Alaska Cruise - Day 12 - Tuesday, June 2

After a relaxing morning we finally got up and went and got everything ready for our departure later in the day. We then went and got a late lunch since none of us were very hungry after the late dinner last night. In the afternoon we took a trip out to Jeff King's Alaskan Husky Farm. Jeff has won four Iditarod races and has a husky farm where he breeds and raises his dogs for his team. Those he does not choose for his team he will sell to other racers or anyone else that is interested in racing dogs. He usually will sell about 30 dog each year for about $1500/ea. When we first got there they let us hold the new puppies for a few minutes and take pictures with them. Then they showed us the older dogs. They were all in the yard tethered to their houses so they would not be running all over the place and getting into mischief with other dogs. One of the workers started howling and then all the dogs joined in, it got pretty noisy. Then they brought in a 4 wheeler that they use in the summer to train the dogs. They hitch up the dogs to the 4 wheeler and they then pull it instead of a sled. As soon as they brought in the 4 wheeler all the dogs started going crazy. They were barking a jumping around as if they were saying, pick me, pick me! It was quite a site. They then took about 10 dogs and hooked them up and off they went. They do this all day long, so all of the dogs get their chance to pull it. When they come back from their run, there is a puddle that they all lay down in to cool off and get a drink. They also have this large wheel (like a hamster wheel) that a dog climbs into and starts running. That wheel got spinning pretty fast. They also had this merry go round like thing that several dogs were chained up to and when the lead doge was put in the house on the top, he started barking and the dogs took off running. The lead dog continued barking sounding out commands to the dogs pulling.

We then went inside and watched a short DVD about the Iditarod race and some of the things Jeff has done with the dog training. Jeff's daughter told us what it was like growing up in Alaska and as Jeff's daughter. She has competed in the Jr. Iditarod as well as other races. She is not sure if she is interested in running the full Iditarod race or not. After she was done, Jeff came in and talked and answered questions anyone had. When it was time to leave I purchased his book and he signed it and took pictures with us. This was one the best side tours we took. One the way back to the lodge, we came across a moose that was alongside the road eating the leaves off the trees. We stopped and took pictures (see below), then got to the lodge, retrieved our luggage and boarded the coach to go to the train depot for the ride to Fairbanks.

On the ride from Denali to Fairbanks we saw more beaver dams and trumpet swans. Our guide showed us the Nenana river and there was a sand bar in the middle of the river and she asked us if we knew what the sand bar was called and she said: nenana split! She we also saw a bald eagle flying around as well as raven. She told us that ravens have five pinions on their feet and the eagle has six. She said the difference between a raven and an eagle was a matter of a pinion (opinion)!!! Oh, these tour guides are funny.

In the town of Nenana, they have the ice classic, where people bet on when the ice will break up, usually late April or May. A tripod is setup by the river where there is a clock ticking away and everyone writes down the date they think break up will happen. When the ice breaks up the clock stops. The person(s) closest to the date wins the prize money. The annual payoff is more than $300,000.00 and is often split by several contestants.

We ate wonderful dinner on the train and just as we were finishing up, we were pulling into Fairbanks - good timing. We hopped aboard our motor coach and headed to the hotel and settled in for the evening. The picture of the sunset at the bottom is from our hotel room and was taken at 1:00 am. There was a sign on our hotel room that says the later the sun will set at 2:30 am and rise again at 3:30 am. One June 21, the summer solstice the sun will literally rotate all the way around - not setting at all. Crazy stuff.

Alaska Cruise - Day 11 - Monday, June 1

This morning after an early breakfast we boarded the McKinley Express, the Alaska Train that goes between Anchorage and Fairbanks. It was an eight hour ride through some of the most beautiful scenery that I have seen. We saw some eagles nesting in the trees, 4 bear, a moose, some swan, and a lot of beaver dams. The weather was beautiful with mostly clear skies; however Mt. McKinley was not visible. It is over 20,000 feet from sea level to the top of the mountain, making it the tallest mountain in the world. Everest's altitude is higher than McKinley, but it starts at a higher altitude. McKinley goes from sea level, to over 20,000 feet. Unfortunately, McKinley was covered in clouds so we could not see it. I was able to take a lot of great pictures, including a couple of trains going in the opposite direction. An interesting picture at the bottom showing an A frame house by a lake. The houses are so anyone having problems in the winter can land on the frozen lake and the A frame is stocked with emergency supplies, so they can survive for a few days while help come for them. After they are rescued, they are supposed to go back and restock the house for the next person in need.

One of the towns we passed was Wasilla, the town Sara Palin is from. I took a picture of one of the homes that she lived in (picture on the right - green roof). The have an interesting ordinance in that town; no signs can be higher than the American flag. So the picture on the left shows McDonalds with the golden arches really short compared to most restaurants in other towns.

Denali National park covers 6 million square miles and included Mt. McKinley. The national park area grew from 2 million square miles, to the current 6 million square miles over a 50 year period that began around 1945.

When we arrived at Denali National Park, we checked into our room and had a bite to eat. We went to a dinner show in the evening. The dinner was fantastic. We had BB Ribs, salmon, potatoes, corn on the cob, tossed salad and blueberry cobbler. It was served family style. Since my wife and I were seated at the head of the table they appointed me the "father". Anytime we needed anything we all had to raise our napkins in the air and one the count of three waive our napkins and call our waiter's name. We had a lot of fun with this. There was also one of the girls that if you held a dollar over someone's head she would come and give him a kiss (one of the guys would come kiss the women). One lady paid five dollars and so the guy got five kisses with bright red lipstick on. The lips were all over him, pretty funny stuff. After the dinner they put on a show about some of the Alaska people during the gold rush days. Each of the staff played the part of a different character. They sang and told stories about the different characters. One of the characters was Charley McGonagall. He was the first to climb the north face of Mt. McKinley. He was also the person that was looking after our table and when I told him my name was Harry Potter he thought that was funny. So I got a picture with him. One of the other tables did not believe that my name was Harry Potter, so I got out my driver’s license and showed them my name. They thought it was cool and one of the guys wanted his picture taken with me. All in all it was a fun day.
The picture at the bottom is sunset outside our cabin in Denali National Park at 12:20 am. So the days are getting longer the farther north we get.