Itinerary: 15 Day Alaskan Vacation

Looking for a two-week Alaska itinerary that doesn't include a cruise?  

Here's ours from our Alaskan Honeymoon.  This post is link-heavy - click on the links for more information about the place from either my earlier blog posts or their websites.  I hope this is helpful to at least one person out there!

Day One:

• Up at o'dark thirty to fly in to Anchorage, Alaska.  Two meals, three planes, four airports.  O'Hare was definitely my least favorite of the airports, and Madison, Seattle, and Anchorage were all nice.
• Lunch: the Wolfgang Puck Express in the Seattle Airport.
• Dinner:  Rum Runners in Anchorage (now closed).
• Hotel:  The Westmark.  I have heard it said that the only people who stay at the Westmark are people on a "tour".  I wouldn't recommend it even though I'm sure it was a wonderful hotel back in the day.  It's run down and needs a major update.
• The first five days of our honeymoon were part of a Gray Line of Alaska tour.  I am officially not a fan of "tours" after this trip, and you can learn a little bit more about my opinion here and here. 

Day Two:

• Breakfast:  Buffet at the Solstace Restaurant (on the first floor of the Westmark).  It was excellent and I don't know when I've ever eaten so much bacon.
• Bus ride to Denali National Park was about 4 hours, with potty break at a Princess lodge.  Pretty views, but a potty break stop for buses, so be careful when booking your lodge and find out about any cruise/tour line affiliation.
• Lunch:  Picked up lunch at the "cafeteria" at Denali, called the Morino Grill.  It was just chips, fruit, sandwiches, and drinks, but it was lunch!  Also, if you are staying at a lodge at the end of the park road, this is your last chance to pick up some snacks.  :-)
• The bus ride to our lodge, the Backcountry Lodge, was a 6 hour trip.  Click here for some advice about that trip.  Be prepared for some amazing scenery.

Day Three:

• All day in Denali and at the lodge!

Day Four:

• Breakfast at the lodge, then the bus ride out of the park.  What amazing scenery!
• Lunch:  Nenana View Bar & Grill - located in the McKinley Chalet  Resort.  
• Dinner was at a fish & chips place near the hotel, and it was excellent!
• Hotel:  McKinley Chalet  Resort.  Never again. 

Day Five:

• Breakfast:  We shared a foot-long sandwich at Subway.  When the ads say that prices not valid in Alaska & Hawaii, they mean it.  It was expensive!
• Lunch:  lunch at the "cafeteria" at Denali, called the Morino Grill.
• Then we hopped on the train to Fairbanks!  It was quite the experience.  
• Hotel:  Fairbanks Westmark.  Meh.  We ended up skipping dinner that night.

Day Six:

• Breakfast:  McDonald's (sometimes you just want what's easy and familiar).
• Lunch:  Pizza (made some good leftovers)
• Jeff rented vehicle from Arctic Outfitters (they allow their vehicles to go on the Dalton Highway).  That's right, the Dalton Highway.  It was the summer solstice, and we were going to be at the Arctic Circle for at Midnight!
• Dinner:  the Yukon River Camp.  They're pretty much the only thing between Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle.  Get their while their open so you can use a real toilet, gas up the car, and have a good meal.  

Day Seven:

• No hotel overnight.  Once we got back to Fairbanks around 4:30 AM, we joined others by sleeping in our vehicle in the WalMart parking lot.  
• Breakfast:  McDonald's. 
• Hotel:  Aurora Express.  Wonderful service at this little B&B!  Definitely, if you want to stay in the country, in the fresh air, in a train, stay at the Aurora Express!
• That day we also went over to North Pole to see Santa at the Santa Clause House.  
• Lupper:  the best chinese food I've ever had at the Pagoda House.

Day Eight: 

• Breakfast at Aurora Express.  There's a good chance the sausage in the omelet was made of moose.
• We checked out the Great Alaskan Bowl Company, the Farthest North Harley-Davidson Outpost, and Pioneer Park.
• Lunch:  Korean food at Pioneer Park for Jeff.  A&W for me.
• Dinner:  The Cookie Jar.
• Overnight again at Aurora Express.  Thank you Sue!  You were great and we very much enjoyed our stay!

