Tour Description

The wild of Alaska is calling your name!! The arresting landscapes, abundant wildlife and impressive history are all hallmarks of this great state. Making Memories is will take you up through northern America and across Canada via the Alaskan Highway for a treasured time in Alaska. You’ll have organized tour and free time to give you a balance in using your time and investment in this tour. Come prepared with your passport, camera and extra memory cards for once in a lifetime pictures of snow-capped mountains, lush, green land and lots of wandering wildlife.

Day 1:

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Lodging: Hampton Inn & Suites

Our luxury coach departs with just as much excitement as her travelers. She was built for this trip! We believe you are, too – this is a trip of a lifetime! Make sure you have your passport. Our first evening we will land in Sioux City, South Dakota.

Day 2:

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Lodging:  Hampton Inn

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast prepares you for the day ahead with a morning stop at Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD,. This is the world’s only corn palace; it is an agricultural heritage of South Dakota. The tradition began years ago to display murals of corn which proved the bounty of the soil. Contemporary times create new murals every year in honor of the heritage. The first of many unique sites to behold! Tonight our home will be Bismarck, South Dakota.

Day 3:

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Lodging: Sandman Hotel

Meals: Breakfast

Breakout your passport because we’re going to Canada! We’ll begin our trek across the deep, rugged land of Canada by landing overnight in Saskatoon, growing ½ of the entire quantity of Canada’s food exports. Can you imagine the beautiful farm views we’ll have as we enter and leave this place?

Day 4:

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Lodging: Sandman Hotel Edmondton West

Meals: Breakfast

Our traveling today just happens to take us by the Billion Dollar Mall, so of course we’ll stop! Then we load up our goodies and head to Edmonton for the evening. This is the “Gateway to the North” claiming large scale oil sands projects and diamond mining operations.

Day 5, 6, 7 & 8:

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Lodging: Stonebridge Hotel, Northern Rockies Lodge, Westmark Whitehorse, Young’s Motel

Meals: Daily Breakfast

The next few days we travel many miles on the Alaskan Highway. We stop in Fort Saint John, which is the oldest trading post along the highway. Our journey continues on with stops at Sasquatch Crossing Lodge and Fort Muncho Lake where the jade green lake is the showpiece of the area. Moving along toward the Yukon, we pause for a lingering morning break at Laird River Hot Springs; a REAL hot spring with abundant natural beauty along the boardwalk. At kilometer 1426 we land in southern Yukon at Whitehorse Yukon named because the rapids held such resemblance to the mane of the white horse. On day 8, you’ll need your passport handy as we again enter the USA to spend the evening in Tok, AK; the official welcoming committee of Alaska.

Day 9 & 10:

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Lodging: Bridgewater Hotel

Meals: Breakfast

You’ll want to catch something good to eat so you’re ready for Alaska! We head to Fairbanks to enjoy a 3-hour city guided tour. And then you have bliss, “Alaskaland Free Time”! Dinner tonight will find us enjoying a Salmon Bake Dinner. Day 10 is yours all day long where you may wish to enjoy an optional Flight to Arctic Circle or wander the area with your camera in hand.

Day 11 & 12:

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Lodging: McKinley Chaley Resort

Meals: Breakfast both days, Dinner one evening

Today, we are treated to a sternwheel riverboat cruise, where we see champion sled-dogs and tour a Chene Indian Village as we are introduced to a slice of Alaskan life. Our afternoon special is a Gold Mine Tour. This area is the most famous in the state, and we’re here! Tonight we land at McKinley Chaley Resort in Denali National Park. Our evening will be hosted by the Alaska Cabin Night Dinner Theater where we see old time Alaska performed in an authentic log cabin and are fed amazing food. Day 12 is yours for the taking. There are multiple options. You can rest and relax for the day, take a Tundra Wilderness tour, hike on your own or even arrange for River Rafting with gentle rides up four rapids.

Day 13:

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Lodging: Springhill Suites Midtown

Meals: Breakfast

Breakfast starts our day of travel where we welcome our Anchorage informative city-tour guide. This beautiful city is set among the coastal Chugach Mountains with average summer temperatures of 65 degrees! Your afternoon of free time will be spent any way you dream.

Day 14:

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Lodging: Best Western

Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast pack your bags for another fantastic day as we prepare to travel the Alaska Marine Highway by ferry. Many of these communities along the way are not serviced or even accessed by road; only by ferry. Makes a Walmart run seem so appreciated and hassle-free! We take our overnight rest in Valdez, AK.

Day 15:

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Lodging: Young’s Motel

Meals: Breakfast

Your morning has built in free-time. We load the coach and begin our trek back toward Tok, AK where our evening host has a live show prepared for our enjoyment!

Day 16, 17, 18, 19, & 20:

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Lodging: Captain’s Choice Motel, Westmark Baranof, Inn on the Harbor

Meals: Breakfast (16th-18th)

Day 16 consists largely of travel as we move to Juneau, AK. Day 17 lands us back at the Alaska Marine Highway to hitch a ride on the ferry where lunch is available on the ferry. Juneau is the capital city of Alaska and is the 2nd largest city in the US by area. Day 18 lends you several hours of free time to explore Juneau. We then continue traveling via the Alaska Marine Highway for Prince Rupert, BC – our ferry ride is laden with absolutely breathtaking views. You won’t put your camera away during our adventure over the mountain streams and seeing all the abundant wildlife. Day 19 finds our ferry at sea with short stops throughout the day in Sitka, AK, Kate, AK and Petersburg, AK. Day 20 continues the water travel with stops in Wrangell, AK and Ketchikan, AK. We arrive in the afternoon in Prince Rupert, BC.

Day 21:

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Lodging: Hotel Travelodge

Meals: Breakfast

Our adventure takes off today with a ride on our coach to Prince George, BC for our evening lodging. Prince George is known as the “Northern Capital” because is the largest city in northern British Columbia. It is an important contemporary trade city for this region.

Day 22:

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Lodging: Inns of Banff

Meals: Breakfast

We load the coach to travel through the Canadian Badlands, the “wild west” of Canada where scenic views are known to inspire song, spirituality and wide-eyed wonder. We will stop at Lake Louise for those momentous photo opportunities. Our evening destination is Banff.

Day 23, 24, 25 & 26:

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Lodging: The Yogo Inn, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn and Suites

Meals: Breakfast Daily

Heading back south after breakfast we travel through Montana to the site of the 1880’s gold rush and where the purest drinking water in the world is found, home of Lewistown, MT. Day 24 we continue our trek to our evening rest in Scottsbluff, NE. Day 25 boasts 429 miles as we roll into Lincoln, NE. And our final day, number 26, brings us home.

This tour is not for the faint of heart. We’ve seen breathtaking views, extraordinary sites, majestic mountains, captivating waterfalls, scenic river ways, seemingly untouched wilderness splendor and ingenious ways mankind has integrated living into this wild frontier. The elk, moose, bear, salmon, halibut, otters, fish and whales all call this magnificent place home. It is pure delight for Making Memories to accompany you on this trip of a lifetime.