Alaska Travel with Autism with Cris Stone

Cris Stone, parent of two children with Autism and born and raised Alaskan, joins Jennie to share her tips for Alaska travel for travelers of all ages with autism.

Music credits: Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.

Jennie Flaming: 0:06

Welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie flaming, I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska travel and life and Alaska. My occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I are committed to keeping the Alaska uncovered podcast ad free. To do that we need your help. If you're enjoying the podcast, we invite you to contribute toward tip jar, which is the first link in the show notes. We are so grateful for our listeners, and we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you and enjoy the show. Do you have questions about traveling in Alaska with autism or a family member with autism? That's what we're talking about today. My guest today is Chris Stone. Chris was born raised and currently lives in Alaska, by way of a few years in Los Angeles and San Antonio, with her husband, daughter, son and two cats. She has degrees in web design and E commerce plus taught blogging classes for various adult community education programs for five years. Chris owns two blogs kiss my tulle, a lifestyle blog for mediocre parents just like her and from Moose to mouse, a blog devoted to helping Alaskans plan their Disney park adventures. She also works as a digital marketing specialist for OB bows, consulting, a boutique digital marketing company that specializes in Alaska tourism. Chris is also a big fan of French fries, 80s. one hit wonders, and any show involving serial killers. Chris, welcome to Alaska uncovered. Thank you for being here.

Unknown: 1:52

Hi, thank you.

Jennie Flaming: 1:55

So to start off with I know I spoiled it a little bit with the intro there. But tell everybody how you got to Alaska.

Unknown: 2:05

So I was born here raised here. I was born in Anchorage, but raised outside of Fairbanks. And then I moved for a while as one does, and ended up being married and having kids in San Antonio. And my husband had served at Elson Air Force Base in Alaska and kept saying I just want to go back. I just want to go back. So in December of 2019, he got a job. And we have moved back and we are so so happy to be back here. It's been our goal. Our whole marriage was to come back here.

Jennie Flaming: 2:42

Oh, that's awesome. Yay. Yeah. So for everyone listening, um, they know that this episode is about traveling in Alaska with autism. And so they may be wondering, why are you here to talk about that topic with me? So can you tell everybody why this topic is so close to your heart personally,

Unknown: 3:07

it's very close to my heart. Both of my children were diagnosed with autism, and also severe ADHD a few years ago. They are currently seven and 10. So we've, they've both been diagnosed for only a few only three or four years. But we have been traveling with them since they were babies in our, in our arms literally, like couldn't even hold their hands up. So we have learned a lot about the expectations of neurotypical people, and especially children, as opposed to neurodivergent people and children. And it's something I'm very passionate about is making sure that people who either are neurodivergent or have neurodivergent children or people that they're in charge of know that that you don't need to stay home. There are lots of ways to cope. The world is much more accommodating to neurodivergent people and people with autism than it was even a couple of years ago. And with a few really good tips and a lot of planning, it will take a lot of planning. You can go anywhere for any amount of time, and have a fantastic time.

Jennie Flaming: 4:25

That's awesome. Chris, I am so excited about this episode. You know, as I've told you, I've had quite a few clients who have been planning trips to Alaska with a family member with autism and a lot of questions about you know, managing that and so of course, every person is different and every person with autism is different and there are lots of different ways that can show up but we are really excited to talk about some tips that will probably be helpful or every One, um, during this episode. So Chris, let's start with talking about flights. So I know this is not a specifically about Alaska, but most people get to Alaska by flying. Um, and also many people who are in Alaska, of course, fly everywhere. So what? What are some things that have helped your family? Enjoy, survive air travel?

Unknown: 5:29

Right? I'm not sure it's the right word is but the number one rule for any form of travel or any form of vacation is, is no your expectations, you need to understand what your person your child needs to make whatever you're doing enjoyable for them, or tolerable. I mean, some things are just going to be tolerated. My children do not want to fly or drive anywhere for long periods of time. It's very, it's very much a sensory overload. So instead of saying, let's make it enjoyable, we lower that bar, and we make it tolerable. So they can do it, and then we'd save enjoyable for other things

Jennie Flaming: 6:13

when it comes to drying get through this.

Unknown: 6:15

Yeah, exactly. I mean, you just gotta, you just gotta just lower expectations like really is the number one rule. That's the number one rule if you have kids that you're traveling with, you know, so just go ahead and just keep that. But as far as flying goes, it's it's all in the planning. One of the very first things that we do is we try and buy our plane tickets. As soon as we know, we need to travel, I have literally bought plane tickets like nine months, 10 months, a year early. As soon as they will let us purchase them. The reason for that is one you will get the best pick of times. And the least number of transfers, because we all know those flights fill up first, right though the nonstop or the one stops, they fill up first, those are the best flights for someone with autism, or severe anxiety or ADHD, because it's the getting on and off planes and the waiting times that tend to be the most difficult. So if we can lower those, and we can do non stops or one stops, that seems to be what's best, best. The other reason is, the sooner you pick you up, the earlier you do your flight, the better seat choices you get. We always budget to be able to pay that extra amount of money to choose our seats. That way, we're not stuck with whatever they're giving us. Because my children have a very hard time sitting at the very back of the plane near the bathrooms because they can hear people and for them. The sensory overload of hearing is really hard for them. Yeah. And they can hear like the attendance in the kitchen. And that's too much for them. So we pay extra, so that we can choose more in the middle of the plane, which is where they seem to do better. And fits in our budget. Obviously, if you can afford to sit in first class, like by all means do, because that's going to be the best. But for if for parents that are on a budget, if you can try and get pay that little bit extra to sit in the seats where you know they need to be and where you know where everyone's going to be the most comfortable, then you're not having to mess around on the day of begging people to you know, can you help us? Can we get a seat? No, yeah, we have flown at the last minute before. We had an unexpected death in the family last spring. And we literally flew like with two days notice. So what I did was I actually called the airlines I no phone calls, right? No one wants to do it. But I actually did. Because they have a very cool code that is a it's a federal thing. They have to do it every airlines in America has to do it. I don't know about international, but I do know that it's a federally mandated code. It is called I'm going to look it up here. So I get the exact thing. It is called the DEP and a and this is a special service request code. And it means it stands for disabled passenger with intellectual or developmental disability needing assistance. So this is incredibly wonderful. So what you do is you you actually have to call you cannot do this online, but you call and you let them know, Hey, we're flying. We either already have a reservation or we need one with an individual CPN a and they will put that code in your reservation. And what it means is you will will be accommodated at security, you will be accommodated when it comes time to board, you will be allowed to board in that those first groups, you will be accommodated in case of any cancellations or delays or problems with seating, they will try their absolute best to make things go as easy as possible for you. So in our case, awesome have we have TSA Pre pre check, we fly so much that we end up getting early boarding anyway, my husband served in the military, so we get all that stuff. Yeah. So we don't ever really have issues. But I really wish that I had known about this, before we had all that stuff. Because waiting in line for security was like an agony for my children having to remove clothes, and then get wanded or go through the machine or whatever, those were very difficult. And a lot of times with the DPN a, they will treat you like a TSA PreCheck. So it may not happen in small airports, but in larger airports, they tend to just kind of take you over there. And then they won't do pat downs, they will talk you through they will give you the time. So you don't feel rushed to go through the scanners or to get wanded or to just do the walkthrough thing that the TSA people do. A lot of times, they will give you lots of time to put things on the conveyor belt to go through. And I know it sounds silly, but if you have people that get anxiety or get overwhelmed very easily in airports, it is usually security, where it's going to happen. Yes. And so that DPN is wonderful for that. It is also amazing because they do let you board early. They let you bring any of your they let you gate check any of your assistance devices. So for instance, my son is a runner, and he has to use a stroller. He uses the older kid kind of stroller, and they let us gate check it with no problems, no issues at all. It's always available to us. And they also will give him early boarding. If we need it. We have not needed it so far, because there's two of us traveling together so we can usually corral them. Yeah. But for for other people. If you need that extra time. If you're traveling by yourself, please use the DPA code.

