judging by all the pinpoints. Rangers at the station are happy to talk about climbing or visiting the park. The town is also a fun place to browse shops and stop for refreshment.

Check out Alaska Railroad as a way to tour the state.

Now it’s all aboard for our trip home.

Coming Next: Travel tips to take some of the hassle out of summer driving trips

All photos (c) toJodie Jacobs (JJ)

Alaska by land

Alaska, land and sea, are two shiny sides of the same valuable coin. If at all possible, try to fit in both. The thought that someday you can go back and do the other portion is almost as good as saying someday I’ll look younger.

After crossing Prince William Sound our land adventure began at the Princess Wilderness Lodge at Copper River.

Again, we chose Princess because the cruise line has lodges in Alaska so we didn’t have to make separate arrangements. However, a traveler can find other accommodations in the area because of its terrific fishing location at the junction of the Copper and Klutina Rivers.

The lodge is also about four miles from Wrangell-St.Elias National Park’s visitor center. Good mountain photography views abound, just take the bear warning signs seriously if hiking park or lodge trails.

The view from the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitors Center — The view from the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park Visitors Center

While boating the rivers in the area we saw bears and eagles competing for salmon. Our salmon dinner was pretty good though we didn’t fish. We just enjoyed the action and scenery.

Bears, eagles and other birds compete for salmon along the Copper River and its tributaries

Fishing setups are a common sight on the Copper and the Klutina tributary

Coming Next: Denali

Haines and College Fjord are off the beaten path

Haines

Our ship stopped at Haines, an off-the-beaten-path town that is home to the Chilkat Indians, Fort William H. Seward and down the road from the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

Now a historic site, Fort Seward has shops, restaurants and an Indian crafts center

Decommissioned in 1947 and named a historic landmark in 1972, Fort Seward now has shops, restaurants, private homes and an Indian heritage center.

Located on the Lynn Canal, the Haines area is known for its forests, fishing and scenic beauty.

More about Haines

College Fjord

You might not expect to find Harvard, Amhurst and Yale this far northwest. But when the 1899 Harriman Expedition came upon a fjord filled with glaciers tucked into the northern part of Prince William Sound, the group decided to name them after Eastern US colleges. Harvard is distinctive for its face about 1.5 miles across.

As a fjord, the area is not as wide a watery expanse as Glacier Bay but its long, narrow confines is home to several glaciers. There are about five each of good-sized valley and tidewater glaciers and about an other six smaller glaciers. The fjord is perfect for photo-album snaps.

College Fjord is perfect for snapping glaciers for the trip album

Several glaciers ring College Fjord at Prince William Sound west of Valdez

We crossed Prince William Sound to Whittier to start our land adventure.

Tips: Try to book an excursion that includes Sitka. A beautiful town that still maintains its Tlingit Indian and Russian heritages, Sitka is on the western side of Baranof Island. Our ship stayed to the Inside Passage, thus skipping Sitka.

Coming Next: Alaska by land

Skagway and Glacier Bay National Park

Skagway

If you like a sense of turning back to the end of the 19^th century and old narrow gauge rails, you’ll like Skagway. More than 20,000 gold prospectors built the town overnight and turned it into a rough and tumble “old-west” in 1898. They were on their way to make their fortunes in the Klondike.

When you disembark, walk the shops and take the White Pass & Yukon Route train for terrific scenery (not for people who avoid heights.) This is the place to buy a replica of the famed White Pass Engine if you have a train buff at home.

Glacier Bay National Park

Cruising into Glacier Bay with its nine tidewater glaciers (they empty into the bay) is unforgettable.

Put on the jacket and go on deck. You will see glaciers calving (breaking off of a chunk of ice). Listen for a roar and get the camera ready. Here you will also see icebergs and sea lions. Our ship stayed in the bay all afternoon and moved close in to the glaciers to see deep blue crevices, cracks and caves.

Our ship was able to get up close to some of the glaciers

The pieces of ice in the water is from this glacier's calving about a minute earlier

More information at Skagway

More information at Glacier Bay National Park

Taking a last look around Glacier Bay before heading to next town

Coming Next: Haines and College Fjord

Juneau, gateway to the glaciers

Imagine a short ride up the street from your state’s capital to dead end at a gigantic, year-round block of ice. As Alaska’s capital, Juneau is worth a visit, but if you have never walked or been bussed on the Columbia Ice Fields in Alberta Canada, then do so on the Juneau Icefield.

Oohs & camera clicks sound passing the Mendenhall and other glaciers on our spectacular cruise — Oohs & camera clicks sound, passing the Mendenhall and other glaciers on our spectacular cruise

You can take a “flightseeing” tour of the Icefield that includes landing on it and a lesson in how to hike the ice and information on what you are seeing. You can also get a close-up look of arguably Juneau’s most familiar name: the Mendenhall Glacier. To do a flightseeing tour arrange ahead of time with TEMSCO, a veteran Alaskan flight company.