Day Nine:

• All day train ride to anchorage w gold star package.
• Dinner:  Papa John's pizza.
• Hotel:  Anchorage Grand Hotel

Day Ten:

• Breakfast was provided by the hotel.  
• We checked out the Earthquake Experience Theatre (skip it), and The Ulu Factory (go during the week to see production.)
• Lunch:  Leftover pizza (yum!)
• Dinner:  The Bridge (BTW, they don't have anything other than seafood.) 
• Hotel:  Anchorage Grand Hotel

Day Eleven:

• Breakfast was provided by the hotel.  
• Took the train to Whittier and found out the the ferry we were supposed to take to Seward was broken.
• Lupper:  the best pizza I've ever had at Varley's Ice Cream and Pizza Parlor.  It's the only reason I would ever return to Whittier.
• Hotel:  Inn at Whittier

Day Twelve:

• Lunch:  Orca Cafe.
• We were not a fan of the glacier tour.
• Dinner:  Pizza from Varley's Ice Cream and Pizza Parlor on the train ride back to Anchorage.
• Hotel:  Anchorage Grand Hotel

Day Thirteen:

• Breakfast was provided by the hotel.  
• Alaska zoo.  We finally saw polar bears!
• Lunch:  Burger King.
• Dinner:  We had shopped at Super WalMart and made dinner at the hotel.
• Hotel:  Anchorage Grand Hotel

Day Fourteen:

• Breakfast was provided by the hotel.  
• Drove to the Seward SeaLife Center.  Puffins!
• Lunch:  Oriental Garden.  No, don't go there.
• Hotel:  Anchorage Grand Hotel.  Back to the hotel to make dinner.

Day Fifteen:

• Breakfast was provided by the hotel.  
• This day was spent stalling until late evening flight out.  We had Taco Bell for lunch, drove to Wasilla (but didn't do anything there), and saw a movie.  

It was great.  Alaska was awesome.  I'm ready to go back...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Reminder:  Please vote daily for Rhy!  See more info here!***

Update:  We have over 500 votes, but we're solidly in 6th place....  only the top 3 win $1000!  Please vote every day, 5 times each day!  Ask your friends and family to help.  You can use those buttons below to share my blog posts via e-mail, Facebook, etc, so go back to the original post and put it on your facebook page!  E-mail it to friends!  Tweet about it!  It takes a village, and we're counting on you!  If you want daily reminders to vote, just let me know!  Thank you so much!

Review: Wendy's Asiago Ranch Flatbread

Every once in a while, a restaurant comes up with a new item that I really really want to try.   The Wendys flatbread sandwich looked really good on those commercials.  Have you seen them?  Big flatbread sandwich with lots of lettuce and tomato.  Yum!

So the other week I needed to pick up something quick and get back to work.  I zipped through the drive-through,  ordered the flatbread, and hurried on back to work.

This is what I got when I opened the wrapper. ..

NEW Asiago Ranch Flatbread Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Oh, it was good-don't get me wrong.  The flavors were all there, and the flatbread had a kind of nutty quality.   But the size!  Here, I'll give you a point of reference....

Do you see me hand in that picture?   I have been told that i have small little baby hands.  And the sandwich looks way smaller than on TV!   Must be trick photography on their ads.  I mean, on the commercial it looks like the sandwich is as big as her head!

Plus, way less veggies.  And way way too much sauce.  If you look closely up there, you can see the sauce it left on the wrapper...  And it kinda sat like a lump the second time I had it.

The verdict?  Will I have it again?  Maybe, if I get a hankerin' for it.  And, to be honest, if I'm craving it, it'll probably be a craving for the flatbread, not the sandwich itself.  But it's not my new go to sandwich.  Sorry Wendy's.

***Reminder:  Please vote daily for Rhy!  See more info here!***

Update:  We are on page one for the votes, but solidly in 6th place....  only the top 3 win $1000!  Please vote every day, 5 times each day!  Ask your friends and family to help.  You can use those buttons below to share my blog posts via e-mail, Facebook, etc, so go back to the original post and put it on your facebook page!  E-mail it to friends!  Tweet about it!  It takes a village, and we're counting on you!  If you want daily reminders to vote, just let me know!  Thank you so much!