Jennie Flaming: 12:26

It's like the number one thing that I suggest to people. I love that. You know that because the airlines help wants to help you. They want us to be not an issue for you. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know if the anchorage Airport has this. But at the Seattle airport, they have some additional kind of supports for for people they have, there's a room that you can go to that's quiet, though, we used it. Oh, awesome. They use US national badge that sort of that you were to go through the airport that sort of signals to staff that you have an invisible disability of some sort. And and I don't know how common that is, honestly, in airports across the country. But if you're lying now, there's an excellent chance you're going to be passing through the Seattle airport. Does anchorage have something like that? Do you know I

Unknown: 13:24

don't think anchorage does. But we don't tend to spend a lot of time in the anchorage airport because it's just we arrive and we leave. Yeah, that's our main airport. We do spend quite a lot of time at sea tech. And I believe, if I remember correctly, my friend told me that lax has the same thing. And I'm going to guess that the Denver Airport does too. They tend to be very forward thinking when it comes to helping people with sensory issues. I am going to guess actually, the any large airport in more of an urban setting is going to have some kind of accommodation.

Jennie Flaming: 14:00

Yeah. You know, it's easy to Google that for the airport that you're going to be going to or that you have a layover in to find that information. It's very easy to find for you

Unknown: 14:12

can always call. Yep, you can literally just call. Yep. Like you can call your airlines and ask them a lot of times they will like they're excited not to have people yelling at them and just asking for help. So yes, yeah, they will help however they can or they will give you the correct information. I one of my favorite things to do when we travel is when we fly is I actually pull up the layouts of the airports that we're going to to show my kids because they like to know an idea everything. It settles their anxiety, it makes them feel less overwhelmed if they know everything. So they're very familiar with the SeaTac airport because we fly in and out of there if you go into or from Alaska, you basically fly out of there no matter what. Yeah, but It changes. Yeah. And so we always pull up a layout. We let people okay. Remember, this is where we are. And this is where we're not and things like that. It really helps settle their minds especially. toileting. We got to know where the bathrooms are.

Jennie Flaming: 15:15

Yes. Super important for many,

Unknown: 15:19

many, many people. Yeah, but especially if you have a child, that's neurodivergent. They may still be working on their toileting issues. Yeah, well past what people consider the right age. Yep, I know. That's where I am. I have one who absolutely has issues with toileting. Yeah. And so and he's older, and we just know where the bathrooms are. And we know which ones have the accommodations for for groups. And we know which ones have larger stalls in case we can't use the companion bathroom. Yeah, and things like that. Yeah, those are all things that I recommend people do is is absolutely, if toileting is going to be an issue, please. You can look up the layout of the airlines Creek beforehand, it'll be right there. And also, several of the airlines have apps that when you fly in, it will show you you can literally touch a thing inside their app, and it'll pull up the airport that you're in. And it'll show you all the stuff where customer services in case you need to talk to where the bathrooms are, where the food is. If there's play areas for children see Tech has them St. Louis has them Los Angeles has them. Those are wonderful for when you do lay overs. Yep. Which brings me to layovers. If you are flying in and out of Alaska, we are getting more and more direct flights every day. It's amazing. We get even more in the summer. But we're still going to have those flights that are not. And so my biggest recommendation to people is to try and as much as possible. I know it's not, but as much as possible, trying to stick to one layover, if possible. And if you can do that, this goes against what you think is the right answer, try and have it be a long layover. And by long I mean anything over two hours. The reason for that is, if you have autistic children, they need a lot of downtime. And a lot a lot a lot of downtime. So if we were to land at sea tech, and then be like, where I travel, when I travel by myself, I want as little time in the airport as possible. Yeah, I roll into the airport and I board while the boarding groups are going, when it's a layover, I get my carry on. And I just moved to the next one. And they're already boarding and that makes me happy. That does not work for my children. Yeah, they will literally have a meltdown in the middle of the airport because they don't rush rushing does not exist for them. So anything under two hours, we will not even consider for a flight. Our children need that time. For one, we have to get our stuff, we have to get off the plane. Sometimes that takes a while. Then we have to get our stroller which they gate checked for us. We got to get that set up, then we have to get people in there, then everybody has to go the bathroom. Yeah, no matter what, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. If we flew for one hour, they all have to go the bathroom. Yes, then we actually have to make it to the next gate, which sometimes is in a totally different terminal. Sometimes you have to take escalators sometimes you have to take trams, sometimes you have to take trains. So giving yourself all that time, especially if you have a child that has a hard time transitioning, which a lot of autistic kids do. Sometimes they won't get on the tram. I've had this with my daughter, she literally would not get on. So we had to stand there and wait for each tram to come multiple times until she had calmed down enough that she felt comfortable getting on there. Because there's no forcing, you cannot you cannot force them. You just you can't you kind of just have to hunker down and wait for them to be ready. Yeah, you also need to accommodate food. For a lot of autistic parents, we are very lucky. My children are not super picky eaters. It is a rarity. For autistic parents, we recognize that. So I know a lot of people. Their autistic children are very particular when it comes to food. And you don't get a lot of choices at airports. So you need to make sure you can look up beforehand. Again, look up the layout for the airport that you're going to because they'll have the rest current restaurants on there. And you can see if Oh, my kid won't eat it this fast food place but they'll eat it this other fast food place. And you'll know if it's one that you can hit that way you'll know hey, we know we have time to go to the food court. So let's do that. Or you'll know nobody has anything and we need to just pack our own food. Yep, I have done both many Any times. But again, giving yourself that time is going to make everyone much happier. It will also give you the chance to use any sensory rooms that may be available calming rooms, playgrounds, things like that, or just finding a gate that doesn't have a lot of people at it and and hunkering down there until it's getting closer to your boarding time, and you'll be over to the really crowded area.