We have walked the Columbia Ice Fields so our choice was to see Mendenhall through our ship’s tour but arrange for whale watching on our own.

Because we arrived before the main tourist season we were able to walk up to a hut on the pier and book the next boat out from Orca Enterprises with Capt. Larry. Not only did he know where to go to find pods of whales, he also knew the islands and channels where we could see eagles and other wildlife. Plus, the boat was small so we could get up close and were not part of a large group.

You have to be quick to catch whales surfacing.

An eagle watches for other eagles who land on the tiny grop of rocks — An eagle watches for other eagles who land on the tiny group of rocks

As beautiful as we heard Alaska was, we still were not prepared for so many awesome sights. And we hadn’t yet seen Glacier Bay National Park

For more info
TravelJuneau
whalewatching
TEMSCO flightseeing

Coming Next: Glacier Bay National Park

Alaska, the Inside Passage, part 1

Starting out

Flying into Vancouver, B.C. is the perfect opener to an eye-popping scenic adventure. Miles of forests, rivers, straits and mountains surround the city, whetting the appetite for the gorgeous scenery to come. To stay overnight in Vancouver, we chose a hotel on the water within walking distance of our port. But we arrived early enough to take a scenic bus tour around the city. Floatplanes constantly took off and landed outside our hotel, giving us our first idea of how important small planes are for getting around in BC and Alaska.

As host to the Olympics in early 2010, Vancouver added several hotels so finding one to meet the budget and travel style is not a problem.

Float Plane Landing Vancouver BC — Floatplanes constantly landed and took off outside our hotel

Ketchikan

Jaded travelers may say that Ketchikan, usually the first port of call, is a mere tourist trap. Maybe if a visitor spends the entire time on shore browsing the cute village shops, the person would leave with the impression the town is about shopping. We did our share of browsing but what we loved in Ketchikan was the Saxman Native Village. The town claims to have the world’s largest collection of totem poles. Many of them can be seen at Saxman, Totem Bight State Park and the Totem Heritage Center. After sitting and putting away more food that was good for us, we also liked the hike to Saxman, particularly passing trees filled with eagles and houses that had totem poles out front.

Totem poles line the Saxman Native Village entrance

Saxman should be a Ketchikan destination

Eagles take over the trees on the way to Saxman

Links For More Info:

Tourism Vancouver
Travel Alaska
Visit Ketchikan

Coming Up: Alaska, the Inside Passage, part 2

Move travel to Alaska up on the vacation destination list

You think a spectacular phenomenon such as the glaciers in Alaska will remain amazing no matter when you manage to travel there. That is unless you attend a climate change conference or the new, temporary “Climate Change” exhibit that opened at Chicago’s Field Museum June 25, 2010. After seeing in graphic detail that Greenland and the glaciers across the northern hemisphere are shrinking, going to Alaska takes on a new urgency.

Now that it’s high on the list comes the interesting part – looking at all the options that turn a good trip into a great one. The best options are the ones that fit your lifestyle.

Getting there

We were traveling with another couple so a few compromises entered the planning. The result was to take a Princess Line cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia, just over the Canadian border, to travel up the Inside Passage. Our option, booked ahead, was to leave half the passengers who were just doing the cruise, then continue on with Princess across Prince William Sound for our land portion. We chose Princess because the company has lodges in different Alaskan locations and buses to get us there so we could relax and leave the arrangements to someone else. That is not our usual style but it worked well for Alaska.

Tips:

• Book a room in Vancouver or from wherever you will be sailing the night before you leave on your cruise. Not only does this apply to Alaska, but is a good tip for taking any cruise, anywhere in the world. Weather and transportation schedules are too iffy to chance “missing the boat,” as the saying goes. In addition, towns like Vancouver are worth seeing as part of your trip.

• Consider traveling just before or just after the main tourist season. For Alaska, tourist season is summer when the mosquitoes are large and swarming and the prices are higher. The end of May into early June is a better time to go. The weather is not so cold as to hinder sightseeing and you won’t have to share the sights with hundreds of other visitors. Just add a jacket and a couple of turtleneck shirts to the suitcase.

• Speaking of packing, bring binoculars to better spot whales and other sea life and bring more than one pair of comfortable walking shoes. If you like dressing up, throw the fancy duds into the suitcase but you don’t really need to pack a tux and gown any longer. A jacket for men and cocktail dress for women will get you through the door on formal nights.

• There is not a lot of open sea time traveling to Alaska. People who want a spa treatment aboard should look at the schedule when booking the trip, then make an appointment for the treatment well in advance to get the desired time. This is true for any cruise. The same book ahead advice applies to snagging a seat for an evening splurge in the fine-dining restaurant.

Coming up next: Alaska, the Inside Passage

Welcome to Travel Smart With Jodie

Welcome to Travel Smart With Jodie, my blog about places to go, things to do and travel tips to smooth the way. Come along with me. Let’s explore!