Cheap Alaska?

Denali

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in forever. Mostly because I got overwhelmed with how much blogging there was to do that I just kept putting it off.

BUT!

I just came back from an amazing trip in Alaska and it got me thinking about some travel tips that I feel like might have been very useful for me in the planning stages. This started with me thinking about how expensive Alaska is and how much more money we ended up spending, but then reflecting on it all and realizing that we did it the cheapest way possible.

I'll break expenses/necessities down to four categories: Food, Lodgings, Travel, & Tourism. To give you an idea of our itinerary, we landed in Anchorage and traveled up to Denali National Park for three nights and then down to Seward/Kenai National Park for three nights.

Exit Glacier from the Harding Icefield at Kenai Fjords National Park

FOOD We saved a decent amount of money by having a lot of our food with us before we left. I packed it all in my bag and brought with me instant oatmeal, instant coffee, trail mix, cliff bars, and a variety of just-add-water backpacking meals. This ended up not being enough. With all of the walking, hiking, and general burning of calories, we were snacking hardcore every day. We ended up buying a variety of chips and stuff on the go as well as treating ourselves to two or three meals out, bringing our food costs to probably around $75 per person (not including alcohol). 

When I think about that, I balk at the fact that we probably spent around that much (considering that for *two* people, my grocery budget is around $100/week), but I could easily see how someone might easily spend two or three times that amount. Preparing in advance and having a lot of our meals already planned helped a lot

We ended up also spending a fair amount of money on beer, but being as I was celebrating Dana's birthday, I didn't want to give that up. Plus, the beer in Alaska were pretty good! 

On top of Mount Healy in Denali National Park

LODGINGS We camped almost the entire time. Aside from one night in a hostel that probably could have even been avoided, we spent every night in the tent. I can't stress enough how imperative this was to our trip and how it added to our experience of Alaska. I am an outdoors lover and camping is enjoyable to me in general, so I couldn't be more excited to sleep on the floor snuggled in my sleeping bag. Because we chose this method, I believe we only spent around $100 for the both of us for accommodations our entire stay. 

I also understand that camping just simply would not be a feasible option for someone else. I can speak to the readily available hostels that were in the vicinity of the places we were in, all of them decently priced. The one we stayed at in Seward was clean and in a good location, with discounts on tours and the like. We ended up staying here because we were stubborn and refused to camp at the tent camp site by the water with a hideous view of RV's. While it was only $10/night, the disdain of staring at a bunch of campers blocking the beautiful view of the teal green water and mountains fueled us to spend and extra $15 to have a bed and a shower for the night. We ended up staying at that RV parking lot camp ground the following night with no other options, and it wasn't as bad as we anticipated. 

We stayed at Riley Creek campground at Denali, and while we were assuming to move on to another campground after the first night, we were pleasantly surprised by the privacy and general beauty of the campground that we decided to spend our entire stay there. It's a family-friendly campground with tons of space for RV's and drive-on sites, but the walk-on sites are nicely secluded from the hustle and bustle, and everyone was quite quiet and respectful. We scored a site by the creek and listened to the sound of rushing water as we went to sleep for only $14/night.

The last camp ground was by far my favorite. It was about a 15 minute walk from Exit Glacier visitor center and has beautiful, secluded sites for free. That's right-- free. There were I think 15 walk-on sites that were first come first serve and we snagged one of the spots right by the glacier run-off river. Heaven!

Harding Icefield at Kenai Fjords National Park

TRAVEL We spent the most money on getting from place to place, but we did it, I believe, in the cheapest manner possible. After finding out it was going to cost us close to $2000 to rent the car for the week (not including insurance!) we decided to take busses and shuttles everywhere. While at times it was semi-stressful, it was WORTH it. 

While we didn't get a chance to just stop by a certain spot if we thought it was pretty or pull over to a section of the road and set up camp right there (as you can), we were gifted with a wealth of information from the bus drivers. We learned so much about the wildlife, wilderness, and Alaskan culture that our solo drives would have never had taught us. We took The Park Connection the entire way-- from Anchorage to Denali, from Denali to Seward, and then from Seward back to Anchorage. All said and done, we spent around $300 per person on travel. The coach was super reliable and comfortable with bathrooms, and the drivers were even kind enough to veer off a little bit to drop us off at spots that were helpful and convenient for us. 

Aialik Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park

TOURISM Alaska flourishes off of tourism, and for good reason. The land has so much to offer its visitors that sometimes it's difficult, if not impossible to explore it without the guidance of an expert. You can do kayaking tours, ice climbing glacier tours, wildlife tours, walks with park rangers, etc. 