Jennie Flaming: 20:25

Yeah, that's all such great advice, Chris. And I will put links to some of these things like information about DPMA. And at least the sensory room at scent at sea TAC, because I know about sea Tac is the Seattle airport. I'll put those in the show notes. So folks will kind of know what they're looking for. Awesome. Another option,

Unknown: 20:48

another option really quick, though, for military, if you are active duty or retired, many large airports have the have a USO in them. They are generally located outside of security. So you will have to leave and go back through security again. But if you are military, the USO places are amazing. They have children's play rooms, they have bunk rooms, they have free food, they have entertainment zones, that some of them are small, some of them are large, the one at Seattle airport is enormous. It's on the second floor. And it's huge. And we have used that many, many, many times. When we had like a five hour layover or a six hour layover. Yeah, because we need to go in there, they could take a nap. And all of the UFOs are trained to accommodate people with neurodivergent seas. Yep, all of them, and the volunteers, their volunteers, so you're gonna get different levels yet, but they all have the basic training that you can just tell them, hey, look, this person has autism, or this person has severe anxiety or whatever. Yeah, and they should know enough to either help you or leave you alone, depending on what you need. That's

Jennie Flaming: 22:03

awesome. Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. That's great. Okay, so another big way that people get around in Alaska and sometimes to Alaska, is by driving. And we are talking about a state with long distances. Not a lot of flushing toilets, along the road, not not really any fast food outside of the major towns. So I'd love to hear Chris a little bit about what your advice would be for visitors who are going to be road tripping around Alaska, which a lot of people do, right?

Unknown: 22:46

So we I have driven up and down the outcome before and so as my husband we have not driven that with our children. We have however driven all over the state of Alaska with them. We frequently drive to Fairbanks because that's where my family is, we'd go to Valdez, we've gone to Kenai and all the places. So our number one thing is if you are visiting Alaska, and you have an autistic child, you might want to look into renting an RV. Because honestly, those are amazing at because it gives you a little freedom to cook your own meals. If they're a picky eater. It gives them more space. A lot of times and people don't realize this but autistic kids and kids with any kind of ADHD have a very hard time sitting in a regular li size seat. Those seats are designed for you to sit with your backup straight and your your legs folded and down to the floor. They don't sit like that. They fidget. They want to put their legs up, they want to lay sideways they want to do things. We we bought our family car with that in mind and we have larger a larger backseat area so my kids can fidget as needed. But a lot of people in a rental car especially if it's a compact or something, it may be very difficult for them to get comfortable because of the way they need to sit in order to accommodate their sensory issues. So an RV is wonderful because they can sit they can have room to spread out they can lay out even if you need to buckle them in or things they can still lay down or put their feet up and they're not going to bother the people around them. Yeah, that's great advice you dress and and there's a toilet. Yes that yes there is a which is huge because if your children are like mine, my children refuse to use porta potties arrest stops. Yeah, the rest areas, you know what I mean? They have to have an actual functioning toilet and it has to be they can't see any bodily waste anywhere. So we we have have I have some stories to tell. I mean I've had some issues. So what we what you need to do is just when it comes to toileting if you have a child, that's the same way, our children are just now getting to where they will go outside, my son has learned how to pee on a tire. And it's like the best thing in the world for him right now. So we did get lucky with that. But we had many years that they would not use rest area bathrooms, the ones that are like the porta potties, and they wouldn't use a porta potty. And they still really don't want to do that. So what we learned to do is we stop at I'm not even exaggerating, every single town that has bathrooms, we stop at a gas station, everybody goes in to go to the bathroom. I don't care if you don't actually have to go. Just try. I just asked you to try. Yeah, and I just asked him to sit down and try. The other thing is, is we actually bought a portable toilet, it folds up, because a bag that you put in there, yep. And we would carry that around in our car for my son, who for a very long time would only sit down on a toilet to go to the bathroom. That was the only way he'd go. So he, we would just pull it out. If we were next to the road. And he would sit on it next to the road. We'd like wave at the passing cars. Do you try and make it discreet as possible, but you do what you can. And that's what he would do. And he'd use that. And then we would of course dispose of them properly in the Yes, bins and things in Alaska, a lot of people need to know, we have bear proof waste pin bins, and all the rest stops. And all the roadsides. So like you can dispose of biohazards in them, you're not going to be messing with the environment. So that's a really nice thing that we have here. But we do that. The other thing is, is don't be embarrassed to use disposable undergarments. Yeah, I know that we're all trying to get our children off of them and to do other things. But sometimes you just have to weigh your sanity and their comfort versus what's going to happen at what you're trying to do. So if you're trying to potty train and you've made a rule, like we're only going to use underwear or whatever. If you're gonna do these long trips, and in Alaska, everything is a long trip. You may just want to do that just for your peace of mind. Also, as someone pointed out to me, period panties are amazing. If you have an older child that has accidents, yeah, does it you can't get them to wear the disposable undergarments. They they hold a lot of liquid. Yeah, they really, really great. Yeah, if you if you need to go that route, I absolutely have zero judgment, no shaming from me, you do what you need to do to make that trip enjoyable. Which includes if you need to lining your backseat with like the pedal puppy pedal pads and things. We've done all these things, by the way, I'm not so that you know where the baseline is, I have done every single one of these things. Yeah, it's no shame. I love that you are game to share this with us. Because this is stuff that is so helpful to other people that and people think oh, my kids, the only one that's like, no, your kid is not the only one, dealing not it. It is a sensory thing for them. It is very overwhelming. And we're all just trying to do the best that we can. And this is

