DIY+Radiance review with pics 18/7-3/8

Hi everybody!

I've been looking forward to writing this review for a long time.

I spent 6 months researching for our amazing trip, mostly from these boards, TripAdvisor, Lonley Planet online and Frommer's and Fodor's books I ordered from Amazon. I got great tips from this board, so I thought it was only right to pass on those tips with some more of my own. Plus, I loved reading reviews while counting down the days till our adventure began :) so - here we go!

DH Lior (pronounced lee-or, and not liar :) ) and I went on our honeymoon adventure, which included 2 weeks in my dream destination - Alaska - and 2 weeks in our most favorit place on earth - Disney World! (yes, I can hear some of you gagging all the way to here, lol).

I'm 27 and he's 24 (I'm a couger :)) and we're from beautiful, sunny and warm Israel. So we were very nervous about the cold weather, since we HATE being cold, and we never go on cold weather vacations (if there's no sun - it just ain't fun!). But since Alaska has been a dream of mine since as long as a I can remember, we decided to go for it. And it was so worth it! I have never been so excited or moved by a trip like I was on this one. Bears, humpback whales, orcas, harbor seals, bald eagles, moose, a close encounter with an octipus, glaciers, rainforests, waterfalls, rafting, biking, hiking, amazing people and culture...words cannot describe how amazing our trip was.

We're a very active couple, so our trip was, well, active! But in planning, I did leave us a lot of wiggle room for magic to happen, so that we could really enjoy ourselves and not race from thing to thing.

I keep Kosher, so when abroad I eat like a vegetarian who eats fish (salmon, hlibut and cod are kosher, lucky me!). So I have insight on vegetarian food in Alaska and on the cruise.

Lior was in a terrible ATV accident 7 years ago. He was riding on a tandom ATV as the passenger. The driver lost control, throwing Lior over the side of the mountain. He broke a vertebra in his spine, and after 16 hours in surgery it was a 1 in 35 million miracle that he isn't paralized from the chest down (I married a true miracle). Since he has a titanium vertebra, plus all kinds of metal bolts and cages down his spine, we have to be careful with what he does. We're still very active, but we respect his back. So if you have back issues - this review can also be helpful for you.

Here's what we did in a nutshel:

July 19 - land in Fairbanks

July 20 - Fairbanks (Gold Dredge Number 8 + Marry Sheild's Tails of the Trail)

July 21 - Fairbanks (free guided nature walk at Creamer's Feild + Chena Hot Springs Resort)

July 22 - Fairbanks (Running Reindeer Ranch + Riverboat Discovery + Pioneer Park + University Museum of the North)

July 23 - train to Denali + rafting!

July 24 - Denali (Eielson shuttle + free ranger Eielson stroll)

July 25 - Denali (front of park trail and free ranger presentation + train to Anchorage

July 26 - train to Seward + sealife center mammal and octopus encounters

July 27 - Exit glaciar + board Radiance!

July 28 - Hubbard Glacier

July 29 - Juneau (Alaska sled dogs & musher's camp + mendenhall glacier + evening whale quest)

July 30 - Skagway (rainforest bicycle tour + white pass scenic railway)

July 31 - Icy Strait Point (nature walk + whale watch)

August 1 - Ketchikan (trolly, Saxman village + Lumberjack show + walking around creek street, married man's trail etc...)

August 2 - day at sea (fun fun fun!)

August 3 - Vancouver (hop on hop off bus)

August 4 - Amtrak train to Seatle (went to EMP for the Avatar exhibit), then red eye to Orlando to see our pal Mickey Mouse :)

nice to meet you!

Us with Snoopy at the Minneapolis airport. We were already cold, lol...

(I apologise if the pics come out too big, this is the first time I'm posting pictures...)

pic size is fine for me, very interested in reading your review

I thought I'd start out by quickly answering some FAQ that I was also wondering about before the trip:

How cold is it? and what should I pack?

The answer to this question REALLY depends on where you're from. Before we left, I saw that people on these boards were saying that July isn't so cold, and not to pack a lot of what we packed. Now, that's true if you're from Michigan or Boston, where you're used to that kind of weather, but if you're from Orlando or Israel, it's going to be cold! My point is, don't rely on what other people are packing or what other people think about the weather. You know yourself, you know what you're used to. Go online and check out the the average tempratures and pack accordingly. I can tell you we were freezing our butts off, while other people were talking about how comfortable the weather was, in there light jackets and 3/4 length pants!

PACKING LIST

Here's what we packed. We used everything we brought.

- long underwear tops and bottoms

- T-shirts

- light weigt fantastic fleece

- 2 in 1 waterproof jacket with a light weight fleece that could be taken apart and worn seperately.

- jeans

- water proof hiking boots (made all the difference in the world)

- wool socks

- fleece hats that could cover the ears too

- gloves

- scarf

- $15 waterproof nylon pants (didn't take up much space, worth it!)

- 2 pairs of water proof binoculars (Bushnel 8x25 H2O LOVE them!! great binoculars, compact and easy. Bought them for a great price on Amazon)

We wore all of these things everyday once we left Fairbanks (except for the waterproof pants). But we were also the warmest dressed people we saw other people had much less on, and weren't nearly as cold as we were. The only other people we met who were cold were from Florida and Texas. So, in short, it depends what you're used to. And remember - layers, layers, layers!

