We had to get out of school early for this trip (I think failed my biology final because of it)
Alaska Trip June 1999
Nathan Steffenson with
Family- Jean (mom), Greg (dad), Matt (younger brother), and Chris (youngest
brother)
6-3-99
We got up at 7am (4am AK) in
Onamia, MN. We got to the airport about 10 am (7 am AK). We checked in our
Luggage and waited to board the plane. We got on the plane at 11:30 am (8:30 am
AK). It took off at 12pm(9am AK).
We watched videos and movies on the cramped 5-hour flight.
We also had a small lunch.
(Everything in Alaska Time
now)
2:08pm When we got off the
plane we were greeted by a stuffed grizzly bear and a stuffed polar bear. 2:30pm
We got our luggage and got on a van to the RV rental place. We stayed there
about 2 hours. 5pm Then we drove the RV to Fred Meyer,
a superstore, where we bought groceries and a few other items.
7-8pm we ate at Pizza Hut.
After pizza hut we drove to
Wasilla and shopped at (9:00pm) Wal-mart got fishing licenses and net, and lawn
chair. 10pm we camped at Willow Creed State Park.
Friday
6-4-99
Got up, had cereal in RV. I
looked at willow creek and tried to take a picture. I wasn’t successful but my mom was.
there were many people
fishing from shore,
Later we went to ship creek
and had sandwiches. The rest of the
family fished.
After ship creek we went to
Talkeetna. We stopped at a view of
Mt. McKinley
We got on the plane to tour
Mount McKinley (Denali). Once we got close to Denali my dad noticed something
dripping from the left wing. The
pilot, Dave, said, “We’re leaking fuel.”
He immediately turned around going over a mountain peak. It got kind of
bumpy on the way back, but we landed safely. We got half our money back and free
hats for our troubles.
That night we slept in a
private campground in Talkeetna.
Saturday
6-5-1999
We drove to Denali State
Park. There we hiked to a waterfall
and got a good view of Denali. We camped there.
Sunday
6-6-1999
We drove to Denali National
Park. We stopped at the visitors’ center.
Then we went to Savage Campground, a campground that originally started
in the 1920’s. There we attended
a presentation of people that lived in the Alaska area in the near to distant
past. The park naturalist told a
story of “Great Raven”. It was
about how Denali was formed. We slept at the campground.
Monday
6-7-99
We went on a hike to
Horseshoe Lake from the park’s hotel with a naturalist that lasted over 2
hours. The naturalist tried to
explain everything along the way, but I didn’t get much out of it.
We ate a quick lunch and
went to the sled dog demonstration. They use sled dogs instead of snowmobiles in
the park during the winter. They say sled dogs don’t brake down as much. The
dogs are called Alaskan huskies, a mix of breeds.
After
we watched the dog demo we dumped the waste out of the RV, and went to a town
near the park. We got some ice cream and bought T-shirts and postcards.
Tuesday
6-8-1999
I got up at 6:15am.
Got on a bus at 6:45. We
stopped for just about every animal on the way to Eilson Visitors Center on the
other end of the Park (about 60 miles from the main visitors center which we
visited on our fist day there).
We saw ptarmigan, moose,
caribou, snowshoe hares, brown bears, a wolf, a fox, and sheep on the bus trip.
Some brown bears (mother
& cub) came very close to the visitors’ center. Everyone had to stay
inside while they were near.
After the bears went away,
we went hiking/climbing up a small mountain. Later, went on a short-guided hike.
Then we caught a bus going back on the long gravel road.
Wednesday
6-9-1999
We left Denali National
Park, and drove to Fairbanks. 
In Fairbanks we went on a
riverboat. We saw a plane take off and land safely on a 300 ft runway by the
river. We also saw many different types of houses and more sled dogs.
At a remake of Chena village, they informed us how Athebaskin people
lived when they traded with other people (whites). They had reindeer, dogs, fur
coats and log cabins with sod.
After the boat trip we ate
at Subway. After subway we visited with Terry Roloff and her daughter Marie
Sorenson. I emailed people from there.
We camped in their driveway.
Thursday
6-10-1999
We had breakfast at Terry
and Marie’s.
Then we went to the
University of Alaska museum. There was a presentation of aurora (northern
lights). It explained it was electricity caused by solar winds.
We also watched a demonstration on Eskimo Olympics. Ear pull, and high
kicks were just some of the activities demonstrated. After the demonstration, we
toured the museum, which shows history and science that deals with the area.
Next
we went to gold Dredge #8 where we learned some of the history if mining in the
area. The tour showed how the machine scooped and sorted the rocks and separated
the gold. Before and after the tour we got to pan for some gold of our own. We
each got a few specs.
Afterwards we went to Chena
Lake recreation Area Near North Pole, AK. After
we ate supper, the rest of the family swam in the cold water. Later we camped.
Friday
6-11-99
Some of us went to a Santa
Clause shop at North Pole, Alaska while the rest of us went to put gasoline and
water into the RV.
Afterwards
we drove to Delta Junction. We
stopped at the department of fish and game for a little bit, then we went to
Clear Water State Park campground. There
I went on a short jog. I also wrote in this journal and we camped there.
Saturday
6-12-99
We drove to Anchorage, a
long drive. We saw Forest fires, moose and caribou. We stopped, got gas, and then ate at McDonalds.