Jennie Flaming: 28:37

another thing that doesn't only apply to people with autism. There are many types of medical conditions that could or just age that could create the same challenges. And exactly want to make sure it's very clear to those of you listening, if in case it wasn't clear already in Alaska, the rest areas do not have flushing toilets. They are pit toilets, so they're outhouses. And so there's no running water. And I can tell you from being a tour director for many years that that is a huge problem for many people for many reasons. So if you have the milepost, that's a great resource for being like where are there if it if it says like rest area with toilets that that won't have water, but like typically gas stations and restaurants will and in bigger towns, you know, Fred Meijer and Walmart and Costco, but you know, those are

Unknown: 29:44

three bears. All of them are going to have yours. Yep. Yeah. The other thing to remember is to those rest areas do not have changing tables. No, no. So if you have a child that you know you need to change them, you are going to need to be bring whatever you need and keep it in your car. And we always keep ours like when we pack our car, we put all the luggage on the bottom, so it makes like a second level. And then we put like, all of our food on the top, so it's accessible. And then we put any toileting needs when our kids were still needing to be on a changing table, we literally would set one up, like we would take one of those changing pads. Granted, we were very lucky, my children didn't need to be changed when they were old. There. So I'm talking about younger children. Sure. But we would take one of those changing pads with the strap, and we would take the strap and we would wrap it around one of the pieces of luggage. So it would stay in place. Yeah. And we would literally just have it set up. And then we would have the wipes and all the changing things right there. Because there was no, there was nothing at restaurants for chatting. No, there's not Yeah, you have an older child that needs to be changed. And you're stuck on the side of the road. Because you can't get to a town that has a changing area, or a companion bathroom to do that. Do your best. Rearrange the luggage so that you're not having to like oh, great, we're on the side of the road, and they have to be changed. And now I have to create an area try and create an area to begin with. Yeah, in anticipation. Just because I know how stressful it is, especially if you're traveling like in the winter, or you're traveling in the valley in the south central southeast. area. It's very rainy, and the sun's very, very down for rainy. And so the less time you spend doing that, the better and easier. It is

Jennie Flaming: 31:34

what you're talking about right now, Chris, like diapers and changing and that kind of thing is another another point for the RV. Is that exactly that up in the RV. And another thing I was thinking about with the RV, is that you mentioned earlier when you were talking about flying how challenging transitions can be. And when you have an RV, yes, you're going to a lot of places, but you're never having to transition where exactly, and I can see that being an enormous advantage. Huge. I also just wanted to mention, if you haven't listened to it yet, way back in June, Episode 19 was all about traveling to Alaska in an RV. So if you're like, Oh, I hadn't thought about this as a solution. Go back and listen to that episode because it covers all kinds of things. Like what if I've never rented an RV before? Can I do it? You know, stuff like that. Cool. Yeah. Anything else? Yeah. Related to talk about

Unknown: 32:35

sewed on road trips? Yeah, it's another thing. Again, you can beforehand Google different towns and find out what offerings they have. It's extremely, extremely common for autistic parents to live at fast food restaurants because our kids that's they want what they want and what they know. And fast. Exactly. Let me tell you the story of my friend Kathy Kathy is my bass. I call her my autism mentor. Her son has autism. He is a couple of years older than my daughter. He was diagnosed very young, so they have been living with this forever. Kathy's husband is from Northern Ireland. They fly from Houston to Northern Ireland twice a year to visit his family. In addition to all the other travel they do, her son is an extraordinarily picky eater. He literally eats three things. He eats Kraft macaroni and cheese, the box kind he eats saltine crackers, and he eats ranch dressing. Hidden Valley only. You can imagine someone flying from Houston to Heathrow and then going on to Northern Ireland. Yes. This is very challenging. Yeah. So Kathy, literally Googled craft maket serve restaurants that serve craft back and she's in London or wherever she was going and she would literally find the places that had that on their kids menu. It is not super common as it is in America there. So she had to do digging, but that way she would know where they can eat when they would eat out. Otherwise. And this is for if you're traveling. She literally packed one entire piece of luggage and all it was was the pre cup. Those mac and cheese easy cups yeah the microwaves of saltines and then the pre the little dips that are done in the pre done packages. Literally an entire yeah saying love luggage and that's where that DPN A comes in handy. Because if you're going through customs but you have the DPN a on there, they will give you less of a hard time when you try and bring in your food. Yes, yes. Something to remember when you go through Canada to if you are driving the Alcan you will have to go through Canada and then again, go through the American one. And they are going to ask you about food sometimes. And so if you're able to say like, Hey, you know, my kid has autism or whatever. In America, they are not legally required. They are not allowed to make you, like provide proof. Like they are not allowed to in other countries. That's not true, though. So I always encourage people that are traveling through other countries, specifically, if you're coming from the lower 48. And you're driving up to Alaska, if you can bring any kind of like your the diagnosis paper from the psychiatrist, or a therapist or whatever note, a doctor's note. Yeah, something just in case. Yep. Other countries are not as accommodating as America is to people with disabilities. So anytime you can have any proof to help out is going to be amazing. When you're in Alaska, Alaska is part of the United States. You do not have to worry about that. Yeah, but having it available so that you can bring your own food if you need to, can often be the difference between it being thrown away at customs and you actually making it through with the food. Yeah, because your kids are picking my kids are very particular. There are certain fast food places that they will eat at. And there's certain places they won't. There are certain kinds of things that they will eat only at certain areas. So let me tell you every airport, every city, every place, I know exactly where the foods are that they can eat. Yeah, and yeah, and otherwise, I have an entire bag and it has Capri Suns, fruit CHEWIES and potato chips. I know they eat those. Yes, push comes to shove that's their meal again, lower your standards, man.

Jennie Flaming: 36:37

Yeah,

Unknown: 36:37

totally. You're just yeah, just on vacation. If your child only eats you know, saltine crackers and mac and cheese for the entire trip. That's what they eat. You can try and give him vegetables once you get home. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 36:51

that's such good advice. You know, I also wanted to mention to you that if you're flying into Anchorage, or Fairbanks, or do you know, um, those are all cities that have Fred Meyer, and Safeway, and Walmart and Costco. So, you if you're, if your child will only eat a product that you can get in one of those stores, like especially if it's something like Kraft mac and cheese, you're going to be able to buy that when you get to Alaska and

Unknown: 37:25

we do that when we travel when we leave the state and we go we go to Disney all the time. We literally land get our car, get to the hotel, get settled, go to Target Yep, Target has every brand that my children eat and I know that I can get food from them and Alaska has three targets just so you know there's one in La Silla, there's two in Anchorage so anybody who's kid will only eat something from Target just so you know. We do have three of mixture

Jennie Flaming: 37:54

make sure to fly into anchorage because Fairbanks does not have a target. Fairbanks

Unknown: 37:57

does not have it, which is like a whole thing there. But my family comes up from Fairbanks just to shop at Target. Yes. Down from Fairbanks. Excuse me. Yes. But I mean, I understand that I understand like, we need this from this store. Yeah, look beforehand. You can go to the stores website, you can find Alaska, they show you every location if they have them or not. Yes, no, I will say that if the only thing your child will eat is like fresh mangoes, then you should probably bring that with you. You're gonna have a hard time my son will even have strawberries. That's his entire life. And it is hard to get strawberries in the winter in Alaska. Yeah, does. And even in the summer, you're not going to get the same produce quality that you're used to. Outside of Alaska. Yeah, so just keep that in mind. Yep.

