Day #4: Denali Wilderness Lodge

Got up at 5:50 AM.  Put our bags outside our door by 7:30 AM for collection.
Another giant breakfast was at 7:00.  I was anticipating gaining 10 pounds on this trip.

I was happy to get another quick e-mail check.  Art saw to his chagrin, another weather guy saying that August is the wettest month in Alaska.  Art had chosen this time of year because he thought he might be able to see and maybe do some salmon fishing.  Ah well...  So far, we'd been pretty darn lucky...weatherwise!

We caught a bus to the train station and boarded our glass domed train car at 9:30.

Mom found the views outside breathtaking.

Deb is such a fantastic tour director.  She made sure to make contact with every one of her passengers and get to know everybody's needs and expectations. 

At one point, we were told that our car was the "rowdy group" and in order to remain part of this illustrious group we had to do the moose or caribou wave to other trains as we passed them.  If you chose to be a moose, you had to stick your hands in your ears.  If you were a caribou, you'd stick a hand in front of your nose.  Didn't quite understand that one.  I thought mom would refuse to do something so silly... but no.  She got into the spirit and laughed so hard, she could hardly keep her "antlers" up.

The Denali Lodge was terrific and once again, Deb had arranged for mom and Auntie Grace to have this great room equipped for handicapped guests.  The safety bars were terrific for mom.

Dinner was at the Music of Denali buffet.  Ribs, salmon, corn on the cob and cold slaw were the menu items.  Not all that great, but fun.  There was a musical performance that was difficult for mom and Auntie to understand, but they enjoyed the merriment of the occasion.

Tomorrow would be the Tundra tour.  We weren't quite sure what to expect, but looked forward to another exciting day with "Auntie" Deb as she called herself.