We took two tours and they were some of the highlights of our trip. The first one was partially a necessity. At Denali National Park, private cars can only drive up to about 15 miles into the park. The next 75 plus miles are restricted, with access only allowed by the rangers, specially granted permission of some campers and wild life photographers, and tour busses. You *could* walk or bike out without needing special permission, but we didn't have the time or equipment luxury. We chose the tour that took us to Eielson Visitor Center (mile 66) and back, which lasted about 6 hours on the bus. Our guide was excellent, informative, and generous with his stops to allow us time to view wild life. If you go to Denali and you don't take one of these tours, I feel like you might be missing half of the park. 

The second tour we took was with Kenai Fjords Tours and it was simply incredible. Not only did we view spectacular marine wildlife (including 19 humpback whales!), we got to see a unique perspective of the fjords and saw many glaciers, including an intimate visit with the Aialik glacier. We took the 6 hour tour which included lunch (they even accommodated our vegetarian needs!) and topped off the day with warm, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Our captain was brilliant, and her narration made me feel like I was in a nature documentary.

Including the 10% discount we received for the fjords cruise, we spent about $180 on tourism.

Humpback whale tale in the Kenai Fjords National Park

When it was all said and done, I spent around $100/day in Alaska. For the all of the experiences, views, laughs, hikes, knowledge, and fun that I had, I feel like that's pretty good. If I were to do it again, I'd probably drink less beer and try and catch the Seward Bus Line to save a few bucks, but I really can't complain. I had a trip of a life time with one of my dearest friends, and I couldn't be happier for biting the bullet and doing it.

Now... to apply for jobs and start packing for our upcoming move to Seattle(!!!)!

Dana and me by Exit glacier along the Harding Icefield trail

Happy New Year!

Canon beach, OR

So much has happened since I last did a proper post. Halloween, two Thanksgivings, a small road trip to Portland, small hikes, big hikes, Christmas, visitors, New Years, family, friends...

One thing that has been pervasive throughout all of this is of how settled I feel here. I've been seeing a lot of friends the last few days, and trying to make new ones with some coworkers of mine, and I feel so much at peace here. I told Jon that I wanted to go somewhere new this year as my New Year resolution, but really I'm happy doing anything as long as I'm with him. 

On top of Mt Work on Christmas Day

Jack, looking sharp!

One of the biggest highlights last year was being able to host Jack, Jon's father, for Christmas. He came last year with Jon's little sister but flew solo this year. I had to work every day but Christmas and while I was initially upset at that fact, I grew to appreciate that Jon and his dad got to have daily one-on-one time. It was so nice to see family again after four months, and I'm highly anticipating my twin sister's visit in three weeks!

Ennis & Lawrence, skipping in the Japanese garden at Butchart

Sitting Lady Falls

Jon feeding bunnies on the highway median.

Peter Pan, Frida Kahlo, & Monster

October was pretty low-key. Jon and I went on a few mini-adventures to Sitting Lady Falls in Metchosin where a waterfall empties out into a lagoon (quite nice!) and there were a number of good walks around the area. We then visited the infamous bunnies on Route 17 to go feed them, only to find out that the little guys are already well taken care of! There must have been close to 50 of them (that we could see), all hopping around and looking adorable. I almost got close enough to pet one before it scampered off. 

At the end of the month I got to meet Lawrence's good friend Ennis, who I'd been in high anticipation to meet! It was great getting to know them, especially since they're moving to Victoria soon! Halloween was fun and sort of last minute. The party we went to reminded me of the ones I used to go to in Boston, but on a much smaller scale. I had missed those parties where there was a surplus of food, crazy decorations in place, and a living room cleared of furniture to give space for dancing to the loud, fun music. 

One of the many mushrooms we found-- DO NOT EAT. 

Jemma taking field notes

This sign welcomes us as we drove in the first night!

Natalie & I woke up extra early for these suckers. No regrets!

Kite flying on Canon Beach.

Lovely friends, delicious food, & good times for American Thanksgiving!

November was just lovely. It started off with a mushroom hunting expedition with a co-worker of mine and a number of her friends to find chanterelles. While we didn't find any of the famed fungus, what I did gain from that experience was knowledge and appreciation for these amazing women. While the youngest of them was still close to 30 years my senior (the oldest being in her 70's!), I was so inspired by their active lifestyles, resilient natures, and their flexibility to adjust whatever roadblocks came their way. I can only hope to vaguely resemble them in my later years.