Jennie Flaming: 38:46

So Chris, this is this is so wonderful to talk to you about all of this. I just love it. Um, one of the things that is challenging for a lot of people traveling in Alaska, is how unpredictable things can be whether that's the weather, which is all over the place, whether that's are the bugs going to be bad, maybe they're going to be terrible, maybe they're not going to be an issue, you don't really have a way of knowing for sure. Maybe there's going to be road construction with a two hour pilot car. Wait. So I mean, these are kind of are the things that also make traveling they're kind of an adventure. But for people with autism, those sort of quick switches, and we didn't plan on this. I know those are very challenging. So I'm wondering if you could share a little bit about some of the advice you have for parents, family members, friends about navigating surprises when you're traveling in Alaska?

Unknown: 39:47

Yeah, so the hardest part of that is, is you as a parent you it's going to happen. And again, we're lowering our expectations. And that includes lowering our expectations of how our children will cope with things that are out of their control. My kids are lucky enough that they have had a lot of occupational therapy, which helps children learn to cope with transitions and frustrations and things. So they are getting much better at this. But I remember a time when they weren't, and they would like, just melt down. So my best advice for parents is always try and know the weather beforehand, like my husband, and I have weather apps, and we look at them multiple times throughout the day when we travel. That way, whatever our plans are, we can try and modify them depending on what the weather is going to be. Yep, we have had this issue before, where we were going to go to an outdoor aquarium, and it was basically a torrential downpour. And so we were able to anticipate that. And so instead of telling our kids, hey, we're gonna go to the aquarium today, we knew it wasn't going to happen. So we were able to change our plan without disappointing them. So a lot of times, ways that parents cope with traveling with their or just anything day to day with their autistic kids is you let them know their whole schedule beforehand, and you let them know it multiple times. It's very, very common. I always go through schedule with my kids the day before. But by anticipating the weather, and weather apps are amazing, now they are there, they can get it down to almost the half hour 15 minute intervals of they're going to know the weather, you can pre determine whether your plans are going to happen or not. And because of that, then you can make changes as needed before you tell your children, the plants, if that makes sense. So you can say, Okay, we're gonna go to the outdoor one. But now we're going to go to the kids museum, that's indoors, we haven't told the kids, so we're not going to disappoint them, we're just changing the plans around. Another thing that you can do is, and this is a brilliant, brilliant thing that my son's wonderful, wonderful teacher did is any parent that has a child that needs extra communication devices, maybe they use a tablet an ACC, or would they use what's called pictographs. And what Pictou graphs are, is it is literally step by step instructions, or the child's schedule done in photos in pictures there, these looks like clipart images. And what you can do is before your trip happens, you can actually create your own pictographs go online, they sell the images, there's clipart available, you can make your own. And if you laminate it and put Velcro on it, you can pre do the schedule by just velcroing on what you're going to do. Cool. And you can actually remove those, then you can change them up as needed. That's what we'll do is we have we have one we made out of an old Altoid case, you know, the Altoids mint things. Yeah, and we have just a strip of Velcro on the top. And then we have a bunch of the things inside and it only fits like three at a time. So we only work three events at a time. So we'll say here's breakfast, here's bathroom, here's the zoo. So we're not doing the entire day, we're only doing three steps at a time. And that allows us to help with any changes that may happen. Maybe there's a traffic jam, maybe the weather's bad, maybe the place is closed, and we didn't know. So by going only trying to do it in small chunks instead of a whole day. It'll help you out so much more. And those pictographs to then you can swap things out or on your child's ACC device. You can set those up to to where you can show them and you can move things around on those. My son goes to school with several children that use those and their parents absolutely use that technology. So if your child has an ACC ask you the teacher or whoever helped you set up your device, ask them for access to that and they'll show you how to use it. You can also create your own pictographs for travel. Or you can ask your child's teacher if they can help you or therapists help you create some. We have noticed that for us that helps a lot with changing and plans. The other big thing that helps us downtime. No matter what we're doing, I don't care, the weather, I don't care what we're going we are not the family that has every single minute of every day plant. Hmm. We you cannot do that with autistic children. You just simply cannot. You never know what's going to happen. So we are the family that has one thing planned. And then an hour or two of downtime. I'm not exaggerating. Another thing planned and an hour of to have downtime. We frequently go on vacation, and we go with family members sometimes and their children are not neurodivergent they are neurotypical. And they'll be like, Okay, we're getting up, we're having breakfast, we're gonna go on a hike. And then we're gonna go to the conservation center, and then we're gonna go to, you know, the viewpoint, and then we're gonna do and they have boom, but they have like six things that they're doing in a day, which is great. And they do great. My children have to, yeah, maybe three. Yep. And between every single one, we have an enormous chunk of downtime. Yeah, it is easier for your children to transition. When they have the time in between, that they do nothing except play with their toys, play on their tablet, watch TV, those things, take a bath, whatever they need for their downtime. You need to again, lower your expectations. And be super chill about what happens and just have lots and lots and lots of lots of downtime. Yeah, such good

Jennie Flaming: 46:21

advice, Chris. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much for all of that. Well, we're gonna take a short break. And when we come back, we're going to hear from Chris about some of her favorite places to go and places to eat in Alaska, both with him without her children. So we'll be right back. Hi, everybody, Jennie here, I wanted to break in and let you know that I have a brand new workshop in my online shop. It's a video course it's 30 minutes long, and it's all about finding hidden gems on your trip to Alaska. It's pretty awesome. It's all the things that I Well, not all but many of the things that I share with my clients that we talked about, and I wanted to make it something everybody could get a hold of. So if you go to the shop, it's the second link in the show notes just below the tip jar, you'll find the link that will take you right to it, along with all of my planners for Alaska and my done for you itineraries. So check it out. And of course, you can also find down there the link to book one of my one on one planning sessions, if you want more advice about your specific situation. Thanks so much. Now back to the show. And we are back with Chris Stone. And we are talking today about traveling in Alaska with autism, beyond or with family members or children who have autism. And before Chris is going to share some of her favorite places to go. But before we do that, we're also going to talk briefly about safety. And so Chris, what are some of the safety considerations to think about? And how have you how do you recommend managing those?