Will I get sea sick? Rough seas??

I'm prone to sea sickness, so I read every thread there was on this subject. Don't be fooled by the people who have been on one or 2 cruises to Alaska and had water as smooth as glass. That's great for them, but it doesn't mean that's what you'll get. Since Budget Queen repeated over and over that you can definitly get rough seas on an Alaskan cruise, I knew that we should be prepared. We had a rocky voyage! The night we left Hubbard Glacier the ship was rocking and rolling. I heard a bunch of people at dinner get food for their spouses who were in their room sea sick. And the worst was actually in the inside passage, making our way from ISP to Ketchikan. Oh my gosh! People were actually leaving the show because it was so bad (the rocking, not the entertainment :) ), and walking back to our room was funny, with the ship swaying back and forth, really rocking! Lior also got sea sick on those 2 nights. But me? I had on the magic wrist bands, LOL, I felt great.

As for whale watches, we did 2 of them, one in Juneau and one in ISP. In both the boat was bobbing up an down, not calm at all. In juneau the boat was actually moving so much that I was hesitant to get on it, since I normaly get sick on smaller boats. But the amgic wrist band saved me :)

If you suffer from sea sickness, come prepared! Maybe you'll be lucky, and you won't won't feel the motion of the ocean at all. Or you might get a more exciting cruise experience, and know that you're on the water all the time! lol.

What are your options?

Non drowsey Bonine - they say to take this the night before you get on the ship, so that it's in you system already. Lior took it the night before, and it completely zonked him out the next day. He was not himslef, falling asleep all over the place, feeling out of it...drowsey. Last time I was on a cruise, I took non drowsey Bonine, and it had the same effect on me, which is why I didn't take it again. So we decided we wouldn't take that again. I know that it's weird that something that's called NON DROWSEY has that effect on us, but what can I tell you...it did. But you should bring it with you, because probably most people don't react that way, and just know that if you do - you're not alone :)

Ginger pills - we took ginger pills everyday. You're also supposed to start taking it before you leave port. I don't remember how often you're supposed to take it...sorry about that. I think it helped.

Sea Bands - these were a life saver for me!!!!!! After dinner, on the way to the Welcome Aboard show, I felt terrible. You could really feel the ship moving, and I was so dizzy and nauseous, thinking "what was I THINKING getting on a ship??". We stopped at the general store onboard on the way to the theater and bought Sea Bands for $16, got in line behind another woman looking green purchasing the exact same thing. The friendly cashier told me not to worry and that I'd be feeling better in no time. I'm telling you, 10 minutes after putting on the sea bands - I was a new person! And even on the 2 night when lot of people were sea sick - I felt great!! I'm sure just like anything else, these may work for me and not for eveyone, but they're definitly worth a shot. I swear by them now. They really saved me and our vacation.

Ginger Ale - it helps, or at least it helped us :)

How do I pick which cruise to go on?

Itinerary is key! Being the huge Disney freaks that we are (I've been to every Disney park in the entire world, and to WDW 25 times...Disney freak all the way) we originaly planned on taking DCL to Alaska (I've been on 2 Disney cruises before, and they're, well, magical! lol). But then when we really looked into it, we noticed the DCL is twice the price of the other cruiselines, and their itinerary isn't so great...they just don't spend as much time in each port as other cruislines. So we started shopping around (with a heavy heart, since I felt like I was cheating on the mouse).

The best itinerary for you depends on what you're looking for - more glaciars? more scenic cruising? more ports? more time in ports?

For us, the southbound Radiance itinerary was the best one out there - 4 ports instead of the standard 3, and the most hours spent in each port. We wanted to have as much time to explore places on land as we could, and that's what we got! I can tell you that we fell in love with RCCL, and will definitly cruise with them in the future. Everyone on board was so nice, the food was great, our room was great, the ship was beautiful, there were sooo many activities, it was like being at summer camp! it was perfect! We are now loyal to Royal when it comes to cruising. ok...Royal and Disney...lol

Will I see wildlife from the ship?

maybe, maybe not. If wildlife is a priority for you, you should book an activity that revolves around that (whale watch or bear expedition). On 2 seperat occasions, we were sitting in a public area next to the huge windows, and the people next to us were looking at a whale. We couldn't see it!!!! They're going "wow! amazing!" and we just can't see it! So maybe you'll see wildlife, but even if you do, it won't be close up like on a whale watch. We didn't see any wildlife from the cruiseship, other people did. other people right next to us, lol.

That's it! Next post I'll start the review. Here we are on our 32 hour journey from Tel Aviv to Fairbanks!!

Oh! I just remembered one last thing I wanted to say about the weather. You don't know what it will be, so be prepared for everything and then you won't be disapointed. We were extremely lucky, and had beautiful weather! In 2 weeks, we only had one full day of rain in ISP. The rest was mostly sunny and gorgeous. But it really doesn't matter...Alaska is breath taking in any setting, so you really shouldn't be worried about it. Just make sure you have the right gear so that the rain doesn't prevent you from doing what you want to do, Alaska will be beautiful either way.

And just so that you get a sense of how unpredictable the weather is - 3 out of our 4 days in Fairbanks were rainy and cold (Fairbanks gets the same amount of rain a year as a desert! but they were having an unussually cold summer), and in Ketchikan, where it rains 350 something days out of the year the sun was out, the sky was clear and I even walked around with the fleece and jacket off since it was HOT!