I then got the opportunity to learn a bit about what my friend Jemma was up to during her time away in the summer up island. I knew she was studying and encouraging Western blue bird habitat and assisting in their nesting and hopefully fending off predators, but it was great to see her in action. I helped her move, document, and inspect various bird boxes around East Sooke Park, learning a lot about the ecosystem and various bird species that fluttered past us along the way. I love hiking with her-- it's always an eye-opening experience! 

The biggest trip I took during this blogging hiatus was a weekend road trip to Portland, OR! I went with my friend Natalie and it was great having that experience with someone as relaxed, curious, and adventurous as she is. I had been to Portland before when Jon and I had gotten married, but knew I wanted to see more of the city. It was great to re-experience some things with her lens, but also to see and experience other things that I hadn't had the chance to before. The best part of the trip, for me, was stopping by Canon Beach on the way back. I had been aching to go for years now, and it lived up to every expectation I had for it. We stopped by Mt St Helens for a bit afterwards (and seeing it steam from a distance!!), and then experienced some of the worst luck I've had to date with the ferries. It doesn't bear repeating now, but let's just summarize the whole thing and say that we ended up on the mainland for an unexpected extra 12 hours.

After celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, I decided that Jon and I would throw our own American Thanksgiving for all of our dear Canucks at the end of November! It ended up being a perfect storm of great food, even greater friends, and lots to be thankful for. 

Well, there you have it. The last three months of my life. I'll try not to do this again, but I say that every time, and every time the space between posts gets longer and longer...

Mt St Helens: the blown-off volcano!

Whoops.

Strathcona Provincial Park

Have you ever thought about doing something so often that you just ended up not doing it? That's where I ended up with this blog post and so many other things in my life right now. I could spew out all of the cliches about procrastination, and I really have no one to blame but myself. I get anxious thinking about doing important things, then I end up falling behind with those things in life, and then that sheer thought of falling behind with those things is making me even more anxious, causing me to think about doing them more but then I'm suddenly paralyzed. It's a cycle, I know, and the only way to do some of those things is to just do them, so I'm starting with this blog post.

Kathryn observing some lovely views of Sooke Lake and the surrounding mountains

Before leaving for home I had done a few nice day hikes with my friend Kathryn, but since then I haven't been doing as much. This is one of the less important things that I want to be doing, but something I consider very important to my mental and physical health. I'm working long days now and so when the weekend finally comes and I have nothing planned, I find it hard to leave the apartment, even for grocery shopping. I've been spending more time watching movies and snuggling with Mr. Clemens, which is nice and relaxing, but now less time seeing friends. I'm making efforts to do more of this, but without my consistent paychecks balancing out just yet, it makes me anxious to make plans for the sheer fact that I have no extra money to spend.

A stupidly easy hike for a fantastic view. 

Jon and I made plans soon after we got back to Victoria to meet up friends in Seattle. I had a weird pseudo-coming home feel the entire time we were in the city, despite the fact that I had never been to Seattle. Maybe it was because we were in our home country or maybe because I look out almost every day and see the Olympic mountains in Washington, or maybe it was also being able to spend some time with an old friend of Jon's and knowing that he and his partner were only a (albeit expensive) ferry ride away. I intend to make that first trip to Seattle one of many, and I hope they reciprocate our open invitation to come visit us on the island soon.

Our lovely Seattle hosts.

The most exciting thing I've done recently has been a trip to Strathcona Provincial Park. The park, which is the oldest provincial park in BC, sits almost directly in middle of the island and is a vast wilderness playground for anyone from families to very experienced mountaineers. I've been wanting to go to Strathcona since i found out that we were moving here, and I couldn't have asked for a better travel partner than Natalie. I find it effortlessly easy to talk to her about anything, and we seemed to be pretty suited for traveling together (except for my very quick walking/hiking pace!). I also hope that the trip to Strathcona was my first of many during our time on the island, for we only got to hit just a bit of this massive park.

Natalie at a beach close to our camp, nearing twilight

The other slightly big news is that Jon recently acquired a west suit for a steal of a deal, and has been using it nearly every weekend. He's mostly taking it out into various coves and beaches to snorkel a little bit with some thrift-store goggles and snorkeling tube, but it will also be handy to have for whenever we head back up to Tofino or Sombrio for some surfing. I haven't seen him this excited about exploring new places since we got here, and I'm glad this purchase has become a fun, healthy outlet for exploration. 

Jon taking a break from aquatic exploration 

Life Lately

Admiring the sunset on Galiano Island

Life lately has been full of severe ups and downs, with the ups being minor, every day fun things, and the downs being life-impacting. I feel like the universe has decided that after 10 months of loving life on the West Coast that I needed to get knocked down a peg or two. Trying to keep my head up has been really hard the last two weeks but thankfully not impossible due to my awesome, positive, and inspiring friends, family, and co-workers.

