Destination: Alaska / Denali
When: June 2-9, 2007
Itinerary: Fly into Anchorage, rent a car, drive up to Denali and back while exploring east and west, too.

This trip was not planned! Well, not in the way I normally plan our trips. We hadn't planned on returning to Alaska until June 2008 for our 10 year wedding anniversary, but after very good news from our accountant in February, we decided to take some of our tax refund money and splurge on this trip. So, here we are, back in Alaska celebrating our NINE year anniversary instead!

Day 1: The day started out good. We dropped the dogs off at the kennel and the kids off at grandma and grandpa's and headed to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:25pm, but due to mechanical problems, weather delays and all sorts of other issues, we didn't leave Minneapolis until about 10:20pm, almost five hours late. Add to that the five and a half hour flight, and you can see why we had a loooong day! The flight was good, though. We were all compensated for the delays by receiving $75 in travel vouchers plus food vouchers to use onboard the plane. I would have rather gotten to Alaska on time, but at least Northwest tried to make amends. So, we land, get our luggage, get our rental car and head out to find our hotel. Oh, did I mention yet that it is snowing at this point????? Because we had a long and late flight to Anchorage, we had a room reservation at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Anchorage, just a short 15 minute drive from the airport. I was on moose patrol the whole way already! I walked into the hotel and was greeting by a large wood carved bear holding a sign that said "Welcome Home!" Now, for those of you who know I also love Disney, you might have heard me talk about how Disney welcomes their vacation club members "home" when they return to Disney. It is just a nice feeling. Alaska was welcoming me home. Check in was a breeze and I was so impressed by the room! We had a full kitchen, living room with office space with free high speed internet and pull-out sofa bed, dining area, separate bedroom, separate vanity area and bathroom area. They served a full, hot buffet breakfast (included in the room price!) that included all the hotel usuals like eggs, bagels, waffles, cereals, pastries, juices, coffee, oatmeal, etc. Very nice. It was a great way to start the day.

Day 2: After getting the car ready for our drive and a great breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to ride the George Parks Highway towards Denali. About 5 miles from the hotel, along Minnesota Avenue, we found our first moose, right in the middle of town. It was so cool, we had to turn around and drive by it again! I love it! We let the moose eat its breakfast in peace and kept heading north. We made a stop at the Walmart in Wasilla to buy some necessities and souvenirs. On our way through the parking lot walking into the store we were passed by a large Holland America Line tour bus filled with (mostly older) travelers waving at us like we were Alaskan locals! It was too funny! Walmart had many great priced souvenirs to choose from, a lot that had the Made In Alaska polar bear symbol. So, on the road again, we made it to the Talkeetna Visitor's Center, a small cabin on the west side of Parks Highway filled with everything you need to know about the area. The woman working (I wish I had gotten her name!) was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the area! She gave us maps, tips on where to dine and what to do and a lot of other advice. And we found out that she has attended Mankato State University! Small world, isn't it? The cabin we rented while in Talkeetna is called "My Alaska Cabin" and it is located about 6 miles off the Parks Highway to the east along gravel roads. Even though we were about an hour early, we decided to go see if we could check in. We followed the map and found the cabin. We were greeted by the owners and their friendly dogs. What nice people!!! They are from Germany and built their homestead by hand. It is BEAUTIFUL! There are three cabins on the site. The one to the left is the owner's cabin, the rental cabin is in the middle, and the cabin to the right is the owner's daughter's cabin, who first settled in Alaska. We were a little concerned that our cabin sat so close to the others, but we were never bothered by them. It was quiet and peaceful. The cabin itself is very, very well built, and spotless! There was a nice deck out front with two chairs and a perfect view. We sat on our deck for hours and drank in the gorgeous, perfect view beauty of Mt. McKinley. Inside was a sofa and footstools, sink/vanity area, a countertop area with a cooler (ice available) small stove/cooktop, dishes and utensils. The bathroom was small but completely adequate. Upstairs was two twin beds that could be pushed together. This cabin couldn't have been cleaner. It was perfect! We drove into the quirky little town of Talkeetna to shop and find something to eat. This town is little! We found a place to park and walked around, stopped in many of the shops, made some purchases and found a place to eat. The pizza place looked good, but we decided on dinner at the West Rib outdoor bar and grill. Yum! We each had a burger and fries and two drinks (each) and our bill came to about $40. Talkeetna was fun. It would have been fun to just sit and people watch. But, we were anxious to get back to our cabin and the deck with a view!

