Trip to Alaska - Part 1 of 3

 Trip to Alaska  -  Part 1  of  3 

Photo-www.travelblat.com

Alaska was purchased by the US from Russia, with the signature of President  Andrew Johnson on October 18, 1867.

After the Civil War, William Seward, Secretary of State, had accepted the second offer by the Russians to sell us Alaska for $ 7.2 million. Little interest was shown first and it was called “Seward’s Folly”…. But in 1896…. Gold was discovered… and everything changed.

Alaska became a State on January 3, 1959, Hawaii following on August 21, 1959 as the 50^th State. President Eisenhower issued an order for the American Flag having 50 stars.

Alaska is a great place to visit… so different from the other States.

What fascinated me was its immensity in contrast with the scare population(except in the large towns)

You drive miles along the highway from Anchorage to Denali National Park, meeting a car here and there and stopping at last in a tourist coffee shop, tired from the long drive.

If you head South of Anchorage, instead, you will encounter rivers, lakes and sea which are awesome.

The nature is beautiful. The trees are tall and dense in the South, then, as you go North, you find slopes with low vegetation and lots of small flowers. Everywhere the big sky welcomes you. There is a feeling of grandeur which surrounds you. This is during summer… because snow begins in November in Anchorage and last the whole winter….

Alaska is so large that some families have a private plane. You can see little planes next to the car in a few driveways.

I had the chance to visit Anchorage and Denali National Park in 2001 with a group called “Elderhostel”, founded in 1975 in Boston for seniors who wanted to travel. The name was changed to “Road Scholar” in 2010 but the organization is still in existence. (“roadscholar.org”).

The price was very reasonable. You came to the site on your own, then you spent 5 days with the group. In the morning you attended a lecture given by a professor of a nearby college, on the main subject of the trip. Often a second subject was also discussed. In the afternoon, you were taken by car or bus to a site, museum, village, volcano, mountain…. relative to the lectures. After dinner an entertainment was offered. Because Alaska is far away, two programs were offered, one after the other.

Anchorage is a very pretty town with all the amenities you can desire. We were lodged at the Alaska Pacific University on campus suites, identical to a very good hotel.

We discovered the traditional lifestyle of different tribes living in the State. Some have migrated from Siberia over 1000 years ago, others even earlier, like the Aleut, using kayaks.

Catherine the Great sent Orthodox Priests from Russia in the early 19^th century to convert the Alaskan tribes and you can still find a Russian influence and Russian churches in the towns.

Later Catholic missionaries came and found churches with lively parishes. The priest reaches his flock by plane or snowmobile.