To keep my readers (whom I always assume are mostly friends and family on the East Coast) informed on what has happened, I'll try to go chronologically. On May 6th I celebrated my 28th birthday. Yaaaaay! It was a lovely birthday filled with loving and sincere happy wishes, Mexican food, and boardgames. I couldn't have been happier. Jon, despite his vow to not spoil me, spoiled me with adorable and thoughtful gifts and easily the best part of my day was hiking and lunching by a stream at a nearby park.

Thumbs up for relaxing and beautiful birthdays!

The day after my birthday started wonderfully. I had bought myself a year pass to the Butchart Gardens and I got to go with my friend Skjelse who also bought a year pass. I had been twice before but never during the springtime to see all of the flowers in bloom. That first full week in May had all of the tulips in the prime of their glory and I had so much fun exploring the park with someone who had never been. 

After I got home from the gardens and I got ready for work, I took note that Jon wasn't around. I called him as I was leaving to find out he was on campus, doing meetings to set up his committee for his comprehensive exams. I was (stupidly) on my phone while driving, and just outside my parking lot driveway the police had set up a speed trap. I was pulled over. Long story short, I ended up having to get my car towed back up my driveway because Jon and I were 9 months behind on switching over our registration and insurance and I needed to switch over my license ASAP. This has surely been the biggest hitch since we got out here. We figured we would have to switch over eventually, but thought we could last a year (and go through our insurance from the states), but we were never informed we were supposed to switch everything over within 30 days. Our car is still parked, unable to be driven but perfectly drivable, in our parking lot. I hope to switch over everything next week.

Tulips and fountains at Butchart Gardens

That following weekend I had planned a camping trip on one of the Gulf Islands for my birthday and, despite our car troubles, everything worked out great and I'm quite sure everyone had a blast! This trip was also a little bittersweet, for my friend's partner was preparing to move to Edmonton for work after only a few short months of living here. It was tough because I felt like I was just getting to know him and was having a lot of fun with him by the time we had to say goodbye. I hope he doesn't have to be out in the great north for too long!

Most of the birthday adventure crew (minus one) on top of Mount Galiano!

Amongst all of these happenings, I've been feeling pretty homesick and having feelings of FOMO. Jon's little sister got married last weekend, my dearest friend Tara is pregnant, my sister and my brother-in-law are moving into their own place again after months of being home, my two brothers have started new (and not so new!), exciting relationships, dear friends have married, and I have learned about some secret things all within the last three weeks! I feel like this is the universe's way of saying that I should be going home soon, but our trip home won't be for another 70 days or so.

Dock-side silliness with Skjelse!

The last bit of craziness that has happened is that my phone was stolen from work on Friday. It's a bit of a long story (and I've written a crazy amount on this blog so I'll spare the details), but I have the address of where it was taken to Friday night and suspicions (or hopes) it may have been one of the kids. We had some issues earlier this year about one of the kids taking another kid's toy, and I feel like at this age (5 - 6) they understand, but not entirely, the concept of stealing. I haven't reported it to the police in case it was one of my kids, and I hope that it has been or will be returned to the center that I work at, but I can't hold my breath. 

Meeting up friends at Cobble Hill Mountain

And there you have it: my manic-depressive last three weeks. I hope June brings a more mellow and less extreme changes in my life, but it also means the end of my employment by the 26th due to the end of the school year (things just keep coming, don't they?!). I'll have a new batch of worries by that point, but hopefully a car and phone to improve my standard of living. 

Keeping my head up is easy with West Coast nature!

Whoops.

Totally forgetting to blog

Uh... sorry about that guys. I'm not quite sure where February went in the blog world. I do want to keep this blog up and running to keep everyone back home updated on my western adventures and any random passer-byers to get a peek. I still am bouncing around ideas for a wordy post in the future about marriage, gender, and changing last names (I haven't forgotten about you ladies!) along with a bunch of new recipes that I've been trying and will hopefully get the courage to do a fashion post in the near future.

In recent news, my good, dear friend Dana visited us from Philadelphia! She had a bit of a Pacific Northwest adventure and travelled from Seattle, to here in Victoria, to Vancouver, back to Seattle. I had so much fun spending time with her and showing her to my favorite restaurants and hiking spots. I introduced her to my circle of friends up here and she finally got to meet Mr. Clemens! I hope she comes and visits again soon, or better yet, fulfills her dream of moving to Seattle!

