North to Alaska

As I stepped onto the ship, a smile was on my face as I realized that I was finally going to see Alaska.

When you think of Alaska, what do you think of?  I think of bears, moose, whales, salmon, glaciers, mountains and lots of lakes.  Any photo that I have ever seen of Alaska has been spectacular.  Everyone that I have spoken to about Alaska, has had nothing put wonderful things to say about this great state.

Part of the excitement is knowing that after this trip, I will have stepped foot onto all 50 states of the United States.  Alaska is such a huge state.  You could fit Texas into Alaska two times and the population is only around 740,000.  It is ranked 48th in population with Vermont at 624,000 and Wyoming at 580,000.

The capital of Alaska is Juneau.  The original capital was Sitka.  In 1906, the capital was moved to Juneau because the gold rush had made it much more economically significant than Sitka.  On October 18, 1867, the Russians handed over Alaska to the United States at a ceremony in Sitka.  It had been the capital of Russian America since 1808.

Some interesting facts about Alaska.  Russia controlled most of the area that is now Alaska from the late 1700s until 1867, when it was purchased by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million or about two cents an acre.  In 1942, two of the outer Aleutian Islands(Attu and Kiska) were occupied by the Japanese during WWII and their recovery for the U.S. became a matter of national pride.

The state bird of Alaska is the willow ptarmigan.  The state flower is forget-me-not.  State sport is dog mushing.

Anchorage, Alaska has a subartic climate .  The average daytime summer temperatures range from approximately 55 to 78 degrees F, and the average daytime winter temperatures are about 5 to 30 degrees F.

Interesting facts about daylight.  Even though residents of Barrow(the northernmost town in Alaska, won't see the sun for 67 days winter, the enjoy the midnight sun all summer, over 80 days of uninterrupted daylight.   On the shortest day of the year(December 21st), Juneau's sunrise is at 8:45 am and sunset is at 3:07 pm.

The places that we will be visiting in Alaska will be Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Anchorage and Denali National Park.  I look forward to sharing my photos and adventures!