Day 3: We slept great in our little cabin! We got cleaned up and packed the car. We had a two hour drive to our next destination (north of Cantwell) and knew we'd want to take time to stop and explore along the way. We said goodbye to My Alaska Cabin and made out way north. The drive just kept getting more spectacular! We stopped in Cantwell to fuel up. There is really not much right in the town of Cantwell. The Tesoro station was a dive. The one neat thing in Cantwell is the start of the famous Denali Highway! We'll get to that in a few days. So, we passed through Cantwell and found our next home away from home, the Grizzly Bear Cabins and Motel. We checked in and found our cabin, the Bush Pilot. It sat along the Nenana River. We could hear the river but didn't get much of a view of it. There was a small bench on the porch, and inside was two double beds, sink/vanity area, coffee maker, and table and chairs. It was a nice cabin, private and comfortable. I would have liked a better view, but the resort offered a lot (groceries, shopping, etc.) The resort also had a variety of lodging options. There were three motel type buildings where you can rent a standard room, premium cabins like the one we rented, rustic cabins without water/plumbing, tent cabins and camping sites. It was a great location for us, being only 6 miles south of the main entrance to Denali National Park. We headed to Denali National Park (DNP for short) so we could catch the last Dog Sledding Tour and Show. We stopped at the Wilderness Access Center, then went to the Visitor's Center. We made our way to the shuttle bus stop and were taken about 3 miles into the park to the Dog Kennels. We were able to pet and play with the sled dogs, and take pictures. We also listened to an interesting presentation by the park ranger. We watched as the rangers got a team of dogs harnessed up and led the dogs around a gravel track. It was very interesting and fun! You can tell how much those dogs love to run and pull!
After the show we headed back to the Visitor's Center for dinner. We each had burgers and fries again, this time with coleslaw. Ross's was about $11, mine was about $9 (I they let me order a kid's size meal.) We sat out on the deck and enjoyed a nice view while we ate.
After dinner, we drove the first 15 miles into the park. Private vehicles are only allowed to drive 15 miles into the park to the turn around area. If you want to go any further, you must do so on a DNP shuttle bus or a private tour bus. Hint: take the DNP shuttle!

Day 4: Our day inside DNP! Because we were at DNP in the early season, we were only to go as far as Fish Creek. The further stop would have been Wonder Lake. However, we saw everything we wanted to see by going to Fish Creek. It took a total of 8 hours to go in and back. We had to pack our own food and water as there are no services within the park. We made restroom stops every few hours. We were lucky to get a bus driver who loved to talk about Alaska and his experiences. He had a love for wildlife and it showed. He entertained and taught us a lot along the way. He knew detailed information about the different wolf packs within the parks, he knew the areas to watch for specific animals like bears or caribou. He was great! Drivers are not require to offer a narrative, so we were very happy with our experience. We saw tons of wildlife in the park! We saw what they call the Big Five: moose, caribou, wolves, dall sheep and grizzly bear. We saw a momma bear and her cub wrestling in the grass. We also saw golden eagles, ravens (and a raven nest filled with hungry babies!) snowshoe hares and fox. Oh yeah, we also were blessed with crystal clear views of Mt. McKinley! So far, we've been in Alaska 3 days and we've seen the full glory of Mt. McKinley all three days. This is so rare! The mountain is fully visible only about 20% of the time. Visitors are considered lucky if they get to see a glimpse of the full mountain. We have seen the full view all three days so far. Incredible. After a full day on the bus, we were exhausted. We were hungry. We were still craving pizza! I knew I saw a pizza place up in what they call "Glitter Gulch" (the area just north of the DNP entrance) where all the fancy hotels, shops and tour offices are. We drove up and found Lynx Creek Pizza. The pizza was delicious!!!! We ordered a medium Hawaiian pizza and two sodas for $23. We were stuffed and our pizza craving was satisfied. We did a little shopping and headed back to the cabin.

Day 5: We woke up early because we wanted to go drive the 15 miles into DNP again. We were on the road by about 6am. We immediately saw a moose at the park's entrance. We drove all the way to the turn around and started heading back. We spotted something down in the valley. It was a momma moose with her baby. We parked the car to watch. She led her baby up the side of the valley and popped out of the bush about 15 feet from where we were parked. I was standing in the door jam taking photos, so I was ready when she showed up. We watched as the baby followed momma onto the road. Then they both stopped and looked at us, almost as if posing for us! We could hear the click of their hooves on the pavement as they walked. It was incredible! We watched as they made their way up the other side of the hill and into the trees. Mother nature put on a spectacular show just for us! So, with our Denali experience fulfilled, we sadly left the park. DNP is spectacular. We made a stop back at the Grizzly Bear Cabins to pack up our stuff and headed back down to Cantwell. We had a quick breakfast at the Cantwell Lodge ($10 each for 2 eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast. A little steep, but there was nothing else to choose from! We had to fill up (the car and our bellies) because we were heading out on the famously rugged Denali Highway. The Denali Highway is the original path that led to DNP. It is 135 miles gravel road that goes from Cantwell to Paxon (goes east and west.) Until 1972, it was the only way to DNP. In 1972, the Parks Highway opened the road from Anchorage to Fairbanks (goes north and south.) The first 3 miles out of Cantwell are paved and the last 15 miles to Paxon are paved. The highway runs along the Alaska Range and offers beautiful views. Beware: rental car companies do not "allow" their cars on gravel roads so you need to decide if you want to take the risk or not. We were not sure what to expect, so we decided to try it and see how bad the road was. We ended up driving 35 miles east on the Denali Highway. The road was actually pretty good, similar to the road in DNP. We were hoping to see some wildlife, and did see a moose, but after ninety minutes we decided to head back. So, we did 70 miles round trip which took a total of 3 hours. We averaged between 20 and 40 miles an hour. After driving the Denali Highway, we got back on Parks Highway and headed south to Trapper Creek. Our next cabin was located 10 miles west on Petersville Road out of Trapper Creek. We stayed in the Trapline at Gate Creek Cabins. We easily found the lodge and were greeted by Coozie, a huge English Yellow Lab, as friendly as can be! Susie and family welcomed us to their beautiful property. The log cabin was amazing! It had a full kitchen with everything we could need, two bedrooms, living room, dining area and a huge deck with a grill, picnic table, chairs and views of the mountains and two lakes. This place was spectacular and the perfect place to spend the last few days of our vacation! We grilled dinner on the deck, watched movies and relaxed. We were told about two momma moose in the area, so we kept an eye out for them.

