We finally did it! We've been looking forward to riding the Alaska Railroad train to Seward, Alaska since we first decided we were coming to Alaska (3 years ago!). We woke up at 4am to make our 6:45am train. (Ty was a little confused because it was still dark out, and he was promised that he would be going on a train when it was light out.) Ty was really excited and got to wear a train engineer's hat that Grandpa Flansburgh got him. We finally got aboard the train at about 6:15 and finally started moving at 6:45. It was a really fun way to travel - a lot more room to move around than any other form of travel, plus no car seats or seat belts! However, it kind of backfired because that's all Ty wanted to do the entire ride: MOVE! It was exhausting, but also really nice to see all the scenery that you can't see otherwise because only the trains go through all the back country. Ultimately, though, he fell asleep (after screaming for about 10 minutes). But, he fell asleep with his body on the bottom of the chair and his legs standing on the floor. When I tried to move him he just whined, so I left him!
It took about 4 hours and we finally arrived to Seward. We met up with Dane's brother, Dustin and his girlfriend, Ashley. (They didn't want to ride the train because by car it's about 2 1/2 hours and not so "touristy.") We ate lunch at a nice restaurant, Christo's, (I had a salmon quesadilla - delicious) and then went to the Alaska SeaLife Center which was set up after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill to help rescue wildlife sea animals and also educate people about them. It was really fun and neat to see so many animals I've never seen (for instance, sea lions are HUGE!). Ty got to run around (some more) and Libby loved looking at all of the fish and animals. She was in the stroller and would go from one exhibit to another clapping her hands in approval!
After we were done there, we found a really fun playground in town and just let the kids get off all their energy there. It was a great place to relax while letting the kids run off some steam. Finally, we sent the kids home with Dustin and Ashley so that Dane, his dad, and I could enjoy the relaxing train ride back, sans children!
It was so beautiful. We saw 3 or 4 glaciers, numerous mountains and waterfalls, a black bear, moose, and more scenery than you can shake a fist at! I definitely recommend doing this at least once in your life!
When we got home, Ashley had done a great job babysitting the kids - they had slept most of the way home in the car, but she and Dustin got pizza for dinner and fed them, and then tired them out again so that when we got home we could just put them to bed! It was great! (I mention mainly Ashley, because Dustin was asleep on the couch when we got home, tired from all the driving I guess.) It was a beautiful day that I'll remember for a long time.
This is the route (in black) that took us from Anchorage to Seward.
More information on Seward: http://www.sewardak.org/history.htm
More information on the Alaska Railroad: http://www.akrr.com/arrc119.html
2 comments:
What a great trip within a trip!
You recommend shaking your fist at the scenery at least once in your life?
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