We’re up, have eaten breakfast, and are on the bus by 6:30 AM and not that happy about it. Four people in our group have decided they don’t want to do the bus ride again and have elected to do sight-seeing flights to town to meet us before we get on the train. I’m quickly very jealous of these folks.
In truth, todays bus ride is much faster than earlier in the week. We spend much less time looking for wildlife and the focus is on a quick drive to town. That said, the weather is good and we do end up seeing bears, moose and quite a bit of other wildlife. It’s clear the driver is a bit stressed at stopping to take pictures as the train is not going to wait for us.
We make it to town in time and board another GoldStar domed train on our way to Talkeetna. This ends up being another lovely 4 hour train ride. When we get to Talkeetna, we meet our coach/driver for the rest of the land package. As it turns out, our driver is the husband of Cheri, who’s been our guide since Fairbanks. Apparently, this is one of the first times they’ve ever ended up on the same tour together despite working for the same company for years. We get dropped off in Talkeetna and have about an hour to explore the town.
Oddly, Collette, one of Travis’ friends from college is in Alaska this week seeing the sites with her Mom. They have been in Talkeetna and are headed to Denali this evening. We determine we don’t have time to catch up with them today but will see them on Friday night before they fly home from Anchorage
Back on the bus, we head out on a two hour drive to Knik River Lodge, our home for the next two nights. I think we’re all glad to get there. They have a beautiful view from their bar deck and we all meet there for a bit before dinner.
Dinner is delicious (the hotel has a very nice restaurant) but we make an early night of it and head to bed.
Doug - always willing to take an embarrassing photo!
…and sometimes Travis can be shamed into one also!