Day 10 - A Scenic Drive to Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site, Alaska, USA

Day 3 Alaska - Mantanuska Glacier State Recreation Site, Near Anchorage, Alaska

We packed our lunch last night so that we could be ready to go this morning. I like staying in this 2 bedroom condo unit as it was convenient for preparing good meals. After we bought some groceries, it was easy to prepare the sandwiches we needed for today.

However, by the time we were ready to go on our day trip, it was almost 10am. A little later than we had first anticipated. Well, we were on vacation, a little late or early did not matter much.

I have learned now to take it easy and the most important thing is to enjoy the time with my family. 

Where we are and what we are doing is no longer important to me.  As long as we are together and enjoying the same pleasant experience, that is what matters the most.

S. was driving while J. sitting beside him helping him to navigate.



















 I could relax and do a little bit of  writing. It was a lovely ride. 

We passed by spectacular scenery of Alaska!

Matanuska Glaciate State Recreation Site, Alaska, USA

Colourful flowers, high continuous mountain ranges covering with tall spiny trees were all along the highway.


























 The best part about renting a car was we could stop and go wherever we liked.

We made 3 stops , one at Palmers’ Wendy, for coffee and tea. 

Shortly after, we did some  souvenirs shopping at a rustic shop before heading into the glacier region.

After a couple of hours driving, we came to a State Park where we didn't see any park rangers. 

There was a Fee Station where visitors only needed to drop off their parking fee or overnight camping fee in a deposit box. There was not any state park personnel in sight. 

However, there were a few warning signs informing tourists that we were in bear country and that we needed to be cautious and know what to do when encountering a bear during our hike.  

We did come across a number of vehicles and hikers and learned about the Matanuska Glacier in this area. 

 But without wifi access or any park personnel around,  we could not find any information about the location nor directions of how to get to the glacier. 








 

After parking our car, we hiked along a trail. 

Following the trail, we could see the glacier in the distance.














We found ourselves walking in dense green forests.

 Fire weeds blooming under the Alaska summer sun. 

We were speechless as we saw the scenery of majestic mountains, dense forests, glacier and fast moving river unfolding in front of our eyes!

We wished we could explore this area more and get closer to the glacier.

 By the time we drove to the company providing guided glacier walks, it was almost 3pm, too late for us.

We decided to drive back to Anchorage as J. was meeting a friend of his in the city for coffee.

After dropping him off at the coffee shop, we went to explore a beach close to our neighborhood.

We discovered the Delong Lake Park close to where we were staying.

Delong Lake Park, a beautiful park in Anchorage, Alaska 

A beautiful beach with kids swimming and splashing in lake water while others are sailing and boating.















We met some local people who were very open and friendly chatting with us about everything.

We loved the opportunity meeting and interacting with the locals.

J. also has connected with a native person and learned more about their culture. 

It was another enjoyable day in Anchorage!

R.T.
Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site
Near Anchorage, Alaska

Day 9 - Learning Native Cultures & Visiting Traditional Houses at Alaska Native Heritage Centre, Anchorage, Alaska

Day 2 of Our Vacation in Anchorage, Alaska, USA
            A Visit to the Alasks Native Heritage Centre, Anchorage

Alaska Native Heritage Centre, Anchorage, Alaska

Colourful flags flying high on the grounds of the Centre

We slept in a little on the second day of our vacation in Anchorage. Because we bought groceries at the local supermarket, we had a proper nutritious first meal of the day with fruits, fruit juice, whole wheat toasts and all that. It was a relaxing start of the day.











Our first visit was to the Alaska Native Heritage Centre, about a half hour drive from the Anchorage Airport, where we were staying.

The Native Heritage Centre,  much bigger than I expected, offered a few interesting programs to visitors.

Demonstrations & performances are held in the Main Hall, Native Heritage Centre

After paying the admission fee, we were given a map of the Centre including a detail schedule of the programs happening during the day.

This was very helpful as we could decide ahead on which activities we wanted to see during our visit.

We watched a native games demonstration.

We could have spend the whole day at the Alaska Native Heritage Centre. But we had only 1/2 day, therefore, we chose to watch three programs in the Main Hall and and an outdoor tour on site.


1. The first demonstration we saw was the native games at the Gathering Place, the main hall in the building.

There were two gentlemen demonstrating and explaining the native games and what they were doing.

A native ball kicking game demonstration

These games have been passed on orally from generation to generation in the indigenous community.  Native people would practice very hard and go to competition to show off their athletic abilities and skills.

A native gentleman explaining the games to us as he performed

The native gentleman explained” During these game competitions, participants were not competing against each other but against themselves for their best records.

Native games demand athletic skills & abilities.

Therefore, there was no name calling or cursing your mama’s name against the other competitors.”

I really like that! No beating up on the referees because your child didn't make the cut. 

2.  The second show we watched was by two native teenagers explaining the major different native groups living in Alaska and their customs:

- Athabascan
- Yup'Ik & Cup'Ik,Inupiaq & St. Lawrence Island Yupik
- Unangax & Alutiiq ( Sugpiaq)
- Eyak, Tlingit, Haids & Tsimshian

Native dances involve mostly  hand gestures and upper body movements 

3. The third program we watched was a group of dancers and their instructor who explained the dances and the meaning of their dance movement and hand gestures.