Unknown: 48:21

So, safety for your children is always going to be an issue no matter who you are or where you are? Yeah. So some of the basic things you can do no matter your children's abilities, is one go over safety with them to begin with, what do we do if we get separated, you need to have a plan that they know what to do, whether it's go find an authority figure or someone in uniform, or we're all going to meet back at the car no matter what, that's where we'll find you. Right, we're going back to the 80s. Here. Remember before cell phones, that's what the rule was everybody that's it the car, or you, whatever your family safety plan is, they need to know it beforehand. No matter who they are, no matter how well they communicate, whatever their levels are. Always, always always have a safety plan that they are aware of. And you talk about openly and you talk about repeatedly throughout the trip, don't just talk about it once and assume that we remember, like literally every single time before you get out of the car or the RV or off the plane or whatever. Yep, talk about it. Because kids forget, they just they're adorable, but they're not so good with the memory. The other thing that I recommend doing and this was a really great suggestion I got a billion years ago from a friend is every single morning before you head out, take a photo of your children because one you'll know what they're wearing in case you lose them. You'll be able to go oh right, that's we put them in this outfit. But too. If for some reason, God forbid, you have to go to the authorities. You literally have a current photo. This is exactly what they looked like this morning. Yeah. Which we all know is incredibly hot. For Yep, for that, if you have autistic children, they tend to have a very difficult time getting their pictures taken, they have a hard time looking at the camera. So start taking photos now before you go on vacation to get them used to getting that picture debt safety picture taken. I practice with my kids like for about a week beforehand, we we line up and I take their breaks before they go to school. The last. The other thing is, this is really huge. If you have a child that's a runner, or you have a child that has low verbal skills, communication skills, invest in a tracker. We have one there are many many different ones. You can buy them literally anywhere target Walmart, Fred Meyers Amazon, there's a million of them. And you need to find the one that works for you and your needs. Yeah, we have one that's that was intended to be a clip that you it's a little metal thing, it looks like a tie tack actually a little tie clip, okay. It was meant to be clipped on their clothes. My son, however, will pull it off. He cannot. He touches everything stickers, band aids, he they come off. Yeah. So what we discovered was we took it and we bent it flat. And then we opened up the one of the liners in a shoe and we stuck it between the liner and the soul of the shoe. And then we put him in that because now he can't feel it. He can't remove it. But we can track him on our phone. Because full disclosure, we've absolutely lost each of the children on almost every time we've gone anywhere. They just wander off or my brother, he literally run Yep, and and he's seven, and he's fast. So being able to pull up that tracker has been is been our saving grace through many, many, many times that we have had this issue. And so I strongly, strongly suggest that you take the time beforehand, put in the work, know your child's what they are able to do. Some kids can wear a tracker that hangs around their neck. Some kids are like my son, and we have to hide it on his body. Another thing that you can do is to be safe with your children is be careful about the information that you put on them. For example, it's very popular to print out a tattoo or removable tattoo or a sticker that has like name and phone number and stuff like that. But remember, whatever information you put on them, can be used to take them. Children, you tend to go with anybody who knows their name. Even if you've talked to them about Stranger danger, even if you've talked to them about abduction, things like that. They'll be like, Oh, you, oh, you know my name, and they'll like go with you. So if you can try and limit the amount of information that you have on those stickers, and also on their backpack, or their jacket or their shirt or their hat, try and not have things with their name on them. If you can, what I recommend doing is just saying if last and then have your phone number. If you can do that. Yeah. Another thing that you can do too, is if you have a child that has low verbal skills, or they have communication issues, or they're just autistic and they wander, you can actually buy bracelets, you can buy necklaces that have that information. I am autistic, I will wander off, please don't leave me alone. You can buy stickers to put on your car. We have one on our car that says there is a child in this car that has autism. Make sure someone stays with them if there's an accident, so if there's an accident, my husband and I are incapable of talking to the rescuers. Yep, there's that sticker. And they know there's a kid that we have to sit next to we cannot like with other kids, you can be like, Okay, sit down here and wait, you can't do that. So you need to make sure that that information is available. Because hopefully you don't have the problem. But if for some reason you have to deal with authorities or first responders or hospital staff, any of that information is extremely helpful. Yeah, you can buy it and find it online. You can find free resources, you can buy resources, whatever you need to keep those babies safe.

Jennie Flaming: 54:30

Yeah, that's wonderful. Thank you. Okay, so what are some of your favorite places to go in Alaska with your own kids and or places your own kids really love? Maybe those are the same? Maybe they're not.

Unknown: 54:47

They are? Well, first off we we we are a family and we do almost every single thing together partially because my kids need constant supervision. Yeah, but also because we genuinely enjoy each other Oh, yeah. And my children are young enough. They still want to hang out with us. We're not like dorks yet. Yeah. So one of our favorite things to do in the Girdwood area is one, no matter what time of year it is, you can go to Alyeska and you can ride the tram up the mountain. You do not have to have a lift ticket or anything. You can literally just right up there and there's like a place at the top and they have snack foods and stuff like that. And you can look out. It's it as far as the last thing I knew is that it was still free to do that. You needed to lift you have to pay for it now. You have to pay now. Yeah, sorry. Are you there? Yeah, I can't close my computer. Sorry. We'll redo that. But anyway, you can ride the tram up Girdwood up to the top and back? If your kid is into that kind of stuff? Like that's, that's a great My kids love riding anything. That's not what's normal transportation. Yeah, they love also in the area.

Jennie Flaming: 56:01

One thing I was gonna say about that is even though you have to have a ticket, you don't have to plan ahead. No, that is something that you could decide, you know, you don't have to commit to it in advance. And it's kind of nice. Exactly. So that's

Unknown: 56:13

a really great one. If you're like, Okay, we need to change our plans, or we have a couple of extra words. We're trying to kill time or whatever. That's a great one. Yep. Another thing in the area that my kids love, we literally go multiple times a year. We're members now is the Alaska wildlife conservation that they have there? Yeah. And it's it is so kids love it. Adults love it. It's so great. They that it is exactly what it says it is a conservation area for Alaskan wild animals. So they have Lynx and they have moose. And they have bear and they have porcupines and an eagle and all kinds of they have caribou and they change all the time. They constantly are getting new animals and rehabbing animals and sending them back out and things like that. It's really fun. You drive in your car, and you get out at certain you can get out certain spots and look, otherwise it's really casual and comfortable. They do events all the time. It's very, very child friendly. Yeah. And they do have indoor running efforts. They have porta potties, but they also have a bathroom inside the main building. Just so you know. And they have food trucks there. Yes. So you'll, you're able to do all of those things. And there's the staff is incredibly knowledgeable. So if you have a child that is obsessed with animals, they're there. They absolutely can answer all of their questions, and they're more than happy to and they are all trained for neurodivergent and disabilities. Yes, it's a big part of their program. Yes, um, another really fun one here in Palmer is the muskox farm.

