On land...

Tomorrow is our 5th day of our Alaska Cruise! We've seen and done so much since I left off in Denali! 

I still haven't caught up on the land portion so please note the following occurred the second day of our land portion.

Day Two (land)

Mt. McKinley or as the the natives call it, Denali or "high one" was next on our agenda! We traveled in luxurious comfort on the McKinley Explorer. Full bar, all the creature comforts such as food and alcohol and upper deck panoramic views that will forever spoil me when it comes to train travel.

I absolutely loved this mode of travel! 

Mt. McKinley did hide from us that day but we saw wildlife and waterfalls that made up for not seeing "the great one".

On to the next leg of our day trip! We took a bus ride with James to Talkeetna, the town Northern Exposure was loosely based on but not actually filmed there! 

This town seemed to have been dropped out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere! Very rustic, but quirky. Lots of gift shops with "moose poop" earrings....and, no, I didn't buy any, but my sister-in-law, Cathy did, lots of art galleries and very few bathrooms! Had to leave belonging @ a sport shop and use the toilets in one designated gift shop (running water sketchy in town).

The boys fooling around as they waited for the girls to go in one gift shop after another that all held the same tshirts, fur hats and the ever popular moose poop earrings!

Did boast that this was home to the biggest 2 lb buffalo burger featured on Man vs. food!!  Needless to say, Joe and I had had enough of Talkeetna (although we did go to the little tiny museum to see displays on the exploits of those who climbed or attempted to climb Denali).  We opted to catch the hour long shuttle to The Princess McKinley Park Lodge and ate fresh salmon in the beautiful lodge restaurant with 360 degree views of the Denali mountains!!

Day 3, (land portion and day we meet the cruise ship in Whittier)

So, today we left Mt. McKinley to make our way to Whittier where we would board The Crown Princess and sail the inside passage. But first these 8 travelers still had much to see and do on our way there. We were tired of living out of our little suitcases, but sure loved how we'd put our cases out the door by 7, go have breakfast and then they would be loaded on the bus for us and now, somehow make their way to the ship! I could get used to this!

More views of Alaska as we made our way to the ship!

Rainy day! Stopped in Anchorage to have lunch at the Hilton. Street fair going on with a really old fake Elvis!

Miserable day, but did a bit of shopping and bought a book for Lemon...or did I? Left the booth thinking Joe had paid and he thought I did! Suddenly realized on the other side of the marketplace and went all the way back to pay the author! Felt like Alaska State Troopers would be after me, but even the author didn't realize it!😊

The bus picked us up and we traveled to an animal sanctuary. Here animals are treated for whatever ails them and then released back to the wilds...except for the bears. More in a minute about that.

Apparently the bears, once they are fed by humans cannot be set free again to roam as they now associate humans with food which may give them the idea that people +food=bear snacks!!

Saw caribou, deer, moose, elk and buffalo!

Ok....grand finale! We reach Whittier and board our ship!!!! Tired, but happy! You would not believe that 8 grown ups could move that fast, but the sea adventure will be the next post!