We left Israel at 1 AM on July 19th. 31 hours later, we arrived in Fairbanks, at 8:30 PM JULY 19TH!!! We are officailly time travelers :)

We took a direct El Al flight to Newark, from there it was Delta to Minneapolis, and another Delta flight to Fairbanks. Since we had long layovers between flights, we purchased one 30 day pass to the Delta lounge. It costs $99 and includes 2 guests. It was really worth it for us, and we got to use it again in Seattle.

By the last flight we had had it! We just wanted to get there already...The pilot anounced we're aproaching the airport and we began our descent. I was all excited, looking out the window, waiting for my first glimps of Alaska. Nothing. clouds, clouds and nothing but clouds. The plane was going lower and lower, and still - no ground! Just clouds. The crew was already in there seats, landing any minute, and still - no ground!! (In case you haven't figured out yet - I hate flying!! LOL...I really really really hate flying) Turns out, the clouds were SO low, we only saw the ground about half a minute before touching down. Crazy!

We got off the plane and we were in the small beautiful Fairbanks airport. This airport is tiny and covered in wood. We went down to get our luggage (which all arrived! yay!) and looked outside. It was 8:30 PM and outside it looked like the middle of the afternoon. And it was raining! The rental car companies are right there next to baggage claim. We reserved a car 6 months in advance from Avis for 3 days, so we got a great rate - $181.58 - the car rental rep was so blown away by our rate she showed it to the other people there! So it's definitly worth reserving a car in advance, and it's free!

Since we didn't know how awake we'd be after traveling for 31 hours, we said in advance that if neither of us is up to driving, we'll pick the car up the next day. I was too tired to drive safely, but Lior said he was up for it, and I'm the navigator of our family anyways, so that worked out. We got a map, and the nice Avis woman explained how to get to the Hampton Inn & Suites, which was going to be our home for the next 4 nights. We also asked for a quick run down of American rules of the road (right turn on red, when you turn left there might be oncoming traffic that ALSO has a green, so be careful...). I honostly don't know how the British do it, since they also have to get used to driving on the other side of the road, but we were pretty freaked out at the beginning with the whole left turn thing...also, the marking on the road is different than from here, so we weren't sure when you're allowed to pass someone else. We didn't know the difference between a green arrow that lets you turn left, and a plane green when you want to turn left (we do now! :)). Anyways, that combined with the rain and the lack of sleep made for a very interesting 5 minute drive...The airport is really about a five minute easy drive away from the Hampton Inn & Suites, but it took us a little longer to get there, wrong turns and fear of left turns and all...But you shouldn't worry about it, it's a REALLY easy short nothing of a drive.

After traveling for so many hours, we were finally there. I can't say enough about the Hampton Inn & Suites. We really loved it. The location was really great, the staff was REALLY nice, our room was big with a great comfy bed and pretty view, and breakfast was yummy, great and included.

Please note that it isn't in the downtown area of Fairbanks, so I think the best way to stay here is with a rented car (there's a nice size parking lot out front, as you can see in the picture below).

The truth is, since things are spread out in Fairbanks, I recomend renting a car there. It's really the best way to get from place to place, without wasting a lot of time and money. If you don't rent a car, you'll be stuck relying on expensive taxis, because there's no other way to get from activity to activity. If you still decide not to rent a car, you should probably stay somewhere in downtown Fairbanks and walk around. It's very pretty over there. But I really think it's a mistake to be in Fairbanks without a car, and the Hampton Inn was one of our favorit places we stayed at the entire trip. Two thumbs way way up!!

By the time we got to the hotel, it was already about 10 PM (but still looked like it was the middle of the afternoon outside). We were hungry and tired. We asked if there was anywhere we could order food from, and were given some flyers, but there wasn't much to be had, and we were too tired to even walk over to the 24 hour McDonald's next door. at the Hampton they have a pantry with stuff you can buy and warm up in your microwave in the room. Unfortunately, they didn't have much for vegetarians, so I just got a bag of pretzles for myself, Lior got a microwave lasagna. They have hot tea and coffee out all day and all night in the lobby, which is nice. We went up to our room, and made sure to go to bed by 11:30 PM, even though it was still light outside. The window curtains did the trick :) That bed was comfy!!

the view from our room at 10:30 PM

pic size is fine for me, very interested in reading your review

Thank you! :)

I forgot to mention that the Hampton Inn has free wifi throughout the hotel, including in the rooms, and it also has an indoor pool and jacuzee.

We woke up to a drizzley and cold day. Put on our T-shirts, fleece and 2 in 1 waterproof jacket with a removable fleece jacket, I put on a scarf as well, we put our fleece hats and gloves in our pockets, and we were off!

We went downstairs to have breakfast. Breakfast in complimentry and really great. It's served in the lobby, in a nice sized area with all kinds of Alaskan themed stuff on the walls, like a musher's sled and stuff like that. The food is constantly being refilled. They offer different yogurts, an array of fresh pastries, different bagels that you can toast in a toaster, make your own waffle, cream cheese, jellys, fruit, orange juice, scones and 4 (or maybe three? I don't remember...) hot foods, that change every couple of days, which included eggs and meats that we don't eat. For the vegetarians amongst you, we were surprised to realise that in the states, the default of food is usually to include meat, so never assume something is without meat, always ask. There were scrambled eggs that we both took from, and then when we sat down, I noticed pink pieces inside, and the eggs also smelled different to me. I said to Lior "I think there's pork in this", so Lior walked over to the very sweet girl in charge of breakfast and asked "excuse me, is there pork in the scrambled eggs?"