Jennie Flaming: 57:53

Yes.

Unknown: 57:54

Oh my gosh, I love muskox farm. The company I work for Ovi booth. Actually, we adopted a muskox Rs This Bumblebee, if you'd like to go visit, she's the best. My daughter's classroom raised money and they adopted Lola. So they're very cool. But what this is, is exactly what it sounds like. It is a farm where they take care of macaques, so they either rehab them or they're with them for life. But they are constantly trying to keep these wonderful animals from going endangered and extinct. And this farm is one of the places that they do it. And it's really fun, you do have to go on a tour you it is not self tour, you must go with them. And it is not paved. So if you have a child that has any kind of mobility device, you need to make sure that you have the kind of wheels that can go on dirt. It is a farm. And then they have you have to be in a group, you must have your guide with you because muskox do charge they are behind fences, but they do charge if they're get upset. So one thing you need to start practicing if you want to go your children cannot sit down or squat down. You must remain standing or if you're in your mobility device the whole time. Because the muskox see that as a threat. Because apparently that's what they do predators do or something when they're about to go. So you need to make sure that your child can stand or stay seated at all times. They cannot be squatting. Yeah, just and they can't be runners. So where that leash with brides Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. But in the summer, they do all kinds of like live events, and they have bands and all kinds of things, but it sounds it sounds so silly, but it really is fun. My kids have a blast. Fun. Yes,

Jennie Flaming: 59:52

I'm with you on all of those suggestions

Unknown: 59:54

in Anchorage, the museum in Anchorage in downtown Inc. Bridge is wonderful. They have in addition to like the museum, and then they have like, exhibits that are transitional. They have what's called the Discovery Zone. It's huge. It's like the bottom half of the first floor of the museum. And it is, hands on children discover. It's kind of like a children's museum, but they call it the Discovery Zone. It's wonderful. They have all kinds of stuff on learning about the environment. And they have a tiny little toddler area with a grocery store. And it's so cute. They have this whole bubble thing that my kids love, where you stand inside a bubble and you pull it around yourself. They have an aquaria, a mini aquarium there that you can look at all the animals. They have a lot of Alaska based indigenous based exhibits, and all of them are meant for children they're all hands on. If you have a child with neurodivergent, see, one once a month, it's usually the first or second Sunday of the month. The museum opens for one hour prior to its normal opening hours for people that need a sensory friendly experience. So they turn the lights down their dimmed lights, there's no music or very low music. It's a very small number of people. And your child can go through and they have full access to the entire first floor of the museum. on their own. It's a very quiet, it's a very sensory neutral experience. They also have a conference center, a conference room set off to the side, where they have calming tools, and headphones. If your child needs those. It's a wonderful thing. You do have to pre register it's $5. A family I believe, at least it was when we went a couple of months ago, you do have to pre register. You do not go to the main doors, you go around the back of the museum to a private entry where you have to buzz in on security and they let you in there just as a heads up. But this is a fantastic experience. My children love doing it we go every few months. Love it. That is that's fun for them. In Seward, my children had my children have done many things there. Of course fishing and stuff is really fun. If you do go fishing, make sure anywhere you go fishing, Valdez, Seward, Haines home or any of those places. Just call the local Visitor Center. Explain to them that you want to go get a fishing charter or have a fishing experience with a guide. But you have someone in your party that has autism. Absolutely, someone will be able to accommodate you. Yeah, they also have boats that can accommodate mobility devices. Yep, you just need to call the visitor center, they will do the homework for you, they will find out who currently is offering those things. Yep, all of those places are big enough and have big enough charters, number of charter services and guides, they will absolutely find someone who can help you. The other thing that we did in Seward that my kids adored was the exit glacier hike. This is the height that it starts at the there's a center there, you hike all the way up to exit glacier. You're right there. You can walk really go cool. Yeah, so cool. It is so amazing. And half of the height is paved. Yeah. So if you have someone in a mobility device, if they have to use the mobility device the whole way they will not be able to they absolutely will not the trail gets really narrow. It's very rocky. It's still an intermediate high, beginner, high. I can consider it high beginner, because my children can do it without in crocs. So it's not like yes, that hard. But if you have somebody in a mobility device, they can go as far as the pavement, and then that will either have to be the end of your hike for that section. Or you will need to switch them to a some kind of a carrier situation and how Yep, with that way, yep. But if you can do it, it is wonderful. The other fun thing in Seward is both the Kenai fiord Center and the exit glacier Visitor Center have programs for children to become Junior Rangers. Yes. And it's so cute. It's a little booklet. And they they can fill out answers and then they can do a little pledge and they get this really cool wooden badge. They have different activities for different age groups developmental levels. My daughter is developmentally in her age group. My son is developmentally slot slightly lower. So they just accommodate you however you need. And they're wonderful and they all are trained, they all know, to respect and worked with people with disabilities in neurodivergent seas. So those are very fun. in Fairbanks, I can keep talking forever but in Fairbanks, my kids two favorite things. To do well, three favorite things to do is one, the large animal research center at the University at UF.

