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.

Day #2: Anchorage to Denali State Park

We met Deb, our energetic, ultra efficient Princess tour director at a breakfast buffet.  We also met Al and Julie from Lanai.  This was exciting!  They are the first people we've met from Lanai.  We hit it off right away.

It was a dreary, rainy day.  Art had checked the weather before we left Hawaii and was feeling a little miserable that our two weeks in Alaska were forecasted to be wet and cold.  We also learned from the Anchorage weather channel that August is the rainiest month. Sigh...

We boarded a comfortable bus for the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.   

We passed Wasilla.   Our tour guide said, "No, you can't see Russia from here."

It was drizzling throughout the bus ride.

We stopped at the Iditarad Training Center and got to learn a little about dog sledding.  Art was drawn to this sled puppy.

 

I think this is a yarrow flower. It was fun seeing all the beautiful flowers everywhere.

I finally learned how to use the darn macro feature on my Canon.  Just in time!

Art was a good sport about sticking his face in this moose sign when we dropped off the bus in Talkeetna.  

We had lunch at the Roadhouse Café.  Talkeetna is the inspiration for Cicily in Northern Exposure.  It was fun to walk around and enjoy the flowers and plants in the area.

We took a free shuttle to the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

I have no idea what this flower is called, but we thought it was pretty.

We saw this fireweed plant everywhere we went.

We were told that only 30% of the visitors to Denali are able to see parts of Mt. McKinley which is the highest point in North America.

We weren't able to see any part of the mountain.  We didn't even know exactly where to look for it.

There was free WiFi available, but it was very slow.  Still, it was nice to know we weren't completely cut off from Internet.

Appetizers, entree, dessert and beverages were all part of our tour package. It included this $40.00 crab dinner which was a great way to start the vacation.  

I did get on the scale before we left Hawaii and I wondered how much weight I'd be gaining because I managed to clean my plate (all of them) ... except for the potatoes.

Deb had arranged for mom and Auntie Grace to have a special room because of mom's bad knees.  The room was also right next to the restaurant.  How sweet is that?

Day #1: Hawaii to Seattle to Anchorage

Some of you might have guessed that we have been gone for a couple of weeks now on our Alaskan Land Tour and Cruise.  We returned late last night and were exhausted today, but managed to get most of our laundry and errands done.

It was a good thing I decided to write my travel posts when I got home because WiFi on the ship was exorbitant!

So here goes! 

Day 1:

                                                                                                 

We woke before the sun was up and were ready for John’s Taxi to take us to the airport for the 8:00 AM Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle.  

Not enough time to have an Ivar's clam chowder in Seattle like we hoped.

We made our plane transfer to Anchorage and were met by Ryan, a Princess representative at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. 

After introducing himself, he asked if we were from Hawaii.   We said, "yes."

"Where?" he asked.  Then he told us the street address where his grandmother lived and we discovered that it's just a few blocks away from where we live!

HOW incredible is that?!?  This is such a small world.  Ryan said there are a lot of Hawaii transplants in Alaska.  That was a surprise.

Mom and Auntie Grace were captivated by their first look at polar bears and wolves. They were glad the animals were stuffed and not dangerous.

When we got to our Captain Cook hotel via the Princess shuttle, it was quite late.  By the time we got ourselves organized it was well after midnight.

The Princess representative at the hotel said we would meet Deb, our tour guide the following morning at the buffet breakfast.

Wow!  It felt amazing to think we were in Alaska!