North to Alaska! Guest Post From Julie Rowe

Photo by Gregory Runyan

Alaska is a beautiful state. My family and I took a cruise up the coast of Alaska last summer, stopping in several ports, and loved every moment of it. The scenery is amazing!

I love to write about interesting and beautiful places and as I wrote NORTH OF HEARTBREAK, I fell in love with the state. I hope you’ll fall in love too.

 Fascinating facts about Alaska:

• Juneau is the only state capital is the US with no road access.
• Alaska covers 586,412 sq. mi. - two and a half times larger than Texas.
• Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.
• The highest air temperature recorded in Alaska was 100 F at Fort Yukon in 1915. The lowest temperature, -80 F, was recorded at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
• Alaska is only 55 miles east of Russia.
• The Alaska Highway was built as a military supply road during WWII.
• In 1943 Japan invaded Alaska’s Aleutian Islands - starting the “1000 Mile War”. They occupied Agattu, Attu & Kiska.
• The “1000 Mile War” was the first battle fought on US soil since the Civil War.
• There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.
• About 52 percent of Alaskans are male, the highest percentage of any state.
• Alaska State Sport: Dog Mushing.
• A 674 mile dogsled relay in 1925 brought diphtheria vaccine to Nome.
• The Iditarod is a dog-team race covering over 1000 miles.
• It takes the fastest dog-team between 9 & 12 days to travel the 1000+ mile Iditarod trail.
• Sled dogs are driven solely by verbal commands.
• Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
• Alaska’s coastline extends over 6,600 miles.