 Silly mountaintop antics

Taking a rest on top of a vista

Mt Baker as seen from the ferry to Vancouver

I've also been doing a fair amount of hiking with some friends here. I'm getting rather spoiled with this lifestyle, and am afraid I'm already used to it. My job only runs until the end of school and at that point I'll be unemployed. I've talked for months about finding a morning job to carry me over during the summer, but I'm dreading giving up these perfect mornings for hiking. Practicality is so boring.

Snowy Cascades in the distance

My hiking buddies

Why work when you can have this???

I promise to post again soon with camera updates, new recipes, and my visitors coming next week: My parents!!

YVR to PHL

Cousins! And Tucker the dog

Yesterday I came home from a wonderfully exhausting trip back to the east coast. I initially decided to buy the plane tickets so I could see one of my dearest friends get married, but it also happened to be American Thanksgiving that same weekend! I managed to see a lot of my family and some of my closest friends while I was home, and feel like it was probably one of the most satisfying and productive trips I've had home. 

After reflecting on this trip soon after I got home, I realized that I have a hard time recognizing my need to be sad. I like to distract, deny, "be strong," and make excuses to not be sad. When my sister and I hugged goodbye, we both got teary-eyed, and while she admitted it, I hurried off and turned on emotionless business mode for the next 12 hours. It wasn't until I became upset with Jon for not changing the (admittedly very smelly) cat litter that I realized that something was off. I felt like I wanted to cry without knowing why, but realized (after I thought of Kate, Rachel, and I laughing about stupid youtube videos and started crying) that I needed to be upset and I needed to cry about leaving home again. Just that small recognition, awareness, and leaky eyes made me feel a hell of a lot better, and I feel much more settled.

Delayed layover in Toronto. They stamped by boarding pass instead of my passport!

Beginning of Thanksgiving with our first (of many!) guest, Aunt Mary!

Getting our nails did before Tara's wedding!

Getting all done up!

<3 <3 

This trip also resulted in finding out that Jon and I have quite a few visitors coming around our way in the next few months! Jon's sister and father will be joining us for Christmas, my mom and dad will be coming in March, my Uncle will be in Portland in May, and my Aunt may be following him in the summer! But most recently, my good friend Dana is hoping to come over soon after the new year because of Alaskan Airlines' current promotion: $200 round trip tickets from Philly to Seattle (scoop 'em up while you can, it ends Dec 9th)!

More awkward photo opps to be had soon!!

Yellowstone: Friends, Evergreens, Waterfalls, Hot Springs, Mountains, and Animals, Oh My!

So excited!

That's a long title for a blog entry.

For those who don't know the history, Yellowstone National Park was established as the first national park in the United States (possibly the world? I forget). It's larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined and has a wide variety of features such as mountains, plains, hot springs, waterfalls, wild life, geysers, among many other things. It's mostly in Wyoming, but does spill over a bit to Montana and Idaho.

The drive in from the east entrance

Our first night wasn't noteworthy, for we grabbed one of the last campsites available on a dusty lot with little to do. After hours of driving, we fell asleep around 9pm.

The next day we checked out some of the hot springs at the West Thumb area. This was our first interaction with the sulfur smelling pools that steamed and showed off their stunning colors. There were a lot of tourists at this particular point, but that didn't deter us too much from enjoying this unique natural phenomenon. 

Steamy!

The colors, dude, the colors!

After checking out the Hot Springs we went down south to Grand Teton National Park to meet up with our friends Caitlin and Mike!

Mountains and stuff at Grand Teton.

The four of us got to watch some bison play in a field for a bit before we grabbed our permits to do some back country camping. I was super paranoid about finding grizzly bears along the trail, but we were never bothered once (woohoo!). 

omnomnom

Backpacking to our site

Foggy morning lake

That next day we checked out the two of the (arguably) most popular destinations in the park: Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Old Faithful. Both, while beautiful and needed to be seen, didn't match up to our relaxed and fun experience back packing through the woods (even though it was only 2 miles in). These areas of the park were severely congested, and it was hard to have an intimate connection with the beauty there with so much noise. However, I'm glad we went to both of these spots, even if just for the sheer fact to say that we went.

Lower Falls as seen from a vantage point.

That famous geyser. 

We said goodbye to Caitlin and Mike as they headed their own way and Jon and I found a campsite close to the north entrance. From our site, we had some great views of mountains and easy access to some other hot springs in a less populated area. Our last night in Yellowstone was an early one (8pm!) and I can say with happiness that we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. I felt like this was a place that deserved all of the attention it receives and warranted the biggest chunk of our trip. I will eagerly come back here with in the future to further explore some other hot spring areas and backpacking routes.

Hot spring waterfall.

Location, location, location!