“Where every turn was a postcard, and every experience topped the last.”
Alaska Travel Journal Day 1: Anchorage Arrival & Seaplane Dreams
After a long but smooth travel day, we landed in Anchorage and checked into The Lakefront Anchorage—a hotel perched on Lake Hood, the world’s busiest seaplane base. Instead of boats at each dock, there were seaplanes! It was like stepping into Matt’s aviation dream.
Day 2: Glacier Cruisin’ & Tunnel Time Travel
We hit the road early, heading down Alaska’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous Scenic Highway to Whittier for a Prince William Sound Glacier Cruise.
Getting to Whittier involved the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. The tunnel is the longest dual-use tunnel in North America—shared by cars and trains! One lane. One direction at a time. If you miss the opening, you wait an hour. Claustrophobes, beware.
Weather report: Absolute perfection (which is rare—Whittier sees 16 FEET of rain annually). On our 150-mile cruise, we saw 25+ glaciers, plus bald eagles, harbor seals, otters, sea lions—and even a black bear chilling onshore. Alaska, you showoff.
Overwhelmed by nature, we made our way to Seward for the night, where Matt would soon report to Flight School.
Day 3: Fog, Floatplanes & Field Gloves
Welcome to Moose Pass, population: small. Matt started flight school with foggy skies and a hearty study plan. We stayed in a cozy cabin right on the lake, surrounded by floatplanes and zero distractions (no TV, no Wi-Fi, minimal cell service = focus mode).
Dinner at Trail Lake Lodge (only open weekends) came with laughs and this gem of a motto:
“Not white glove service—more like field gloves and warm mittens.”
Later that night, a train rumbled right past our cabin like a scene out of a childhood storybook. Choo choo!