This year, we wanted to vacation someplace different. We’ve gone southward many times to places with lots of sunshine, warm weather, and beaches. So, how about … Alaska? What the heck is in Alaska?!? Well, it turns out: a lot! No one in our family has ever been there, so - let’s go check it out. As to the “when” question, we decided to time our vacation around at least two events: One was the start of the Iditarod, the big dogsled race (more on that later). The other was to be there around the spring equinox, because that’s the best time so see the Aurora Borealis - definitely something on our bucket list. Note that, because the sun was currently near the peak of its eleven-year sunspot cycle, our odds of seeing the aurora was good. We put together an itinerary with something just about every day. We’d start in Fairbanks, and end it in Anchorage. We spent months accumulating plenty of winter c...