Later this year, we’re taking our second Alaska cruise and adding extended visits to Denali National Park, Vancouver, Oregon and Washington. With one Alaska cruise under our belt previously, numerous discussions with friend and neighbors, and encouragement from my family, I undertook the vacation planning on my own.
And now, I need a vacation from planning our vacation.
If you’ve checked out the “About Us” section, you know I’m a seasoned traveler, having visited 47 US states and 30 countries for business and pleasure. So, I’ve been places and done things. But never like this.
The considerations, options, logistics and final decisions of planning a 22-day, trains, planes, automobiles, bus and cruise ship trip for a family of three are overwhelming. At this point, I’m envious of the relative simplicity that faced Merriweather Lewis and William Clark when Thomas Jefferson asked them to take a couple of friends, head out west, collect some souvenirs, make new friends, draw up some maps and report back in a couple of years.
I’m envious of the simplicity that faced Merriweather Lewis and William Clark when Thomas Jefferson asked them to take a couple of friends, head out west, and report back in a couple of years.
Without minimizing the accomplishments of Lewis and Clark, their biggest challenge was the unknown. How do you prepare for that? You can’t exactly, so you do your best based on what you know, pack heavily, and plunge ahead.
But let’s face it, in the 21st century with virtually every inch of the planet documented on Google maps, airline limits on luggage and the complexity of traveling with a teenager and a spouse, that “just-discover-it” strategy doesn’t work. You must make a plan, a schedule, an itinerary and reservations.
Thus in November 2017, we started considering options based around a a 7-day southbound cruise from Seward to Vancouver. Navigating the available choices proved as challenging as sailing the inside passage on a moonless night in the fog without radar. Traveling with our 13-year-old, we bypassed our go-to cruise line, Holland America, in favor of Royal Caribbean, where the crowds skew younger and the onboard activities more energetic. Our general discussions about options continued until the second week of January, when we finally booked the cruise. Done in only six weeks! Hit the easy button!
However, as Jim Croce sang in “Bad Leroy Brown,” the trouble soon began as I started work on the other 15 days. I won’t go into all the details but suffice it to say that it’s virtually impossible to manage the choices and challenges in routing, schedules, lodging arrangements, and activities while adhering to the laws of physics and any sort of budget. And here, the internet is your enemy by always offering more distractions and diversions than solutions. This portion took the entire period from mid-January until shortly before departure – and sometimes it seemed like a full-time job.
In travel planning, the internet is your enemy by always offering more distractions and diversions than solutions.
First, I worked on a pre-cruise itinerary to Denali National Park, since we’re traveling in peak season and Alaska trips book early. Friends informed us that cruise-line arranged Denali trips were s-l-o-w–p-a-c-e-d. We determined we could pack in lots more adventure if we did Denali on our own. That’s how we ended up with three-day itinerary that includes landing in Anchorage on a Monday night, then touring Anchorage, driving to Talkeetna, taking a flight-seeing trip, joining the ranger-led Denali Natural History Tour and Hike, hopefully seeing some wildlife, returning to Anchorage, hopping a bus to Seward, and catching the ship for a Friday evening sailing.
For our onboard portion, we wanted to book daily excursions. For those unfamiliar with that term, excursion is cruise-ship terminology for over-priced large-group activities promoted with fabulous pictures and extraordinary descriptions. Then, they are conducted in an over-crowded cruise port and managed to the lowest-common mobility denominator, resulting in a tour pace that would put snails to sleep and experiences as exciting as drinking pasteurized whole milk from a freshly-sterilized glass.
Excursion is cruise-ship terminology for over-priced large-group experiences as exciting as drinking pasteurized whole milk from a freshly-sterilized glass.
Instead, we went the “independent” route, seeking advice from friends, perusing TripAdvisor.com for reviews, and using CostcoTravel.com and direct booking sites to arrange helicopter dog sledding, salmon fishing and whale watching trips with smaller groups. We’re comfortable doing this in US, Canadian and most European ports, but have avoided it in certain ports where crime is high, vendor confidence is low, and negotiation, payment and language are problematic.