-"there's ham"

- "oh, ok, but no pork"

LOL :) she explained to him that they're both from the same animal...

So we sadly tossed the eggs, but it didn't matter, breakfast was our favorit meal of the day while in Fairbanks.

Coffee and tea in hand, we set out for Gold Dredge #8. It was less than a ten minute drive away. We loved this! It was really well run, very informative and a lot of fun. When we got there, we went up to the ticket booth to get our tickets, and then got on the train, where a man was already singing and playing the guitar. The train left the station, and we got a comprehensive and interesting explanation about the whole gold mining process and the history of it in the area. There were presentations on the side. I think you should sit on the right side of the train, since the dredge itself will be on your right.

Explaining how to pan for gold. Very cool!

At the end of the train ride, we were told the name of our train, and they explained how we'd know when to get back on, since there were lots of people there (mostly tour groups on buses). Now it was money time! Each person gets a sack of ground, and they garuentee that you'll find gold. If your bag has no gold in it - they'll give you a new one to pan. Panning for gold was fun and funny. They have lots of people working there, walking around, helping you out, explaining what you need to do as many times as you need to hear it. All the employees are local alaskans, born and raised, which was really interesting for us, and also interesting for them! We asked them about Alaska, and they asked us about Israel, and it was really the perfect way to start our trip. We ended up doing really well, with a total of $54 worth of gold between both of us! And I found a gold nugget, which even got all the staff excited! Once you have your gold, you can go get it weighed, and then you can put it in a locket, or all kinds of things like that. We ended up with too much gold to fit in one bracelett, so I got one for myself and one for my mom, who helped plan this trip. So we ended up spending more on that gold than its worth, but the memories are priceless!

Panning for gold

After getting the bracelets, we went over to where they had out complimetry cookies, a bunch of different kinds. Yum! And there was also complimentry hot chocholate, tea and coffee. Don't worry, they won't run out, they kept on bringing out more and more. We took our drinks and cookies outside, and heard some people saying that they were cold, which made us feel good about our choice of clothing (but feel bad for them...), since we were very comfortable and not cold at all, and since our jackets were waterproof the light rain didn't bother us at all.

We then walked into the dredge to explore. Don't miss it! It's really cool, and I think a lot of people don't realise you can actually walk around inside the dredge itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlQgdVOwSM0

a video with the famous gold nugget

After exploring the dredge, we had to get back on the train. One of the workers raced up to the train to ask me how much the nugget weighed! The train went back to the front, and we were invited to follow our guide over to the Alyeska Pipeline, which we knew absolutely nothing about, and it was really interesting to hear about the way it was built to withstand the crazy changes in temperatures it has to deal with, and the 30-50 DAILY earthquakes in Alaska.

The 2 hour tour was over at 12:30. I really recommend this tour, we had a great time and we would do it again!!

We had to be at Mary Shield's Tails of the Trail at 2 PM, so we had enough time to stop for lunch, since the two activities were close to each other. On the way to Mary's house in the woods, we stopped at Ivory Jacks, which was right on way.

Ivory Jacks had mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, so we didn't know what to expect, but it looked cool and it was right there, so it made the most sense timewise.

It was a cool looking place, with a great atmosphere, but I'm sorry to say we would not recommend this place or return to it. There were only a few locals sitting at the bar, drinking beer, so the kitchen didn't have any food to make but ours. Lior ordered a hamburger, and I ordered the halibut. We waited 40 minutes (!!) in the empty restuarant for our food to be ready...from where we were sitting, we could see into the kitchen. The chef was on the phone the majority of the time, just talking. By the time she started making the food we had already been waiting about half an hour! The waitress, who was also the bartender, never even refilled our diet cokes the whole time we were sitting there waiting. After waiting 40 minutes, the food finally arrived, and we asked for the check, since now we were in a hurry. Lior's burger was fine, nothing to write home about, but not terrible either. My halibut was inedible...and I'm really not a picky eater. Even the baked potatoe that came with the fish was bad (which I didn't know was even possible!). The only thing that was ok on the plate were the steamed veggies, so that's all I had for lunch...that and the small "salad" that came with the meal. I offered Lior my plate of food, and he also said that it was terrible, so we left my plate almost untouched. And it was expensive!! My meal was $26! Way more expensive than what we ate the rest of the trip. Oh well...

We left Ivory Jacks, and drove into the woods to go meet Mary Shields, a real dog musher, who was the first woman ever to complete the Iditarod. We drove up to her lovely house and huge yard together with another 4 cars.

This tour was one of the highlights of our entire trip. It was really something special, a unique experience that we'll cherish forever. Mary immidiately makes you feel welcomed, and we felt like we were visiting an old friend we hadn't seen in a long time, not a stranger. The way this tour works is she offers the tour once a day, at 3 different time options, and the first person calling for a specific day is the one who decides at what time the tour will be that day. She also bakes something special for each tour, or makes ice cream. We were the first to sign up for July 20th, so we got to decide on the time of the tour, and since it was our honeymoon she said we get to choose what she makes. I told her to surprise us.

