A Change of Plans

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 in Adventure Travel, Alaska, North America by Quiet Wanderings 14 Comments

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You can spend months researching and planning your travels and you can easily figure out most of the logistics from home: which places to visit, how to get from A to B, accommodation ideas, possible driving routes etc.

But the one thing you can never ‘plan’ for is which of the places you’ve chosen to visit that you are going to lose your heart to. Occasionally you stumble upon a place and from the moment you arrive you wonder how on earth you are going to bring yourself to leave.

View of Matanuska Glacier from Lion's Head

We arrived in the Glacier View area from Anchorage a little before dusk. It was the first time I had driven on the right hand side of the road in almost ten years so the two hour drive became more like four as I nervously made my way down the Glenn Highway.

We had pre-booked a small log cabin in the mountains and that is exactly what we got. The Homestead Guest Cabins, nestled in the Talkeetna Mountains became our second home for four days and we made instant friends with our hosts Sandy and Dan, and their daughter Jenny.

We went berry-picking, horse riding, hiking and of course ice climbing on the Matanuska Glacier. On our second night at the cabin we had a visit from a moose and her twin calves just a couple of meters from our front door, almost close enough to touch.

This delightful little cabin in the wilderness and the kindness of our new friends made it very difficult to leave. So much, that we decided to make it our home for a little while longer. After a week long jaunt to Denali National Park and northern Alaska we returned to Glacier View – this time for a full week. Our two week Alaska Tour somehow turned into three – and I loved every minute of it.

Traditional Alaskan sourdough pancakes…with freshly picked wild blueberries

Allowing yourself the flexibility to alter plans whilst traveling can be so worthwhile. We have a loose schedule on this trip – we know which places we don’t want to miss out on, we know the general direction we are headed, and we know we have three months to do it. But our plans on this trip are constantly in flux. In only three weeks during our trip to Alaska our ‘schedule’ has changed at least ten times and always for the better.

You can’t anticipate the people you will meet, the places you will love or hate, or the deviations you will make as a result…but don’t you think that’s what makes an adventure all the more interesting?

Homestead Guest Cabins

Homestead Guest Cabins are located at Milepost 95 on Victory Road along the Glenn Highway, about two hours east of Anchorage. Your home will be a self-contained log cabin at the edge of the Talkeetna mountain range and is a great base for exploring Glacier View and the surrounding areas. There is the opportunity to go ice climbing, glacier trekking, white water rafting, canoeing, kayaking, horse riding, hiking or… to just relax on your private deck with a glass of wine.

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Tags: adventure, alaska, outdoors, USA

About the Author

Quiet Wanderings Cherina Hadley is the founder of the travel blog Quiet Wanderings and has been travelling the world off and on since 1998. She is a freelance travel writer and professional photographer who loves exploring new places and hopes to inspire others to travel through her writing and photography. Photography portfolio can be seen at: www.cherinahadley.com

Comments (14)

NvGtravels Sep 22 2011 - 12:10 am Reply

god this makes me absolutely desperate to go to Alaska
NvGtravels recently posted..Belgium’s Ardennes: Beauty and the beer!
Sandy Lee via Facebook Sep 22 2011 - 7:12 am Reply

So glad you were flexible and came back for another week — it was almost like a vacation for us too!
Journey Photographic Sep 22 2011 - 2:37 pm Reply

These pictures are just gorgeous, and the colours and contrast in the landscape amazing. Having the time and flexibility to tailor your holiday is wonderful (although not always possible, I guess).
Journey Photographic recently posted..Shadows and Reflections, National Museum of Australia
Raymond @ Man On The Lam Sep 22 2011 - 4:47 pm Reply

Funny — my latest post is about a change of plans as well. I figure if you like a place enough, might as well stick around as long as you can.
Raymond @ Man On The Lam recently posted..The Problem with Planning
Pete Heck Sep 29 2011 - 10:40 pm Reply

Wonderful photos, I love the one of the baby moose.

We’ve given up planning and really let the universe make the plans for us now. We normally just show up in a place with no idea what to do, how to get around etc. Each place we visit we seem to fall in love with something.
Pete Heck recently posted..Is Belgium Cool?
Caz Makepeace Oct 22 2011 - 8:28 am Reply

Wow looks like a magical adventure. Gorgeous photos!! Would so love to go to Alaska- thanks for the inspiration
- quietwanderings Oct 22 2011 - 3:22 pm Reply
  
  Thanks Caz. It really was magical – one of the best trips I’ve done by far! I am feeling a little nostalgic for Alaska now…
Trish Oct 22 2011 - 8:41 am Reply

I really enjoyed this post. We have been traveling Western Australia for 4 weeks , on a very lose schedule that changes day to day , so I get what you mean about having a direction btu being entirely flexible.
I almost want to go to Alaska now.My mother was there briefly last year, yesterday she left for New York to go on a cruise. I am so envious.
Trish recently posted..Things I know – I’ m getting off the naughty list & a Christmas giveaway
- quietwanderings Oct 22 2011 - 3:20 pm Reply
  
  Hope you enjoy WA, Trish. That’s actually my home-state. So much to see over there so I imagine you would need to be pretty flexible. Have you checked out the Margaret River region? Enjoy your trip!
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Melissa Nov 17 2011 - 4:00 am Reply

Wandering along picking and eating blue berries is one of my favourite memories of Alaska, thank you for bringing it all back..I can almost taste them!
Ayngelina Feb 12 2012 - 3:49 pm Reply

Each time I see a post about the North I wonder why I haven’t spent more time there. The photos are beautiful.
Ayngelina recently posted..Food Friday: Pave
- quietwanderings Feb 17 2012 - 2:36 am Reply
  
  You are so fortunate to be so close! I would go back to Alaska in a heart beat. It’s like anywhere though, we tend to overlook what is at our doorstep and venture further…
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