Purple Lilies

Its that time of year when I really start seeing - and wanting to see - flowers.  Well, I tried to photograph the daffodills out front of work, but no dice.

Which is why it was so nice that an employee gave Lois a pretirement* gift:  purple lilies.

check out the green outline of the flower....

*Pretirement:  the time before you retire when you DAILY remind people how many word days you have left....

***Reminder:  Please vote daily for Rhy!  See more info here!***

Update:  We are on page one for the votes, but solidly in 6th place....  only the top 3 win $1000!  Please vote every day, 5 times each day!  Ask your friends and family to help.  You can use those buttons below to share my blog posts via e-mail, Facebook, etc, so go back to the original post and put it on your facebook page!  E-mail it to friends!  Tweet about it!  It takes a village, and we're counting on you!  If you want daily reminders to vote, just let me know!  Thank you so much!

Review: the new Hawaiian Roast Beef Sandwich at Arby's

I tried the new Hawaiian Roast Beef Sandwich at Arby's.  I hadn't seen any commercials about it (but hey, we watch everything on DVR and zoom through commercials).  I saw it advertised on their sign out front.  So, I thought, "I like Hawaiian bread.  I will try that."

How was it?  Meh.  No better or worse than the regular roast beef.  Just different.  Probably more calories.  I probably won't order it again.

It does come in a fancy cardboard box, though.  See?

***Reminder:  Please vote daily for Rhy!  See more info here!***

Update:  We are on page one for the votes!  But we can't stay there without your help...  Please vote every day, 5 times!  Ask your friends and family to help.  You can use those buttons below to share my blog posts via e-mail, Facebook, etc, so go back to the original post and put it on your facebook page!  E-mail it to friends!  Tweet about it!  It takes a village, and we're counting on you!  Love you all!

Vote for Rhy to win $1000 for her Bedroom Make-Over

The State Bank of Cross Plains (our bank) has a Pin It to Win It contest going on right now.  Voting opened today for you to vote on Facebook for the home improvement projects that should win $1000!  We entered Rhy's room and hope beyond hope that she might win!

You see, Rhy (sophomore this year) is in her second year of German language classes.  Back in November she applied for the school trip to Germany this summer:  3 weeks, and 2 of those are spent with a German family going to school!  She was selected as one of the 19 going on this trip - yeah!!!  The family she is staying with has a daughter Rhy's age who is studying English, and she will stay with us in the fall for a few weeks!

That means we need two separate sleeping areas in Rhy's room.  Here's what she has right now:



stuffed animals, beads hanging from her light fixture, a moon on the wall - eclectic, just like Rhy

She's long wanted a loft in her room - we do have 11 foot ceilings after all so it would work.  If she wins this contest, we should be able to give her the room of her dreams!  A loft bed, with stairs instead of a ladder, and a loveseat-sized sofa bed underneath.  Here's some inspiration:

still with stuffed animals, but a bit more sophisitacated, with storage, stairs, and a lofted bed

So, if the spirit moves you, please log on to Facebook*, go to the State Bank of Cross Plains page, and vote for her room.  There are 5 pages of pictures, and the page Rhy's room is on will be ever-changing, because the pics are in order of most votes to least.  Just look for that picture up above with the quilt (made by Loretta) and the shelves.

In closing, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!!!

*I don't have a Facebook account, so I hope these links work!  And please, remember to vote 5 times per day EVERY DAY through May 19th!

FYI - looks like you CAN'T vote via moble device nor if you're under the age of 18 (sad face).

https://cdn.shoutlet.com/service/v2/canvas_builder/load?id=514c9e99e64a9de646000003&document=1&channel_id=16674&distro_id=515b0be9e64a9d7969000006&entry_share_token=0&pg_m369253080571070i6872d=5

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/551831760561653222/

Plus, um, not that this should convince you or anything, but being able to redo Rhy's room would really give me some new things to write about on this blog...  *eyebrow waggle*

Sugar Free Applesauce Raspberry Jell-o Salad - no, really, it's good!