The group was small and nice. The tour starts out in her garden, where she grows flowers and veggies, and gigantic cabbages. She explained local floewrs to us, let us sample some of the food, and drew our attention to the berry bushes she herself planted (!!) on the roof of her house.

Then we went into the dog pen, where she introduced us to each one of her dogs, telling us about their part in the pack and different personalities. Let the petting begin!!

We then left the pen, so that Mary could let the dogs off their chains and let them run wild, while Mary continued to explain about the dogs, caring for them, putting her life in their hands (well...paws) etc. We then walked over to a sitting area, where Mary shared her AMAZING and inspiring life story with us. It was just so amazing hearing all about her life and adventures, we felt very fortunate to be there. She showed us the equipment she uses when out mushing - tent, snow shoes, sled, doggie wear - and told us all about the life of a musher. I even got to try on the snow shoes and demonstrate breaking a path with them.

Then came the best part - howling with the dogs. Mary started the howl, we all joined in, and then the whole dog team howled back for about a minute. It was magical. A bunch of us had tears in our eyes. Sitting there in the middle of the woods, hearing those sounds, with the inspiring Mary Shields...it doesn't get better than that!

We were invited into Mary's beautiful cabin home, where we were treated to the honeymoon cake, tea and coffee. We gathered around the table, and Mary showed us pictures from her adventures, and had us try on some of the clothing she wears out there. She had books of hers you could purchase right there, and she gave Lior and me a book as a gift for our honeymoon. The tour was supposed to be 2 hours and 15 minutes, but our group was really into it and asking lots of questions, so we ended up being there for 3 hours. Like I said, we will cherish this forever. It was a truely authentic Alaskin experience, that you can't get anywhere else. 2 paws way way up!! Don't miss it if you're in Fairbanks.

The snow shoes demonstration. You can see the tent and sled in the background, and the pots she uses when in the wild.

Our honeymoon cake!

We left Mary's a little after 5 PM. We headed to Walmart, which is across the highway from the Hampton, to get some basic things - water, energy bars, shampoo, conditionar and soap. The Walmart is open 24/7, so it's very convenient to have it right acroos the street. We were exhausted from traveling the day before, and we had gotten up at 8 AM , so we just didn't feel like going out. They have a Subways right there at Walmart, and there was a nice size line of locals getting sandwiches, so we decided to just get two subs, go back to the hotel, eat, shower and just take it easy. BIG MISTAKE! I'm sure Subways was fine, since they had a line there the whole time we were there, so the food wasn't just sitting there. I think we're just not used to processed cheese, because we don't have that here...which lead to the most terrible evening and night...we both were sick to our stomachs...I'll spare you the details, but lets just say we steered clear of Subways and processed cheese the rest of our trip...tomorrow is another amazing day in Fairbanks!

Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the review!

Thanks! My pleasure! :)

Note - I wrote the wrong date it the title...it was saturday July 21st.

We woke up to another cold and drizzley day. After last night's culinary disaster...lol...we were very thankful for the breakfast waiting for us downstairs.

We then headed out to Creamer's Field, for the 10 AM free guided nature walk. They offer these guided walks everyday except for Sunday, I think. You can contact them to make sure. According to their website, there is no guided walk on Saturdays, but I asked them on Facebook, and they told me that there is one. You don't have to be on a guided tour to enjoy Creamer's Field. The trails are easy and pretty, and open 24/7. We decided we'd rather do it with a guide so that we can learn about the area, and undertsand what it is we're looking at to get a real appreciation for everything.

VERY IMPORTANT - there are tons of mosquitoes at Creamer's Field, and they are aggressive, so come prepared with DEET or any other kind of bug repellent. We forgot ours at the hotel, but we were lucky, and Leon our guide offered us his spray.

We arrived at Creamer's Field in no time at all, parked by the Farmhouse Visitor Center, and joined Leon, our guide. There was a group of women who had also come for the tour, but decided they didn't have time for a 2 hour guided walk, so we had our own personal tour guide! We were really lucky with the rain, which stopped once we started walking, and then started again two and a half hours later when we were heading back to the farmhouse.

This was also one of the highlights of our trip. Leon was so incredibly knowledgeable, and we came out of this nature walk knowing so much, it was fantastic!

The trail itself is beautiful! Lior said he felt like he was in the forest in Avatar. At one point, Leon pulled a post out of the ground and told us to stick our hands in, to feel the ground is frozen (permafrost...). We were very hesitant, since we're taught never to pick up a rock or stick our hands into holes like that because of snakes and spiders. But it's way too cold up there for any of those things, so we stuck our arms down the hole. SO COOL!!!! literally :) Leon explained to us how the natives would use the ground as a refrigerator, putting the things that need to be frozen lower in the ground, and the things that just need to be cold closer to the ground. We didn't see any wildlife, but Leon pointed out things that were signs of animals that were there before we got there.

