Whittier -Monday,  July 20

Denali - Monday, Tuesday, July 20,21 

It was rainy as we made our way to the train.  All the walkways were canvas covered, so we did not get wet. Once on the train, we had our final look at the Coral Princess.

The train was all dome cars with excellent viewing.  Downstairs were the restrooms and the dining car tables as well as the galley.

Most all our views were spectacular!

Leaving town there were a number of beautiful houses along the tracks.

Part way through the train ride, we passed our sister train traveling the other direction.

After about a 10 hour train ride, we arrived in Denali.  There were many Princess buses waiting to take us to the Lodge.

The lodge complex is very modern and has many areas of lodging, restaurants, and shops.

Directly across the street were a number of gift and other shops.  We found a Subway shop and had dinner there the first night for much less than in the Lodge.   All the food in Alaska is VERY expensive.  Even the Subway store charges about double that in the lower 48.  Now that we are off the ship, we are responsible for all our own food.

Tuesday morning we went on a 4 hour Denali National Park tour into the park.

One of the stops was Savage Cabin.  This has been used by rangers for many decades during their winter patrols. The cabin was originally built in 1924-25 by road crews and was double this size.  In 1940 this half of the cabin was moved about a mile here.  The other half ended up as firewood.

The cabin houses a bed (outside this picture to the left) and a kitchen.

The window shutters and the area around the window are lined with spikes to keep the bears from beating them down.

As we continued deeper into the park, our driver was amazed that there were 2 Dall Sheep in the lowlands.  They usually stay high in the mountains for protection.  She figures they must either be injured or crazy, as they are extremely vulnerable down here.  We continued to see them in this area for the better part of an hour.

Just below the Dall Sheep were 3 Caribou.  This picture shows two of them.

Only about 30% of park visitors are able to see Mt. Denali (Mt. McKinley).  This view of the lower part of the mountain puts us in that 30% group.  We never saw the top of the mountain.

The flowers around the Lodge were beautiful!

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Tuesday night we attended the Music of Denali dinner theater.  The food was served family style and consisted of Salmon, pork ribs, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, buiscuits, and desert.  It was delicious and plentiful. As we were introducing ourselves to our table mates, I mentioned we live in Prescott.  The couple across from us, Jere and Sue said "So do we!"  It turns out that they live between Rosemarie and me, about 2 or 3 miles from each of us. This is Jere in the lower left.

Our waiters were the actors from the show.  During dinner the various members sang solos.  Our waiter, Walter, is on the right. Following dinner, the group presented a musical play about the history of Denali.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

I now have a new family member.  Meet Wally! This picture shows the nice Wally.

This picture shows the nasty Wally. About an hour ago, as I write this on July 30, Fed Ex came with a well packed box.  Inside was Wally.  He is now an official member of my household.

Before catching the train to Fairbanks, we went to the National Park dog camp.  This is the only national park with their own dog team.  They are used for patrols during the winter.

The dogs love to sit on the roofs of their houses.  We were allowed to move around, and if the dogs were withing reach, pet them.  This dog must be a very friendly dog, as he was outside the roped in area.

A new musher-in-training poses on the sled.

We all gathered in the stands for the actual dog sled demonstration.

While we were waiting, this snowshoe hare wandered by.  This time of the year they have dark fur for easy hiding in the brush.  During the winter, their coat turns pure white to blend with the show.

When the handlers hook up the dogs, they lift their front ends off the ground, so the dog walks only on its rear feet.  If the dog has all four feet down, it could go anywhere it wants dragging the handler with it. As they started to gather the dogs, all the dogs got very excited, barking and jumping.  In effect they were saying "Pick me, pick me!"

Our narrator is just finishing a lap around the demonstration track.  Even with only 5 dogs, they are very quick.

After the dog sled demo, the bus returned us to the visitor center.  We then walked across the highway to the train depot.  This is the train we will be boarding soon.

Almost immediatly after pulling out of the station we saw this moose in a pond about 1/2 mile from the Princess Lodge.  This is the 4th moose we have seen this trip, and is by far the closest.  It is the only one I managed to get a picture of.

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