The hand gestures tell the meaning of the song and story

When we first watched the dancing, it seemed to us that the dancers were doing repetitious movement with the feathers and fur pieces in their hands.

After the explanation, we learned about the various hand movements and the dances meant more to us.

Due to limited space in native homes, male dancers sit while performing 

One of the things I noticed was that though their were a lot of hand movements, the dancers hardly moved their feet at all.


In one dance, the male teenage dancer was sitting. We were curious and asked that question.

Most of these dances were done inside native gathering places or homes which could be small and crowded. The dancers had little room to move therefore, they had to limit their movements to their upper bodies only.

Men sometimes had to sit so that they would not block the audience’s view of the dancers behind them.

The Centre allowed time for visitors to interact with staff members

We had ample time to chat with the dancers afterwards and asked questions.

Many of the traditional native houses were built underground. 

4. The highlight of our visit was the outdoor tour of the Village Sites.

A traditional Athabascan house at the Alaska Native Heritage Centre , Anchorage

There were six life sized native houses on the Village Sites.

















Visiting these traditional dwellings was like being transported back in time in history.

The Native Heritage Centre guide was knowledgeable & humorous.  

At each site, our guide shared with us the stories of their people.


She did an excellent job explaining to us about the specific tribe's relationship to the land and how they had adapted over the centuries living in the harsh extreme northern environment.







Our guide was around senior highschool / first year college age, but she was very knowledgeable and articulated.

A proud native Alaskan, our guide was a confident and a great story teller!














We appreciated her great sense of humor and interesting stories about the life and customs of the different indigenous tribes living in the Alaska region.












Alaska is a land of many native people.

We saw all six traditional native dwellings at the Native Heritage Centre representing the eleven major cultural groups in Southeast Alaska.













Many of these traditional houses were built underground to keep the inhabitants warm.

We saw a traditional native house with a very tiny opening as entrance.

The most interesting experience of this tour was going through the front door of an underground  native house with a tiny opening.

We had to couch down in order to fit into the door opening

The opening was so tiny that we had to couch down to get through. The opening was purposely made as small as possible so that bears would not be able to get inside the homes.






When building the homes, native people would take the biggest person of the household and use his/ her measurement to determine the size of the door opening.

We had a great time at the Alaska Native Heritage Centre. It is a must see when you are visiting Anchorage.

The tour of the Village Site was an interesting and educational tour indeed!

It was my husband's birthday today. J. picked the Brewhouse Restaurant, a popular local and tourist place in downtown Anchorage.   He treated us to a dinner there to celebrate his birthday. The restaurant was busy and we waited for almost 30 minutes before our turn for dinner. The dinner was good and it was wonderful celebrating a special occasion with our son!

R.T.
Alaska Native Heritage Centre
Anchorage, Alaska

Day 8 - A Beautiful Coach Ride to Anchorage from Seward, Alaska

Day 8 – Debarkation Day – A Scenic Coach Ride from Seward to Anchorage, Alaska

Farewell  to Our Cruise Ship which gave us 7 glorious days in Alaska!

It was only 5:30am when the sun shone bright and the Alaskan sunlight streamed through the windows and into our cabin. Our cruise ship has docked and reached Seward, Alaska.

Our Alaskan cruise ended at Seward, Alaska

We were given some pink luggage tags the day before and had our luggage all packed and looked after by the Westerdam crew. Breakfast was quick this morning as we needed to disembark the curise ship at 8:30am. We were right on time.

The cruise director and representatives of the crew from the cruise ship lined up on the gangway sending us off. It was a nice touch.

We boarded a bus from Seward to Anchorage

We booked our bus with the cruise ship taking us from Seward to Anchorage. The coach passed by a little town called Moose Past where the inhabitants of this town make their living renting out cottages and working for the summer season tourism industry. There is a hatchery, and a school in this little Alaskan town.

                    The scenery from Seward to the Anchorage was awesome and surreal.

We came face to face with these mountain ranges since the beginning of time. The majestic mountains were literally only feet away from us. We passed by lakes, ponds and mountains that have been craved out by glaciers and the force of nature was evident and visible to us.









Our coach went by Upper Summit Lake and I took a few pictures.  It has a lodge right by the lake catering to kayakers and fishermen.

All along the way, I saw the biggest and highest mountains I had ever seen and the dense deep green forests of long trees all around us.

Fire weeds, one of the first plants to grow after a forest fire, were everywhere along the highway.

Travelling on the highway into Seward, we were at 1000 feet above sea level.

I was surprised at how busy the highway was on both directions.

















With never ending mountains and green forests and without much signs of human habitation, the scenery is unparalleled, peaceful, captivating. I felt humbled, small in God’s magnificent creation.

I wish my camera could capture what we saw in front of us as it could only take in a tiny fraction of the entire landscape in front of us.

We were debating whether we should take the train or coach into Anchorage from Seaward, I am happy with the coach route which allowed us the opportunity to see the rugged terrain of this region and to admire the natural beauty.  

We booked a 5 day stay in Anchorage and looked forward to exploring this northern city!

R.T.
En route to Anchorage
Alaska, USA