We were out there for about 2 and a half hours. It was really one of the highlights of our trip (we're dorks... :)). I wasn't expecting it to be a highlight, but Leon was the best guide we could have asked for, we learned a lot, it was beautiful and we loved it! (and it was free...which was a bonus)

It turned out that day was the 60th anniversary of Golden Days - the celebration of the founding of Fairbanks - so there was a parade downtown, and all kinds of booths and activities going on. Leon recommended we go see it, but I told him we had planned to drive out to Chena Hotsprings Resort, so what should we do? He said that the Chena Hotsprings resort was worth seeing, and that we'd for sure see moose on the way, so it's worth the drive. You can't get in everything in one trip, and we really wanted to see moose and visit the ice museum, so we picked that over the celebrations.

Leon, the best guide ever!

Wildlife! sort of...I'm wearing the hood of my jacket because of the mosquitoes.

We drove back to the hotel so that Lior could rest his back, which was hurting him a little from the long walk.

We got our stuff ready for the hotsprings (towels and bathing suites) and after an hour of rest we headed out to have lunch at The Cookie Jar.

It was a little tricky to find the place, but not too difficult. It's located in a residential area, behind a car dealership.

When we arrived, The Cookie Jar was hopping with locals! We waited for a table for only about 5 minutes. In the meantime, we really enjoyed people watching, and seeing how we stood out like crazy! Many of the locals were wearing shorts, mini skirts, flip flops! And we were in our jackets, fleeces and hiking boots. It was really funny.

We would definitly recommend eating here!! And were upset that we hadn't gone there for dinner the previous night. It's a great local place, with a wide variaty of items on their menue, including a bunch of different vegetarian options, which was great! Lior had a burger (which he raved about), I had a combo vegetable soup (which was fantastic! Really good) and a vegetarian sandwich with creem cheese, guacamole and vegetables, which was also very nice. Sadly, we had no room for dessert...their cinnamon buns looked insane, and we planned to come back and get some later, but they were closed by the time we got back from the hotsprings. So don't make the same mistake we made - get a cinnamon bun! (and tell us if they were as great as they looked!).

After a great meal at The Cookie Jar, we made our way out to the Chena Hot Springs Resort. It's a really easy drive, no hills or ruff spots. You just get on Chena Hot Springs road, and that's it! The road dead ends at the resort. It's a very pretty drive, and we were on the lookout for moose, which we had never seen before in our lives. The resort is 65 miles away from Fairbanks, and we weren't driving very quickly so as not to miss moose, so it took us about an hour and a half to get there.

We saw LOTS of moose on the way there, and on the way back. Only females, but we also saw a mommy with 2 calves! Man, moose are huge!!! I had no idea how big they are! Very impressive animal.

We got to the resort at about 5 PM. The next and final tour of the ice museum was at 7 PM. We bought tickets for the 7 PM tour, and added money (I think $15) for one appletini in an ice glass (neither of us drinks, but we wanted a cup...I had heard that it's tradition to smash it outside and make a wish on it...I wanted a cup...what can I say :)). Then we walked over to the hot spring area. It's $10 to go in. There are lockers in the ladies and mens changing rooms, they cost a quarter each time you want to lock it, and they're nice size lockers. They also rent towels, if you're interested.

The hot spring area has an indoor pool and jacuzzee, for all ages, and then an outdoor hot springs rock lake, which is for 18 year olds and up. We headed straight outside, since that's the whole reason we were here. The rock lake is really beautiful, set between flowers and green mountains. In general, this resort is in a very beautiful place, and we were very happy we made the trip out there.

It's really cool being outside in a bathing suit when it's so cold. There's steam that rises from the water, because of the huge difference in temprature. We were in there for a while, but we could only take the heat for so long until we had had enough. We got dressed, and then went to put some of our stuff in the car, when suddenly there was a huge famale moose (cow) in a lake in the middle of the resort! We kept our distance from her, and were just mezmorized by how huge she was! Very cool.

The tour of the ice museum is about half an hour long. You really wouldn't want to spend longer than that in there, it's freezing! They give you a huge parka, and gloves, but you should come prepared with gear of your own to wear underneath, because, like I said, it's freezing in there! We thought the ice museum was a lot of fun and really cool. First the guide explains some things to you, and then you get to explore the place by yourslef. There have been people who booked a room in the ice museum (which is an ice hotel, they tell you the price of a room per night)) and tried to sleep there, but no one has yet to succeed at spending an entire night in there.

After exploaring the rooms, and lying down on the "beds", we sat down at the ice bar for our appletini, together with other people who had purchased one. I said that anyone who wants mine can drink it, since we don't drink, and we just wanted the cup. The guide said that if we wanted a cup - we could have just asked for one, and then gave us another empty one. So, you should ask if you can get an empty ice cup for no charge. At least the guy sitting next to us at the bar was very happy with the free drink we gave him :)

We left the museum, made a wish, and broke our glases! It's so childish, but it's so much fun...

We headed back towards Fairbanks, and saw even more moose than on the way up (I had read that there are a lot of moose near the road at dusk, and that seemed to be true). We were planning on having dinner at The Cookie Jar, but we forgot that things close kind of early, and by the time we got there it was closed. All the restaurants we found listed close at around 9:30-10:00 PM, which we're not used to at all. So we really should have eaten at the restaurant at the Chena Hot Springs Resort...oops! We ended up going to the 24 hour McDonald's next to the hotel, which was full, and we enjoyed our dinner, even though it was obviously not on the list of places we were planning on eating at (their french fries are good, what can I say? :)).

check out that steam!!

a real musical instrument made out of ice that you can actually play!

