1. As we descended into Anchorage, the captain announced "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Alaska" just as we broke through the clouds. Below, endless snowcapped mountains and glaciers. Absolutely beautiful.
2. The glacier/wildlife cruise off the southern coast. Though the seas were extremely rough (a shout out goes here for some anti-seasick med called Bonine; it worked great), and I was drenched more than once by a rouge wave, the weather was perfect and the scenery, in what would become a running theme, was beautiful. We saw a (rumored) whale, seals, sea lions, and, strangely, one mountain goat.
3. The sightseeing flight around the summit of Mt. McKinley. There was once or twice when the pilot got to talking or pointed out something to the side of the plane that I started to fear we would fly right into a cliff wall, but other than that it was wonderful. Good thing I went, too, since the clouds kept the massive mountain obscured from the ground.
4. Small world moments in a vast state. A couple of girls who were on the glacier cruise were also on the sightseeing flight two days later. Then I ran into another girl from the boat later on at the hotel in Denali National Park.
5. Today I was driving a straight level stretch of highway. I leaned over to the passenger side to mess with the iPod and happened to look out the passeneger window to see a bald eagle flying at eye level, perhaps 20 to 30 feet from the car. It followed me, just like that, for over a mile.
And one disappointment: Denali National Park. If you've ever been to Yellowstone you know that from the moment you enter the park all kinds of wildlife get thrown at you. You can't go ten feet without smacking into some bison/elk/bear/whatever. This is what I thought Denali would be like, some sort of wildlife jamboree. Though the scenery and the hiking and such were great, there was no wildlife to be seen, save a small family of jackrabbits that came into the clearing to feed. "Where are your predators?" I asked them. "Why isn't something coming to eat you?" Sadly, it was not to be.
