Mt McKinley - 5/28/15

Today we started off with Breakfast in the King Salmon restaurant again. We got a little extra time this morning because our luggage did not need to be out until 7:30am. We took one last look at Denali scenery and headed for the bus to Princess Mt McKinley Lodge. It was about a 2 1/2 hr bus ride because we made one stop because once again the mountain was out. They say only 30% of the people who visit here ever get to see the mountain.We have been so fortunate.

Once we reached the lodge we ate lunch at the Grizzly Bar admiring the mountain. The hotel is kind of spread out and all of the stuff happens at the main building. Our walk wasn't too bad. One thing to note is that there is nothing near this hotel... you are truly in the wilderness.
At 3pm we had to catch the shuttle to Talkeetna (the closest town) which was an hour away. We had a flight seeing airplane tour that took off from there.
Once we arrived we again had a safety briefing and up...up... and away we went. The pilot said this was an A+  day for seeing the mountain. There were some clouds but we just flew above them.

 The picture below is "base camp" at 7000 feet. You can see the tiny dots in the middle which is all the tents.

 Here we are with our pilot, Nick and the plane.

We arrived back at the lodge at 7:45pm after another hour ride back. We did however see a moose just off the road but not fast enough to get a picture. We met Pat and Bill for dinner and exchanged excursion stories as they went on a wagon ride at the lodge. Chris and I both had crab legs tonight which were delicious. Then we ordered the brownie dessert and laughed about how big it was and how little ice cream they gave us.

Then it was off to the laundry so we can have some clean clothes to carry us another week.....
The posts might be scattered the next few days....cell/internet service is not so great here.

Denali - part 2 5/27/15

After our tour into Denali park we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and book a helicopter tour with a glacier landing. I was a little nervous about going in a helicopter as I have never been but my mother in law said she did it and I knew then that I could handle it as she can barely handle Soarin' at  Disney. We were picked up around 4pm and brought about a mile down the road for our safety briefing and check in. We were given boots to put over our shoes to help grip when we were on the glacier and off we went....

 This was the most amazing experience. The peacefulness and quiet that is felt when you are out in the middle of this beautiful state is awe inspiring. I am so glad that we did this. It is truly the only way to see Alaska!

For those of you who know Chris you know he is an avid photographer so here are a few shots of him today...

We finished off our anniversary with a wonderful dinner with our friends, Pat and Bill at the King Salmon restaurant where Chris finally got his crab legs. They presented us with a little anniversary gift which was a cross stitch Pat had make of the word Alaska which included pictures and names of all the places we would visit. It was beautiful and I can't wait to make a wall hanging with it.

Denali - our 20th Anniversary 5/27/15 part 1

Today is our 20th anniversary and we spent the day in Denali National Park. The morning started off cool....46 degrees. We began with a french toast buffet breakfast. It was pretty good. Then Bill and I picked up our boxed lunches and headed to the lobby to meet the group. Our bus arrived at 7:10 am for our 8 hour tour which went 53 miles into Denali Park. The bus was fairly comfortable.

We headed off and after the first hour I was a little disappointed....we hadn't seen any wildlife except some weird "chicken looking bird". I wanted to see more.

The scenery was amazing! We also quickly saw Mt McKinley ...the highest mountain in North America. This is great since apparently it is very hard to see as it is mostly covered in clouds.

Then things got really fun! We saw moose, grizzly bear w/cubs, caribou, dahl sheep, golden eagle, and deer falcon. It was fantastic. Not only on the way going but coming back some of them were even closer. The grizzly w/cubs was by far my favorite. At one point she even laid back and let the cubs nurse. You couldn't ask for anything more. Here are a few pictures of the wildlife. My picture of the moose was too far for you to know it was a moose.

Travel day again 5/26/15

Today we traveled from Fairbanks to Denali. We started the day with a final breakfast buffet in the Fairbanks lodge and then boarded the bus for our 3 hour ride to Denali. I was really nervous about this because I get carsick easily. They planned a stop in the town of Nenana which was about halfway and unfortunately the entire time the tour guide and bus driver narrated. I was glad to hear some things but at some point I just wanted peace and quiet. Here are a few pictures of scenery along the way.

We did however finally make it to Denali and I am glad to report I did not get carsick. I did see a moose way off in the distance but it was quick and far away for photo op.

So here we are at Denali Princess Lodge. This is a nice hotel with a little shopping center across the street and great views in the back.

This is one of the shops I visited ....and made a purchase!

 

 Couple of goofballs we met along the way....

After shopping Pat and I went into the hot tub which overlooks the river and mountains. It was fantastic!
Then it was off to dinner at the Music of Denali dinner show. This was not even worth commenting on as it was the probably the worst dinner show I have ever seen. Food was just ok too.

Tomorrow it is another early day.... breakfast at 6am and our Tundra Wilderness tour starts at 7:10am. A long day....8 hours on a schoolbus in search of wildlife and Mt. McKinley.

We did get a faint glimmer of Mt McKinley on the bus ....here is the best picture I could get as we were traveling. Just look for what appears to be white clouds ...they tell me that it the mountain.

FAIRBANKS DAY 2 - 5/25/15

Today our tour officially started. We met as a group for breakfast where we all introduced ourselves. It was good but not so good compared to our buffet breakfast yesterday. At 9am we took a short bus ride to the Riverboat Discovery tour. A 3 hour ride on a riverboat with a few stops along the way. First we stopped to see a bush pilot take off,

then we stopped at a dog musher kennel,

and then we actually got off the boat to experience a native village.

We saw many beautiful homes along the way and some that just didn't fit in at all.

Things started off with light rain but 1/2 way through the tour it turned out beautiful.

After the Riverboat we had lunch in the dining hall....miners beef stew....another bust for Chris. The salad and rolls were good though. Then it was off to Gold Dredge 8 to pan for some gold. This was way more elaborate than we both thought. There was a lot of history on the Alaska Pipeline and gold dredging. We panned for gold but unfortunately we did not get enough to pay for our trip. But I did put my gold flakes into a cool magnet for my fridge!