Jennie Flaming: 1:05:07

I knew you were gonna say that oh my gosh, and

Unknown: 1:05:09

the Botanical Garden and everything, it is so fun. They do it year round, their winter hours are limited. And you usually have to call ahead to make to get a spot. But in the summer, it's basically a free for all. It is it's like the Conservation Center, except they they're doing like, not experiments, research. They're doing research on these animals. So the people that are running it are grad students, they literally are the ones doing the research. So if your kid is super into like reindeer or something like that one of the animals they have up there, they, that grad student will be thrilled to have your kid in their party, because they will talk and talk and talk and talk all day long about the research that they're doing. And it's open air, it's open, you can walk around yourself, or you can have a guide. It is really fun. If you're in a mobility it is unpaved, so you will need to be aware and have the right wheels or the right device for that. But it's really, really fun. And my kids love it. And there's also in the summer. They have like their botanical area. That's the gardens where they're doing all the research for the soil and the plants and the vegetation. And that's really fun to do if you have a kid that's into that. Yes. The other really fun one is downtown is the Children's Museum. Yep. It's literally called the Children's Museum. Yep. My children of time love it. Like it's, it's straight up. It's a children's museum. But it's yeah, like fun. Yeah. And it's, of course interactive. And it's hands on, you pay your fee you go in, it's open almost every single day, just just check Google because they're really they keep up to date on Google. They're great about that, about their hours. They're open in the winter, they're open in the summer. They're open weekends, and you can just go in and pay and it's a great way to burn off energy and get knowledge all at the same time. My children adore it. The last one in Fairbanks that's a favorite for them. And if you have a child that is obsessed with cars, is Fountainhead Museum. Yeah. The Fountainhead Museum is a basically an old car vintage car museum that also has vintage clothing and a lot of Alaska history. It is in the weirdest location. It's it's literally behind a bunch of apartment buildings. You have to drive through a bunch of apartment buildings to get their their signs don't worry. And it looks like a warehouse. Like it doesn't look like a warehouse. But it's I am with exactly super gets this big empty parking lot in a warehouse and you're like, Am I in the right spot? Yes, you are. Go in this man. And why the man and wife that have this have the most extraordinarily incredible collection of vintage cars and clothing that I have ever I mean, I've been to the Met, and they're surpass it. I mean, it's incredible. It really, um, yeah, they have it organized by era. And so it'll be really cool. It'll be like a fancy car from the era. And then it'll have clothes right next to it. And then there's information about all of that. And then it'll have a worker, and then the work clothes and things like that. And it's just one big exhibit. And then they also have a whole section where they have like, cars that were literally owned by people in Alaska that are like names in Alaska that we like things are named

Jennie Flaming: 1:08:34

transitional car. snowmachine. Yeah. I

Unknown: 1:08:37

mean, they give you all this information about it. And they have pictures of like highways being built and things like that. Yeah, they also have a working garage, and it's glassed in. So sometimes you can go in there and someone's working on one of the cars. Yeah, it's really, really cool. And the wonderful thing is, is the man that owns it, he is frequently there. And when I say frequently, I mean basically all the time, and he will absolutely walk through with you. He'll talk to you. He'll give you all kinds of really fun stuff that's not in there. And a really cool thing is they literally have cars in there that are the only one in the world. Yep, they have it or there's eight and they have one. It's unbelievable that this absolute gem is in the middle of Fairbanks, Alaska, it really is they are very accommodating to children. They will if your child gets overwhelmed very easily, you can and this is especially true in the winter when they have lower traffic, you can call ahead and they will give you they will plan a tour for you. And you don't have to pay extra you just pay the regular fee. They just do it for you because you need to have that that quiet. Yeah, for your kid. That is what we do. We go in the winter, and we just call ahead and they have somebody nice there. They're like as long as we can accommodate you. It's fine and they just have somebody there and we just pay the regular fee. And it's wonderful.

Jennie Flaming: 1:10:02

Love it. These are all such fantastic ideas. Chris, thank you so much for sharing all of them. Okay, a couple quick things to wrap up. So I know you live in Palmer now but we talked about since you're from Fairbanks and spend a lot of time there answering the wrap up questions for Fairbanks it's probably more visitors get there than Palmer. So, um, what's your favorite month in Fairbanks?

Unknown: 1:10:30

Oh my favorite month in Fairbanks was definitely June. Mm hmm. It is summer. It's summer. But we haven't the wildfires haven't started yet. Yep. Yes is where I lived. We were in a valley Valley Valley. And it is it get a little hard to breathe there. But June was fantastic. stuff was starting to grow the daylight was it was almost 24 hours you're not in school. It was a great time to be love it. Absolutely. One of my very favorite parts of time. Yes.

Jennie Flaming: 1:11:02

June is is pretty magical there. Yeah, sure it is. Okay. And last but not least, Chris, what is your favorite restaurant in Fairbanks?

Unknown: 1:11:13

My number one and it's a joke in my family that every time we come I visit that place the day we arrive. I literally plan so I can go there for dinner is soul gate. Yes, Soul gate is this amazing Korean restaurant. That's it's fantastic. It's below a bowling alley. Like, like when I give people directions to go really this place and I'm like, seriously, it's the best, the best Korean food that you can have outside of Korea. It was founded by a family that had married someone who was serving overseas and they came over and they created this wonderful business. And the guy the original owner hilariously was like super famous in Korea as a quote karaoke singer. So they have like TVs all the time with karaoke stuff on them. They have these enormous fish tanks with huge Koi. My kids love the fish tanks and you can sit request to sit right next to him. Yes, the food is amazing. The beef bulgogi and the game bop are my number one favorites. But every time I go there, all the food is incredible. My kids can always have something to eat there. push comes to shove white rice. They'll just have white rice. My kids love the raw. They love the yaki mon do which is in Korean version of potstickers. And they love the spring rolls. It's amazing, but trust me you're gonna go in and you're gonna be like this place. Yes. Underneath bowling alley across from no lien library. It's impeccable. I've never sent anyone there who didn't like it. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming: 1:12:52

Fairbanks has so much good food and so much of good food. And so much of it is in like a building that looks like nothing that's like concrete. Sounds pretty much

Unknown: 1:13:03

was on dives, the diners, dives and whatever show my husband watches all the time. It's in a strip mall. Yeah, it's in an outdoor strip mall. It's no random is location. It's like totally next to like a tanning place. Yeah. Funny. I know. It's awesome. Yeah. And they're all in like, yeah, they're all in these random places. We do have very nice restaurants, the cookie jar, the pumphouse turtle club that are in actual restaurants and are very nice. And they're wonderful. They're worth the height. But yeah, other people missed. Random mistakes. Yes.

Jennie Flaming: 1:13:34

I have totally with you on that. Yeah. Well, Chris, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing so much of your story and your experience with other travelers. I am really grateful for you being here today. Thank you so much.

Unknown: 1:13:49

Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I love sharing my state with other people. And I love helping other parents with autistic children know, you don't have to stop traveling just because you have autistic children. You absolutely can do it with the proper planning and downtime.

Jennie Flaming: 1:14:08

Love it. Thank you so much, Chris. And to all of you listening. Many of the things that we talked about today, along with all of my travel planning info that is all in the show notes. So go ahead and hop in there if you're looking for any of these things we've been talking about today. And thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Alaska uncovered. See you next week.

Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Alaska Travel with Autism with Cris Stone

Listen to this podcast on