Day 6: Our day lounging at Gate Creek Cabin! We were in the middle of a heart-to-heart married-couple-talk when I had to get up to get a tissue. On my way back to the sofa, I just happened to peek out the sliding doors and saw a moose. A MOOSE! Out our window! I could barely get the words out, but managed to grab my camera. We slowly opened the sliding door and made our way out onto our deck. We video taped and took pictures as we saw this one moose transform into the momma moose with two twin babies! Oh, it was exhilarating!!! I sat down on our deck and shot photos through the railing. We watched and videotaped as the moose made their way across the drive to the front of our deck. The babies stopped to look at us as momma munched on tree leaves. They were no more than 15 feet from us. We had about 15 glorious minutes with these amazingly cute creatures in our front yard before they meandered along the road to the north. Once again, we witnessed what so few people get to and it is just incredible. How do you top that? I don't know that you can. So, we readied ourselves and ended up heading west on Petersville Road, thinking that the views and chance of seeing wildlife along the way might be good. The road was significantly worse than the Denali Highway so it was slow going. We didn't see any wildlife as we made our way to the Forks Roadhouse. We had learned from Susie, our host, that Tony, the operator/tender of the Forks Roadhouse, was a gruff man who seldomly left his post, but was friendly once we made a connection with him. We didn't make it inside the roadhouse, though. We ended up turning around and heading back out to the Parks Highway for some lunch. We stopped at the Trapper Creek Inn RV Park for lunch and free INTERNET CONNECTION! I was able to get a very tasty bowl of chili and a huge club sandwich while I let the hundreds of emails download to my laptop. After lunch, we headed back to the cabin but not before spotting a porcupine along the way! Very cool!

Day 7: Nine years ago TODAY, we were in Juneau, Alaska getting MARRIED! We were sailing on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas. Check out my other trip reports for one on our Inside Passage cruise! As usual, I got up early (early by Alaska time, that is!) I made a pot of coffee and turned up the heat. It got chilly overnight. I opened all the curtains in hopes of spotting our moose family again. Our flight didn't leave Anchorage until 9:42pm, so we had all day to drive from Trapper Creek to Anchorage. We hadn't decided what to stop and see along the way. We went over to say goodbye to Susie and Coozie and thank them for their great hospitality. We were sad to be leaving this amazing place. We started driving south and ended up going past Anchorage to Girdwood. We had lunch at the Chair 5 restaurant in Girdwood. We drove a bit further to the Portage area and then to Whittier. We paid $12 to pass through the single-lane tunnel that leads to the port area in Whittier. We passed back through the tunnel and on to Hope. What a beautiful drive! Back up to Anchorage, we tried to stop and shop in the downtown area but couldn't find a place to park and time was running out. We drove out to Earthquake Park to see if we could spot one more moose before heading home but didn't have luck. Time's up! Time to get to the airport for our flight. It was delayed 20 minutes, giving us an arrival time in Minneapolis of 6:10am. We both managed to sleep a bit, but not nearly as much as we needed to!
 

I always end my trip reports with thoughts on where we will travel to next. We have talked about all of the areas of Alaska that we have been to and compared the splendors of each of them. We also remembered Banff and Jasper, Canada. It is hard to say which area we like best. They are all spectacular in their own way. We've talked about returning to Alaska in the fall or winter months. I'd love to photograph a huge bull moose! We haven't given much time to the beauty closer to home like Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Teton National Parks. We also keep talking about a trip north to Churchill, Canada to see the polar bears on Hudson Bay. Even though Churchill is fairly close, the trip will be very expensive (like $8000 for the two of us!). We have a trip to Hawaii planned for fall 2007 (Oahu, Big Island and Maui) and two cruises in 2008 (destination unknown!). Beyond that? The world's the limit!