I asked CB for enough recommendations I thought I'd give back with this report.

This late summer / early fall season was great for a visit. Temps in the 30s-50s, so cool at times. Got snow at one point at a higher elevation. A lot of touristy stuff had closed, but the stuff we wanted to see was there. Fewer people felt more comfortable--the cruise industry has shut down so there are many thousands of fewer people around, and therefore lower COVID risk. In fact Alaska makes you show up with a negative test done within 72 hours. Made the trip cost a few hundred more but made you feel more confident flying there. My goal was to show my son stuff he couldn't see when the rest of the fam took a cruise the prior year, but he couldn't come. My personal bucket list for the trip: see Denali (the mountain) and the Northern Lights, both weather dependent, so not a slam dunk. The trip was timed so that we'd be in Fairbanks at the end, and the moon would be a waning crescent, but most of what we wanted to see hadn't shut down for the Winter yet. A timing challenge.

Started in Anchorage and rented a car. First stop: Moose's Tooth for pizza. Then drove to part of the Chugach State Park just south of Anchorage and did a short hike to a place that overlooked the Cook Inslet / Turnagain Arm. Saw belugas for the first time feeding in the water. And that was just day 1. Tried to eat at the "F Street Grill?" We'd been there before and they're open late with good fish & chips, but they were a COVID victim. Ate at "Humpies," not as good.

Day 2 we started at a couple local markets and got some food. Then went to Palmer, about 30 minutes North, to see the "Harvest Fest," what's left of their State Fair during COVID. Saw the mandatory huge vegetables that grow in 24 hour sunlight and got our fish & chips. Visited a reindeer and a musk ox farm (my family likes animals). Very clear day; we should have tried to catch a glimpse of Denali but missed the window. Drove south to Girdwood and stayed at the Alyeska Resort; I'd highly recommend the Jack Sprat restaurant there (we picked up dessert there). Caught the "bore tide" as the rising tide coming in from the ocean meets the lowering tide exiting from the Turnagain Arm, creating a 2 foot wave that you can surf for miles if you're motivated.

Day 3 we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a must-see. Drove back South to Seward. Visited a dog mushing kennel (more animals). It was now overcast and drizzly, but still fun. Stayed at an AirBNB about 5 miles north of downtown. Quaint.

Day 4 my son and I hiked in the rain up to the Harding Ice Field, the source of a number of glaciers and part of the Kenai Fjords National Park. Due to the drizzle / rain, visibility wasn't awesome but still worth it. I'm still sore today, over a week later. It was 10 miles: 5 up, 5 down. They say it's 8 but they don't count hiking 1ish to the trail head, at least according to Strava. But fantastic views, and saw a young black bear about 30 yards away off the trail. My wife picked us up at the ranger station at the bottom and drove us to what passes for a sports bar there and we watched the 2nd half of the Navy game. Great day.

Day 5 we started by driving from Seward to Whittier, going through the 1 lane tunnel through the mountain. Almost nothing to see there if you're not doing a Prince William Sound day cruise, and we didn't have time. But we did hike up to the Portage Glacier Pass to see the glacier. That was tough being so sore from the prior day's hike. We then drove around Whittier for 30 minutes, then back through the tunnel to drive a few hours back North to Talkeetna. Got some food, looked around. Talkeetna, which is really only of interest since the cruise industry has decided to make it a tourist spot, was mostly shut down for the season, and temps were cooler there. Again due to drizzle, no views of Denali as we drove up.

Day 6 we drove from Talkeetna to Denali National Park. *Highly* recommended. With the cooler temps, the birch trees were all in yellow, while the spruce were still their evergreen. Gorgeous. Drove the 15 miles of the road through the park you're allowed to drive without a permit, and saw moose. Checked into the "hotel." We were across from the Princess Lodge, which is shut down due to COVID. The Nenana River runs just by our hotel, also gorgeous. Ate at the 49th State (bar?) about 9 miles North in Healy. Pretty good food for such a small town.

Day 7 we coughed up the cash to have a bus drive us to about mile 65 of the Denali Park road. If I did it again I think I'd only pay for the much cheaper transport bus. The tourist bus had commentary, but we really cared most about the wildlife, and we'd have seen the same stuff on either bus. Drizzle had turned to snow the night before, so much of the park was covered in a light dusting. Gorgeous. Again saw lots of moose, some sparring caribou, and a brown bear walked along the road with us for a while. Again, highly recommended. The only bummer: with the overcast skies, still no view of the mountain.

