(Enlarge) D Jeffries, Karen Jeffries, their daughter, Amy Bortz, and Amy’s husband, Steve Bortz, from left, pause for a moment at Denali Park in front of Mount McKinley during their summer trip to Alaska for the Jeffries’ 40th anniversary.\r\nD Jeffries, Karen Jeffries, their daughter, Amy Bortz, and Amy’s husband, Steve Bortz, from left, pause for a moment at Denali Park in front of Mount McKinley during their summer trip to Alaska for the Jeffries’ 40th anniversary.

Our neighbors, D and Karen Jeffries, took a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to Alaska this summer for their 40th wedding anniversary. The trip also provided them an opportunity to visit family in the northwest.

They began their almost month long journey in Anchorage staying with Karen's aunt and uncle, Miriam and Ken Donohue, who moved to Alaska in 1976. The foursome then spent several days on the Homer Spit, a 4 1/2-mile piece of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay, the home to the Homer Boat Harbor. They saw bald eagles, watched huge halibut being off-loaded from fishing boats and visited the famous Salty Dawg Saloon.

After returning to Anchorage, Karen and D were joined by their oldest daughter, Amy Bortz, and her husband, Steve, and were able to spend time with Ken and Miriam's daughter, Erin Donohue, and her boyfriend, Robb Boyer.

One of the highlights of their trip included riding the Alaska Railroad Dome car through the mountains and valleys to Denali National Park and Preserve. They stayed at the McKinley Chalet Resort and during a tour of the park saw several caribou and a mother grizzly bear with her three baby cubs.

"Our biggest reward was seeing Mount McKinley -- Denali High One as it is called," Karen said.

Denali is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. Most days it is in the clouds so visitors rarely get to see it.

On their trip to Seward for a seven-day cruise they stopped by the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for injured and orphaned animals and hiked up the toe of Exit Glacier, part of the Harding Ice field, a relic of the Ice Age.

The ship cruised right up to Hubbard Glacier which was "calving" where parts of the glacier break off and fall into the bay. The ship's captain said they were within 2/10ths of a mile from the glacier and it was the best day he had this season.

The ship stopped in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, where Karen and D took a whale watching trip on another boat and saw 14 humpback whales. When they stopped in Skagway they rode the White Pass Railroad through mountains that the Klondike gold miners once traveled.

In Ketchikan, they saw float planes, went to the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery where salmon come back yearly to spawn and visited The Eagle Center that was caring for a pair of injured bald eagles.

Karen and D had a veranda room on the ship and could just stay in bed and watch the beautiful scenery. They were sorry to see the cruise end in Vancouver, British Columbia, but were happy to visit with Karen's cousin, Brian Donohue, and his 15-year old son, Brooks, in Seattle.

There they visited the famous Pikes Market, saw the flying fish, went kayaking on Lake Union where they saw turtles, a blue heron and bald eagles. They also saw Mount Rainer in the distance and saw the floating house that was in the movie, "Sleepless in Seattle."

Karen, who works in the guidance department at Ellicott Mills Middle School, was sad when the trip ended but said they "came home with wonderful memories of family and nature and about 800 digital pictures."

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