Articles written by Dimitra Lavrakas
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Kodiak shines as a best place to visit
Travel agents are coming back Many of you in your senior years still avoid the use of computers. This is both good and bad. Good because it makes you comfortable not having to wrestle with the...
Travel, education in one package from Road Scholar
John McCool just returned home to Anchorage from an 11-day whirlwind trip with Road Scholar. He believes he's done over 40 with them, and says travel is made easy because the itinerary is so well...
Baby, it's going to be cold outside
If you face heating bills that are burdensome, the State of Alaska’s Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program could be your solution. LIHEAP is a federally-funded program that helps low-income households with their home energy bills. It...
Travel, activities sparkle in the fall
The tourists have departed and the land is changing colors, and it's the time when Alaskans can see the state unhindered by tour buses and being asked pesky questions like, "when do the Northern...
Europe sleeper trains travel far and wide
Why do I write so many columns about trains? Because I'm old, you're old and we can't walk that far anymore. Taking a train means you see more of a country and its cities, towns and villages, and in...
Alaska's winter ferry schedule announced
It didn't take long for new Alaska Marine Highway Director Craig Torga to make waves. Since his appointment in March this year, he's been busy turning the ferry service around. The winter schedule is...
Alaska Railroad notes a century of operation
By DIMITRA LAVRAKAS Senior Voice Travel Correspondent "That the Alaska Railroad was ever built is astonishing," writes Alaskan author Steven Levi in his rollicking history of the Alaska Railroad in...
Alaska Railroad centennial celebrations
All Aboard: The Alaska Railroad Centennial On view May 5, 2023 – Feb. 18, 2024, Anchorage Museum Atrium, first floor. Opening in the centennial year of the completion of the Alaska Railroad, this...
Alaska Railroad CEO takes a look back and forward
William G. O'Leary has served as president and chief executive officer for 10 years and is responsible for the daily management and operations of the Alaska Railroad Corporation. Here he gives his...
Summer offers festivals and fairs, near and far
It seemed like it would never happen, but the snow is gone and you can take to the road to check out all the great summer fairs and festivals Alaska has to offer. This year, try voyaging in a...
How Rick Mystrom found his groove
Nothing seems to stop Rick Mystrom. From the quest to hold the Olympics in Anchorage, to building an ad agency, to running for mayor of Anchorage, to facing the scourge of Type 1 diabetes, Mystrom...
Alaska's awe-inspiring National Parks and Monuments
Recently, a press statement came in from online travel guide Travel Lemming that reported on national parks ranked by affordability, accessibility, biodiversity, crowds, reviews and weather....
Kenai Peninsula senior centers welcome travelers
Gone are so many of the historic Alaska roadhouses that provided travelers with a meal and sometimes lodging, but senior centers across the Kenai have stepped in. The Seward Highway to Kenai's...
Palmer lunch cancellation hard to swallow
When Palmer Senior Center, a facility under the Mat-Su Senior Services, announced on Feb. 17 that its on-site lunch program would end Feb. 21, seniors expressed anger, sorrow and understanding on its Facebook page. The center’s page disabled...
Alaska writer turns former job into flaming passion
There's nothing better to warm up with on a chilly Alaska night than a romance novel with not only lust, but fire. But with Lolo Paige's books, don't expect covers with buxom women having their...
Exhilarating Oregon coast beckons you
You enter Newport via the impressive 600-foot Yaquina Bay Bridge, a combination of art deco and art moderne with touches of gothic architectural style that opened in 1936. It sits a thrilling 135...
A plague of travel difficulties to contend with
Thousands upon thousands of travelers have been stuck recently in transportation hell due to a number of problems. Whether it's weather, lack of airline employees, FAA system failures, it's a real...
Free medical flights with angel pilots
For 39 years, Angel Flight West has transported thousands of people to medical care – for free. Flights are generally for passengers who can't afford airline tickets, or for whom travel by land or...
Going the extra mile to fight cancer
For the second year in a row, Alaska Airlines and GCI have teamed up to donate one million miles to the American Cancer Society and their program to help Alaskan cancer patients travel for their treatment. Whether traveling from remote areas of the...
Cruise ships sail into the far north
In 1994, when I first moved to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), the Russian icebreaker "Yamal" cruised into town with tourists aboard. It took 13 helicopter trips just to unload their luggage for...
At-home clinical trials
There are many new clinical trials available to Alaskans that are conducted at home. Clinical trials are medical research studies designed to test the safety and effectiveness of new investigational drugs, devices or treatments in humans. These...
Last-minute flights, airfares for funerals
When someone in your family is dying whether, it's in-state or the Lower 48, you want to get to them fast. When I was visiting a friend in Kodiak, her mother lay dying in Alabama, and we managed to...
Flying legal: Your cannabis and the law
Twenty-one states have decriminalized possession of cannabis and some allow growing for your own use. Pot shops have popped up all over and the taxes from the sale of marijuana in specialized stores...
Bonanza for at-home medical studies
PicnicHealth is a business with a new approach to medical studies. It will take the information from your medical history through an online portal and share it with researchers. All of your records, no matter how many times you move, will be...
Whales, eagles, nutcrackers take center stage
November brings a flurry of seasonal salutes to the whales and eagles that enhance our life here. In Haines, thousands of bald eagles gather to chase the late chum and coho salmon run, while in Sitka...