Doris mentioned having a visit to Alaska on her bucket list, and she thought visiting Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge might fit the bill. Oh, yes, Doris, it certainly would! This is a dramatic and spectacular place, at any time of year and in any weather.

Kenai Fjords National Park has been on my recommended “must-see-in-Alaska” list since the first time someone asked me for such a list. All by itself, the boat ride out here can be the highlight of a trip to this amazing state: the glacier-carved bays, nooks, and crannies; the rocky shoreline; the glaciers and icebergs; the bird rookeries; the whales, sea lions, seals, porpoises, sea otters; the drama of the weather and terrain. Add to that yummy hot food cooked, served, and cleaned up by someone else and a cozy bed in a cozy cabin on a cozy lagoon. Yep, I think that’s an experience worth having on a bucket list.

But if you’re coming all this way, maybe you want to see more of the state while you’re here. So this weekend we’re going over to the Alaska Wildland Adventures Web site. This is the company that I came to Alaska to work for all those years ago and that Mike and I still occasionally work for. This is the company that is building this Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge.

Because of my history with the company, and because I consider the lodge owner a friend, this cannot be considered an entirely objective opinion, but I don’t think you can do better if you’re looking for a tour company to show you Alaska. And even if you have no desire to visit Alaska or–yawn–you’ve been here, they’ve got some nice pictures to enjoy.

The Funk & Weber Designs Stitch-N-Safari, if and when it takes place, operates through Alaska Wildland Adventures. I had an inquiry this week. If we can get eight or more people to commit to a trip in 2010, Mike and I will dust off our natural history hats and be your guides. We can see Alaska by day and stitch by night. But I won’t ask AWA to design the trip unless I have enough people committed to going. Let me know if you’re seriously interested.