Then I started on the 12-day post-cruise portion of the vacation that would make my driving-obsessed, heavy-accelerator-footed father proud. With dogged determination, a few rainy weekends and prolonged periods where no one in my family would speak to me, I finally managed to arrange a general itinerary like this:
- Vancouver, free-style touring, 2 days. We’ll likely us the hop-on/hop-off bus as a base, and spend extended times in Stanley Park for bike riding and walking. Since we’ll be here on a Saturday, the Granville Island Public Market figures as a major activity for us as we love these kinds of city markets blending art, shopping, entertainment, and food.
- Amtrak Cascades, Vancouver to Portland, 1 day. We booked first-class tickets on this route, rated as one of the most scenic train rides in the US. We’’ll be hugging the coast line and various inlets from Vancouver to Seattle. Then it’s on to mountain views before arriving in Portland. This saves the hassle of renting a car one-way from Canada, and is the reason we didn’t book trains in Alaska. Yes, this is the route of a derailment last December, but that was on a bypass which has been taken out of service for now.
- Portland, then late-day drive to Bend, OR, 1 Day. We’ll arrive in Portland late-day, and enjoy some evening time in this quirky city. The next morning, we’ll take in the top-rated Japanese Garden in the country, along with a nearby rose garden. By the late afternoon, we’ll start our trek past Mt. Hood arrive in Bend, OR, after nightfall.
- Mount Hood National Park and Bend, OR, 1 day. Other than laundry, I’m not certain of the plan in Bend. But it’s the one place along the way that a family member (surprisingly!) suggested we stop. I’m awaiting further information and instructions, otherwise it looks like a game-time decision.
- Crater Lake National Park, 1 day. Leaving Bend early, we’ll do sightseeing and hiking before ending the day in Eugene.
- Pacific Coast Drive and Sightseeing, 2 days. We’ll travel Eugene to Pacific City, then Pacific City to Sequim, WA. It’s an ambitious plan, and coast drives can be unpredictable with weather and traffic. Our “must see” list on day one includes Sea Lion Caves, Cape Perpetua (where the cliffs tower 800 feet above the ocean), then Newport and the Otter Creek Loop before staying beachside in Pacific City. Day Two plans include the Cape Meares Lighthouse, horseback riding at Nehalem Bay and Haystack Rock, then a stop in Astoria. From there, it’s back inland to highways and the fastest route to overnight in Sequim.
- Olympic National Park, 1 day. Our final ambitious driving day around Olympic National Park starts with Hurricane Ridge, followed by Sol Duc Falls, beachcombing at Second or Third Beach, then Hoh River Rain Forest before making our final drive to Seattle.
- Seattle, 2 days. There’s a good chance we may just sleep through until flight day. But, if we can find strong coffee to kick start us, we’ll refuel with good seafood and local beer and good seafood, then power tour at places like Pike Place Market, Olympic Sculpture Park and Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Many details remain to be determined, but those will just be worked out along the way.
So it’s done: the itinerary is set, transportation is arranged, and we have places to sleep. Now I need this vacation to recover from planning this vacation. And for our next extended adventure – a trip to Africa – we’re definitely using our friendly travel agent!
More on Lewis and Clark
If you’ve never read “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose, I highly recommend it. The book documents the nearly 2 ½-year journey of the Corps of Discovery round trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean in present-day Oregon. Historically accurate, the storytelling is excellent, and it reads more like a novel. For a truly fictionalized account, I also recommend “From Sea to Shining Sea” by James Alexander Thom, well-known for the accuracy of his historical novels. (Note, I’ve linked to Amazon, but both of these remain in print and can be ordered from other sources.)
Second Thoughts on Concessions to a Teenager
As the sailing date gets closer, I’m second-guessing my cruise line choice, realizing that any cruise would have suited our son if we allowed him to have a week-long on-board internet package.
