Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Any ideas???

Hey all,
My parents informed me that they are coming up to AK to visit for a week this coming summer. The problem is....

They don't like to fish.
They don't like to go on boats.
They will not get in little planes for sight seeing etc
They don't like museums, or any of that stuff......

So anyone have any ideas for what I can have them do? So far I have a plan for them to take the railroad to denali and go on a tour of the park. Then stay in the cabins that night and come back to ANC the next day.

So any ideas on the other 4-5 days?

Everything I've mentioned has been shot down: halibut fishing, salmon fishing, bear viewing in katami, etc.....

I ask them what they want to do and they are like "you know, see AK". My dad as no interest in AK (theres no cows here) and if I took him on a horse ride anywhere here he would just spend the day telling whoever owns the horses what is wrong with them hahahaha. Gotta love ranchers. So the soldotna horse ride idea someone gave me is a no go

Hell if my dad drank I'd just take him around the state to some of the more famous bars but heck even thats a no go!

HELP!!!!!!!!

Take them on the tram at Alyeska and do lunch at the top. Great view from there.

Take a walk/hike at Glen Alps; Flat Top if they are tough enough, one of the short ones if they aren't.

Take them to Kodiak and drive out to Bertram's ranch and show him some real cows... They run Belted Galways because the bears are not bad enough to mess with them... And go beyond to the Rocket Launch facility and show him some of the other cows- the bison they run out there. Then show them the black sand beach and fossil beach.

Find a musher and show him how to imrove his ranch by raising sled dogs... less manure to deal with.

Or just stay home and look at one another...

Add to Sitka deer response;visit Crow Creek Mine and do some gold panning, visit the Musk Ox farm,visit the mine at Hope,go dig some Razor Clams,maybe catch a Bore tide and Some Beluga whales,make sure to tell him ropes are on ranches, lines go on Boats.

Fair Winds and following Seas

Take a walk to Exit Glacier down near Seward. The Seward Sea Life Center is a worthwhile way to fill out the day. Stop and glass goats and sheep on the way down. Usually good for a bear or three on the mountains.

Bring him to the Soldotna arena on Thursday night for team penning.

Ocean and Islan center in Homer is pretty good.

They could get a "Milepost" guide and an RV and drive around and see what interests them.

That's always a tough one for folks that aren't really interested in Alaskan activities.

The big game park/wildlife refuge South of Girdwood is worth stopping by.

Sounds like a visit where you'll be counting down the days until they leave.

Take dad to the Bush Company after you drop off mom at Nordstroms.

Seriously a drive out to Glenallen and down to Valdez is inspiring to anyone!

I don't know, Alaska? I heard it was dark all the time, or wait, light all the time??? If hiking is cool then you have russian river falls, crescent lake and fuller lakes all basically on the way to Seward, decent sheep and bear and goat viewing there as well. They can take pictures of people combat fishing and also of the 300 or so yards of clear Russian River water running side by side with Blue glaicier Kenai water below the confluence.

Suggest that they take the train to Denali from Seward. They will then go through a mountain range and go from a coastal rainforest through to Denali. If not insist they drive to Seward or Homer. From about Ninilchik to Homer the view is awsome especially if it is clear and I think the entire view to Seward is awsome. A drive to Valdez will also impress about everyone.
pete

Tell them to stay home. Then go fishing.

1.have them forward their resumes & find them part time jobs for the duration.
2.take a ride around Pt McKenzie - you can look for moose & Pop can spot some cows.
seriously it's hard to imagine someone visiting during fishing season & not wanting to do any of the FUN things AK is known for.
Gary

So true.

Thanks all for the ideas. I will for sure check out the tram thing and also the musk ox farm. They are like hairy cows right???

Part of the spoiler is my dad has already been to Alaska. He said there was too many damn people up here in the 70's and he couldn't imagine it has got any better since then.

To add even more pain to my summer they called me today and said my aunt and uncle are also coming. Uncle has same thoughts as my dad. And my aunt is afraid of heights....

Guess I'll cross the tram off the list....

The soldotna team penning thing would be awesome. I know my dad/uncle would get a kick outta that. If we are in the area around then that would help to kill a little time.

If you guys see a guy that looks like a real cowboy in ak the week of July 14-21 with a belt buckle with his brand (lazy E w/ a heart above it) come say hi to me.

Or better yet shoot me.

Seriously.

Why are they coming up? I just can't see spending the dough for what is so obviously a bummer of trip for them. Go to argentina and eat some beef and check out those cattle operations, that's more thier speed and would be a cool trip.

No boats?...no small planes?....no fishing?

It's kind of hard to come up with easy meaningful ideas that don't involve Dimond Center Mall; they sometimes have pictures taken in Alaska in there: Bears, moose, aurora, etc. There's even a few Alaskans in there now and then. And don't they have an ice rink or something? How much more Alaskan an experience can you get than that? And when they tire of that, take them across to the Wal-Mart parking lot where you might find a few RVers willing to share the tribulations of the road. Gad!

On second thought, just put them on a 737 out to Nome. After they've tried the Polaris Hotel for a night, they'll smell like Alaska for weeks to come, or at least the dregs of Nome. There's even a bar or two I hear on front street. And the musk ox thereabouts are wild....and so are a few other things.

I used to be one of the PITA tour drivers between Anchorage and Seward. There is a nice little game park on the highway, so that they can see nature safetly penned in. Also there are some shoreline cruises out of Seward. reasonable sized boat drives by glaciers and stuff. There also numerous tours they can take in ANC, learn about the earthquake etc and of course as already mentioned there is the Bush Club;)

Send them to Alberta where the real cowboys are.

But seriously, I'd put them on a horseback ride. So what if he bitches? It'll make his day to share his opinions.

Best advice yet. Summer is too short to have it ruined by relatives that don't appreciate Alaska. Tell them to come in April, then they'll have a reason to complain, and you'll be just as pissy due to breakup weather.

That's just mean.

Jess?