Our first moose sighting of the trip.

We woke up to our last full day in Fairbanks.

And as the day went by, it turned into a sunny, warm and beautiful day! Huray!

After breakfast , we headed out to Running Reindeer Ranch, which is on the other side of town from where we'd been hanging around the past couple of days. To get there you drive by Fairbanks University and the museum, it's also close to the Riverboat Discovery tour. Jane and her family live in a beautiful area! I signed us up for this tour becuase it was listed high up on TripAdvisor, and since we love animals, we wanted to get in as many animal encounters as possible (without flying...we'd had enough of that getting to Alaska). When I called to get info on this tour, Jane was extremely nice, and she explained to us that you walk in the woods for about an hour with the reindeer, and then we would join her in her house for explinations and homemade cookies. She told us that , being the kind of animals that they are, reindeer don't care that much about people, and they would just be walking with us, not neccesarily paying any attention to us. That was fine by us, and we were very excited about this activity, which we even thought was going to be one of the high notes of our trip.

I feel terrible saying this, but we were dissapointed, and I would hesitate recommending this tour...

Jane and her family were really very nice, and her heart was in the right place, but this activity just wasn't what we thought it would be, and we felt it wasn't worth the price. Keep in mind that this is a new buisness - I think this summer was only the second summer they were doing these tours - so maybe in time they'll perfect it, and fine tune it and it will be great.

We arrived at their house, together with the rest of the group. Also here the group was small and very nice. Jane told us about how they came to raise reindeer and introduced us to each of the reindeer and what their place in the pack is. We started out for our walk in the woods, but we just stopped about every 2 minutes...the reindeer were all over the place, which didn't bother me, because that's what we were expecting, but it seemed to bother Jane. We had to keep stopping for her to try to round them up, and she just seemed to be a little out of sorts at times. I just felt that she wasn't so confident in what she was doing, and the walk really lacked a flowing feeling. The walk itself is through the woods around their house. It's really pretty out there, and it would have been fun had we not stopped dead in our tracks every 2 minutes...Before we knew it, the walk was over! We had barely walked at all...barely got to enjoy nature with the reindeer. We were not out there for an hour, that's for sure. Then came a VERY LONG visit to Jane's 2 gardens and greenhouse. It might have been interesting for a while to hear about life in Fairbanks, and see what people grow, and taste it, but it was really long, and we spent as much time in her gardens as we did out with the reindeer, if not longer, and that's not why we signed up. Then we were invited up to the family porch, where they offered us homemade cookies and lemonade, and she showed us a pair of antlers and reindeer food, but there really was nothing else left to be said at that point...we honostly just felt like they were dragging out the tour so that it would be long enough to justify the price. Again, I feel terrible saying it, but we were dissapointed with this tour, even though the reindeer really were cool.

The tour was over long after we were already ready to go. We didn't have enough time to stop for lunch before our 2 PM Riverboat Discovery tour, but I had read that there's a buffet lunch there, and also other food they offer for sale, so I assumed we'd be ok. Mistake!! The buffet is made up mostly of pork and crabs and stuff like that, nothing vegetarian, nothing we could eat. So we went over to the counter service, which was selling boxed lunches. Here too there wasn't even one vegetarian option!! Nothing! Lior got a small hot dog in a bun, and all I could eat was a side salad, which just means lettace I drowned in italian sauce...ugh...I was pissed and hungry...mainly mad at myself for assuming there'd be something there we could eat. I drowned my sorrows in an energy bar. Blood suger up, we started talking to the nice people sitting next to us, waiting for the tour. Most of the other people there were with a tour bus, just like with Gold Dredge 8, which is owned by the same family, and they do a great job here too.

We absolutely LOVED the Riverboat Discovery tour! Don't miss it if you're in Fairbanks. I was not looking forward to it at all, because of the mass of people on each tour, I just thought it wasn't going to be anything special, but it's really well done, and we enjoyed every minute of it!! What a pleasant surprise :)

IMPORTANT TIPS:

1. Make sure you sit on the left side of the riverboat. The majority of the demonstrations will take place on the left side, so if you're on the right - you're going to either have to stand up and walk over, or just watch it on the screens, and where's the fun in that?

2. Get in line early. A line will form starting from the riverboat all the way into the parking lot, and then you'll be under pressure getting on to find a good spot that hasn't already been taken. If you do end up towards the back of the line - like us - don't sweat it! We got good seats on the left side on the top deck. But if I did it again - I'd get in line early, just to avoid feeling stressed.

This tour is 3 hours long. Being on the riverboat, even without the demonstrations, is so pleasant and relaxing, rolling down the river. The captain is great! Very entertaining and funny. It's just really really well done. There's a floatplane take off and landing demonstration, a dog mushing demonstration, a salmon smoking demonstration, and I think I'm forgetting one maybe. They also point out interesting houses along the river and tell you about the Alaskin way of life, and you also see the point where the Tanana and Chena rivers meet, which is very cool and interesting. Then you get off the riverboat to explore the Old Chena Indian Village, where Native guides give an hour tour of cabins and crafts on shore. The guides are sweet and great , and we learned a lot about the natives and their lives from this tour. Then you get some free time to walk around. We went over to where the dog mushers were explaing about dogs, to try to get to pet them. And pet them we did :) On the way back, they offered a tasting of smoked salmon, which was unbelievably good!