Later we drove to Chugach National Forest Near Portage glacier. That is
where we camped that night
Sunday
6-13-99
We went to the Chugach
National Forest Visitors Center. We
watched a movie on glaciers. I also
learned that Chugach is the second largest National Forest.
Kenai-cloudy
and rainy
After we left the
Visitor’s center we went to the Russian River Ferry Parking lot for a ½ hour.
Then we went to Nenilchick and stayed right next to Cook Inlet (Pacific Ocean)
and Nenilchic River. Others did fishing. It was a high tide when we got there.
Monday
6-14-1999
It’s
low tide people are clamming. Later
we went to Soldotna and visited their library. They had computers, but no
network. They had one with dial –up Internet access. Time limit was one hour.
We went back to the Russian
River and stayed there for the night.
Tuesday
6-15-1999
Through the city of Kenai.
We went to Captain Cook State Park.
Wednesday
6-16-1999
Went to pool, showered and
swam. Then we went to homer, and
camped on the spit.
Thursday
6-17-99
We went on a boat trip to
Seldovia. We went by Gull Island, 60 ft Island, and Yukon Island.
At Seldovia we walked around and stopped at a few shops. I saw 3 golden
eagles outside while my mom was at the art gallery. A crow was chasing one.
We ate at the Buzz Café. We
had black bean chili. We stayed at Seldovia about one and a half hours.
Once we were back in Homer,
we had supper then watched a dance at the Pier One Theater.
Friday
6-18-99
Back
to Russian River for a while. I
went for a short jog through the parking lot.
Later we drove to Seward. We
camped at a parking lot with an ocean view.
Saturday
6-19-99
We
visited Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.
I took a lot of pictures. Next
we went to Kenai Fjords National Park Visitors Center in Seward. Then we visited shops, a bakery and a library that had 3
dial-up Internet computers.
Later we went to Trail River
Campground and stayed there for a night.
Sunday
6-20-99
Put RV on train to Whittier,
a small junky town with a couple of big buildings.
We stayed there for one night.
Monday
6-21-99
Cloudy Summer Solstice.
2:40-9:40pm: We went on a
ferry, over Prince William Sound, to Cordova.
I saw a 
whale in the
distance.
There were scenes of
mountains and glaciers throughout the ferry ride. I had black bean soup in the
restaurant. We saw seals laying on
the buoys as we arrived in Cordova. In
Cordova we camped at Camper Park.
Tuesday
6-22-99
Went to museum, library, did
some emailing. We Drove to Sharadon
Glacier. Later, we drove to a
boardwalk. We walked on the
boardwalk. Then we went to child’s glacier. We hiked (Walked on snow) to and
from the million-dollar bridge. The
bridge was built in 1910 to get to the copper mines. It broke when there was an
earthquake. It has minor 
repairs
to allow a small vehicle or pedestrian to cross.
Chris and Matt played on a
tall pile of snow.
We watched and listened to
chunks fall from the glacier.
We camped in the area.
Wednesday
6-23-99
I’m writing in this
Journal. We went hiking on Pipeline
Trail. We went back to Cordova and drove around. We camped at Camper Park.
Thursday
6-24-99
Went swimming in the pool.
Had pizza.
Friday
6-25-99
Went to bike rental place
and no one helped me get a bike. We
walked to the library looked at a newspaper.
We went on the ferry to Valdez. We saw a whale on the ride.
Saturday
6-26-99
Valdez
Went to museum
T
ook
a bus tour of Alyeska Oil Terminal Through Valdez tours.
Berth 1 floating berth made in Japan.
We Watched “Boom Town”,
a comical play on the history of Valdez. We got to use kazoos.
Sunday
6-27-99
Went Kayaking in bay near
Valdez
Looked at model of Valdez
before the earthquake, the old town.
We Drove to Blue Berry Lake
Recreation Area and camped, went on hike.
Monday
6-28-99
Stopped by Werthington
Glacier. Ate Lunch with a view of the Copper River. Went to Copper Center- has a museum roadhouse garage and post
office.
Camped at King for a Day on
Kultina River.
Tuesday
6-29-99
Drove from Copper Center to
Glenn Allan to Chugach State Park, stopping for gas twice and Greg lost the gas
cap.
-Eclatic Lake
Wednesday
6-30-1999
Dropped RV off – it got a
broken windshield on the way there. 
Toured Downtown Anchorage.
While eating a hotdog bought
on the sidewalk, we watched and listened to the Air Force Band. They were from
Tennessee stationed in Alaska.
After that we went to the
Public Lands Visitors Center. We
took a walking tour that lasted about an hour.
The Guide gave us the history of the area.
Afterwards we visited Ship
Creek. We saw big King Salmon.
Later we went back to the visitors’ center and to gift shops near by.
Then we went out of downtown to pizza hut, and later we went bowling.
Next we went tour Tiny hotel
room at Chelsie Inn. It had on bed
and we stayed there for the night.
Thursday 7-1-1999
9am-
We got on our Alaska Airlines flight.
We saw Prince William Sound from the plane.
We had Breakfast right away- Eggs, sausage, hash browns, and a muffin. We
received three beverages on the flight.
1:50pm Arrived in Seattle.
Went to Taco Bell
Bought Post Cards
4:00pm Got on NWA flight to
Minneapolis DC-10
Videos
1 drink
Chicken
burrito, rice roll, milk, cookies.
Cloudy.
That Night--Arrived in
Minneapolis, hot.
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