Shrinking Bucket List: When Did it Begin and End? Plus Anchorage

Recently my brother asked about the beginning and the end of the trip. We left Bristol on May 10, and we got back to Bristol on June 7. We left Forest City, IA, in the motorhome on May 12 and arrived in Anchorage on May 23. The Holland America Cruise from Seward, AK, to Vancouver, BC, was from May 27 to June 3. The Amtrak trip from Seattle to Minneapolis was June 5-7, and we flew home that evening.

After we left Denali National Park, we drove down to Anchorage to spend our last night in our cozy motorhome. It was a fabulous trip, and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to do so many things I had always wanted to do. Several people have asked me if I would make the trip again, and my answer is “Maybe.” After I have done most of the other things I want to do, then I would consider it.

When we left Forest City, the odometer had 9 miles on it. When we got to Anchorage, it had 3,850 miles. There were many individual places I would like to revisit and stay for a time, get to know the area better, and do some hiking. I’ve always loved walking, but after working at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, I found that I really like hiking. A few years back, I read Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods,” which I highly recommend. It is his story of hiking the Appalachian Trail – and here I am living right next to the AT. Hmmmm – maybe something for my bucket list?

We stayed in The Historic Anchorage Hotel, and I highly recommend it. It was built in the early 1900s, and it survived the 1964 earthquake. It is worth your time to read more about the earthquake and look at photos (easy to find on the Internet), which was the largest quake ever in North America, something like 9.3. We went to the Earthquake Museum and saw a movie, complete with moving chairs to simulate the shaking of the quake. We also went on a tour of the city. There were lots of things to do in Anchorage, but our time was limited.

We left early the next morning by train for Seward.