Day 8 the skies cleared. We drove the 15 miles again, since we knew we were leaving, and wouldn't be back anytime soon. We hoped to catch a view of the mountain but didn't know where to look. At the ranger checkpoint at mile 15 we asked the ranger, and she gave us some ideas where to stop on the way back. We did so: the "Mountain Vista" campground (duh). And there it was. A long way away, but we finally saw it. Box 1, checked. Again, gorgeous. Clear skies made the Alaska range beautiful. But you can only stay so long, and we drove back out (seeing more moose), and hung a left to head North to Fairbanks. At first blush there doesn't seem to be much in Fairbanks to see, but we drove around trying to soak it in. We ended up eating at a pizza place overlooking the runway of the small plane part of the airport. The pizza was great and watching the small planes come and go was fantastic. Unfortunately clouds rolled back in, so our dream of seeing the Northern Lights was put on hold. We stayed at Pike's Waterfront Lodge. Inexpensive, and probably the hotel that tried the hardest of any I've stayed in recently. Not a luxury spot, but it had quite a few extras: free local pie, free scoop of ice cream at night, a driving "range" (hitting balls across the river at a "Love Alaska" sign), 3 hole minigolf, an atrium to look for the Northern Lights and a theater that runs a film about them from 10 a.m -2 a.m.

Day 9: last full day, and the clouds mostly cleared as well. We started at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North. Well worth the ~2 hour investment of time. Then we drove to see a spot where you can see the Alyeska Pipeline. Very interesting. Then off to drove over an hour to the Chena Hot Springs "resort." It's kind of run down, and kind of dirty, but that's true of a lot in Alaska, and we knew it going in, so it wasn't a disappointment. We had a great time hanging out in the hot spring. After that we visited the dog kennel on-site. Lots of fun. Then we drove the hour+ back toward Fairbanks, taking a detour to the town of "North Pole" and got a picture in front of the North Pole Post Office. Also stopped at the tourist trap "Santa's House," a year-round Christmas store, and chatted with the staff Santa and Mrs. Claus. It was fun. Picked up some mediocre Chinese Food and headed back to the hotel. With clearish skies, I set my alarm for 2 a.m. to poke my head out of hotel to see if skies were clear on this our last night. Solar activity was low (2 of 10 on some aurora watcher scale), so I was skeptical.

Day 10: woke up at 2 a.m. and looked out. Skies were very clear and stars bright for the first time all trip. Couldn't see the aurora from the hotel, but I figured the ambient light was too bright, so decided, it being the last night, to get in the car and drove 30 minutes south down the highway. Didn't see squat on the way down, but there were trees blocking the view to the North for much of the drive. Got to a spot Santa recommended the day before (Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn, where Santa suggested stopping for a beer), but didn't see where to even stop to look. I turned around, disappointed, but saw another car stopped off the side of the road on the way back, so decided I'd stop a couple hundred yards away and see if they were also looking. They were. And the lights were there. Hard to recognize at first, and definitely not bright enough to see from Fairbanks that night. But what looked like what could have been a glow from a small town miles away I realized clearly couldn't be: there was nothing out there. Looking closer I saw a ribbon of dim light that emanated from there, in the Northwest, spread across the sky to the Northeast. I figured that was what I was looking for, but wanted to be sure. So I drove 5-6 miles further back toward town, figuring I'd be far enough from any "town" to be able to be sure. I saw a small road headed South, and turned down it and turned back around to have a clear view of the North, and there they were. Again an arc of light starting in the Northwest, heading to the Northeast. This time I watched for a while, and they changed, slowly, with a 2nd arc appearing at times, the arc thickening and seeing what looked like a curtain at times as well, with "droplets" of light coming down from the ribbon. Spots would slowly become brighter, then dim. Frankly, it was fantastic. I could just make out a green glow. Box 2, checked. I drove back to the hotel, arriving at 4, and woke my wife and son, asking if they wanted to come look. They did, so we drove back out, this time just a few miles out of town to clear the lights and find a place with a good northern view. They didn't see it as vividly as I did, but they were also able to check the box. Drove back to the hotel, got a couple hours' more sleep. Went to the 1 hour of COVID church in Fairbanks at a building a couple miles from the airport. After church we filled the rental car with gas, turned it in, checked in for our flight. Could see the Alaska range from the airport windows due to clear skies. Unfortunately didn't get a window seat for the flight back as what I could catch from the other side of the aisle looked spectacular. Arrived back in San Diego at midnight and ubered home. Long day!

If you read this far, congrats. If you're planning a trip to Alaska sometime, give me a yell. This was our 4th trip so can help out with planning.