Lesley at work (Hi!) gave me a recipe of a Jell-o Salad that her Mom makes for the holidays.  It involved applesauce, which I had NEVER heard of putting in to Jell-o, so I took it as a challenge and made it!

Um, she didn't give me a name for the recipe so I'ma gonna call it...

Applesauce Raspberry Jell-o Salad

Yes, descriptive.  I know.  We are a descriptive lot, my family.  After all, our pets included Kitty (later renamed Mama Kitty), Birdie, BunBun (our bunny, naturally), and Ducks (go ahead, guess).

Here's how you make it:

• Boil 2 cups of natural or sugar free applesauce.

• Add 1 large package of sugar free raspberry Jell-o.  Stir to mix it all up good.  I use a whisk because I don't have much occasion to use one, and I'm not going to pass this up!

• Add in 2 cups of cold Diet Red Pop.  I used Faygo.  I've also used Diet Cherry 7-Up, which I preferred.  Mix.  It'll get frothy, but will lose its froth as it sets.

• Mix in 2 cups of raspberries.  Fresh would most likely work, but I've used frozen (no sugar added) raspberries.  In fact, I've put the Jell-o mixture into the dish first, and then added the raspberries, but this is where I'm allowing you to get a little wild and add the berries when you want, and you could even use mixed berries!  Whatever you like!  Go wild!!!

• Now, this is the hard part:  Let the Jell-o salad set up.  Yes, yes, I know.  You want to try it.  You think, "oh, it's been two hours, it must be fine to try."  But it's not.  It really needs more time.  Give it a good 4-5 hours, or overnight even!  If you try it too soon, then it's not set up yet, and it's not tangy enough yet.

Did I mention it will be tangy?  Because it will be.

Now, did you see what I did up there?  I had you use sugar free or diet items.  This should make it lower in sugar and lower in calories.  Hopefully that makes up for the fact that I made some this morning and it's already gone.  Let's see, how many servings of fruit did I end up having today????  I swear Jeff helped eat it!

Let me know if you like it!  Or any versions that you might come up with.

Have a great day!

Jeff's chocolate birthday cake.

We're not big on birthday presents.   Or Christmas presents, either.  The first birthdays we had together, we gave gifts.  But now we pretty much just try to make sure each other has a good day.

So, for Jeff's birthday*, he wanted a chocolate cake.  In fact,  I'm pretty sure he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate with chocolate with chocolate.  And moist.

Well okay then.  Chocolate.  I can do that!

I started with...

...yep, cake mix, canned frosting, store-bought pudding, and Oreos.  Nothing says home-cookin' like starting with processed foods.  :-)

After I made the 2 round cakes (and undercooked them because I didn't realize my appointment was at 9, not 9:30, so I had to jet out of the house earlier than usual), I let them cool while I was out.

Next came the "moist" part, as well as the "chocolate with chocolate" part.

I took the Oreos and crunched them up...

...and then added the Oreo pieces to the pudding (ended up being total of 6 Oreos and 2 pudding cups).

Tasted way better than it looks...

I put all that on the first round cake, and then added the second on top.  That's right - pudding with Oreo in the middle instead of frosting.  I'm a rebel like that.

Pinterest said that by adding powdered sugar to your canned frosting and beating it will make it better.  So I tried it.

I have to disagree with you, Pinterest.  I couldn't tell the difference.

I then used a star tip and piped the chocolate icing on the cake, basically because I was all worried that my frosting job would be, well, not Birthday Worthy.  Plus I bought a Wilton Beginner set back in December and it's fun to play with them.  :-)

It looked a bit like like a tree stump, but a delicious tree stump!

When Jeff & Rhy got home, and after dinner (stupid "rules" about eating dinner before having dessert anyway!), we had Jeff's Birthday Cake!  The pudding softened the Oreo pieces, and then the pudding was basically absorbed by the cake.   It was definitely chocolaty and moist,  per Jeff's request.


*Yes, this is a Belated Birthday Cake post.