We loved this tour!!

Jackets off, and I was actually just wearing a t-shirt!

i LOVE your report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for taking the time to write it up and post pictures!!!

it looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so i noticed you're all bundled up in the airport in minneapolis in the middle of july - air conditioning a tad on the chilly side, eh? :eek:

sorry about the raindeer walk - but those reindeer are really so cool looking!!! :)

everything sounds like so much fun (other than ivory jacks and subway!!! :eek: :eek:)

i love the video!!

the visit with mary shields sounds magical!!!! Love the honeymoon cake!!!

that's amazing that the guided hike at creamers field is free!!!!!

sounds like something i would love too!!

i finally caught up!!

waiting to read about the rest of your amazing trip to alaska!!!! :)

It's been four days, with no updates! I anxiously await to see the rest of the trip!

Wow!! Thanks so much for the great comments!!

Sorry it's been so long, I've been really busy, I just didn't have the time to sit and write, but it's so nice to come back to such great comments! I didn't know if people were reading :) so thank you so much!

Ok, so we got off the Riverboat Discovery, and we were STARVING because, as you remember, there was nothing for us to eat before going on the riverboat. Originally, I had planned for us to go to the Museum of the North after the riverboat, but it just didn't make sense to go when we were so hungry, since we would just suffer and not enjoy it at all, and I'm not the best company when I'm hungry, if you catch my drift...so sadly we gave that up.

We debated between going to the Pump House, which the riverboat passed by, and looked lovely, or going to the Salmon Bake at Pioneer Park. We decided to go to the Salmon Bake, because it was something I really wanted to check out.

We drove over to Pioneer Park. the park is really nice, and I wish we had more time to hang out there. They have the northern-most miniature golf in there, a small train that circles the park and all kinds of other things, like the Golden Hearts show. It seems like a great place to take kids to.

The Salmon Bake costs $33 and we LOVED it!!!!! I've read some people think it's expensive, but compared to what we were paying for meals elswhere, this was not expensive at all. The price includes cod, salmon and prime rib and a wide variety of sides and salads, desserts and soft drinks (obviously if you're a vegetarian this is not a worth while deal for you, it worked for me because of the salmon and cod). The cod and salmon were amazing, and don't get me started on the sides and salads!!! mouth watering good! We were very happy campers! The setting is really nice, especially since it was such a nice day, so it was perfect for sitting at picnic tables outside in the park. They also have an indoor eating area. We had the best time there!

We skipped dessert, since we wanted to go to Hot Licks later.

Yummy yummy yummy I've got love in my tummy! and it's on a fish shaped plate...funny!

When we finished eating, it was almost 6:15 PM. Lior knew how much I wanted to see the Dinosaur exhibits, the mamoth display, Blue Babe etc. at the museum. The museum closes at 7 PM. Lior suggested we drive over and so what if we don't have a lot of time? we'll just head streight for the prehistoric exhibits. I was so excited, like a little kid...

So we drove over the the beautiful Fairbanks university campus, and entered the Museum of the North at 6:30 PM. We're not huge art fans, so the Gallery of Alaska is all we were interested in anyways. This small museum is really spectacular and definitly worth a visit! It's fantastic. The exhibits are really cool and very well laid out. There's a lot to see and learn, and you obviously need more than half an hour for a real in depth look at everything, but we were actually pleased with the amount of time we had in there, we enjoyed every minute and we felt satisfied from our visit . It really shouldn't be missed (if you're into museums...).

We left the museum at 7 PM, and drove over to Hot Licks, which is a local ice cream booth that's very well known and popular, and there were lots of locals there getting their ice cream fix. They have lots of different and interesting flavors. Personally, we thought the ice cream was fine, nothing special at all...we have better ice cream down the the block from us at home, so we didn't see what the big deal was, but we were happy we ticked that off the list as well.

It was time to return the car to Avis...So we drove back to the hotel to get our stuff out of the car, and then decided to drive to the airport via downtown instead of the expressway, just to see what downtown Fairbanks looks like, since we hadn't been there at all. It was a lovely drive! Downtown Fairbanks is really nice, and has a great vibe to it, with the Chena river going through it.

We dropped the car off at the airport and called the Hampton Inn.

The Hampton Inn offers a really great service: they have a free shuttle to and from the airport and train station, and if you need a ride when the shuttle isn't working, they'll call you a cab and pay for it! Now that's what I call service! The taxi picked us up, and we were driven back to the hotel by the nicest guy, a native alaskin, and it was just so great talking to him that we swapped Facebook info at the end of the ride.

By now, it was alreary after 9 PM. We headed upstairs to pack up our suitcases and go to sleep.

Tomorrow - Denali here we come!

The famous Blue Babe

Amazing

Getting my Dinosaur on! It looks like that wolf is checking me out...hmmm...

cuties!

Yes, Israelis in T-shirts in Alaska!! That's how hot it was on our last day in Fairbanks :)

Farewell Fairbanks!! Our last night at the Hampton Inn.

Thanks for posting more trip review...I have been reading and watching everyday to see if you posted more.:) We will be in Fairbanks next June.

Glad you enjoyed your trip. Oh and congrats on your recent marriage.

Thanks so much for posting. We are in the planning stages of our Radience cruise next June