Denali

Yesterday we got out of bed at: 4:30am to catch a bus at 6am into Denali. Ended up being a 13 hr. bus trip. We had a dog walker get Bud twice during the day.  He was sure glad to see us when we got home.  It was a long day but very fruitful. The day was beautiful it was 82 degrees at the peak of the day.  All the Alaskans were amazed at the great weather. We saw Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Caribou, Grizzly Bears, ptarmigan (Like a grouse, Alaska state bird) and other little creatures.

We drove the entire route into Denali, there is only one road and closed to individual vehicles.  You must take a bus to go the entire 92 miles.  There are a few rest stops along the way and a lodge, where we had lunch, at the end of the road.  The bus driver was very good a spotting animals and stopping so everyone could get pictures from the bus.

One of the animals we came upon were a momma moose and here baby.

Another thing we were hoping to see was the top on Denali.  That doesn't happen very often so we were very excited to catch a view early.  Good thing we did because as the day went on the clouds began to cover the mountain top and you could only catch a glimpse once in a while.

This park is enormous and we only got to see a little piece of it.  From forest in the beginning to tundra's later in the trip.  The landscape ever changing.

 

The most sightings we had were of the grizzly bear.  I think in all we had 12 sightings of grizzly bear throughout the day.

A couple of sightings of caribou.

 This may be proof that reindeer can fly......

ptarmigan,

 

The sheep were a pretty good distance away so not a very good picture.

 

 

More pictures of the day.

Denali

This was one great day of sight seeing.  Loved it.

Still Livin' the Dream.......

Dawson Creek to Fairbanks

We started the day with a visit to milepost '0" and the beginning of the Alaska Highway.

There was a museum with a lot of interesting data on the beginning of the highway and the people involved with the making of the highway.

Alaska Highway
Here are a few pictures taken along the way.

Dawson Creek area

One of the travel days we made a stop at the Signpost Forest.

It was interesting to see where all the signs were from.
The group also added one of their own.

Here are a few more pictures of the Sign Post forest.

Watson Lake YT

The next stop was Whitehorse for a couple of days, one of the days was a free day so we had some time to shovel out the coach and get some laundry done.  We have been seeing lots of animals along the way but don't get pictures as most of them are along the road and we can't stop.

One of the things we did in Whitehorse was to tour the SS Klondike.

There was lots of beautiful flowers as we drove along the road.

Here are a few more pictures of the area.

Whitehorse

Our next stop was Dawson City where we take the ferry across the river and start the Top of the World Highway, more about that later.  Dawson City is like stepping back in time.  The streets are still all dirt and all the sidewalks are really boardwalks.

Here is our tour guide explaining the Sourtoe Cocktail and the history and no we did not try it.

Here is a link to the history of the SourToe Cocktail.

SourToe Cocktail

We also took a tour of a Dredge.  Dredge#4

History of Dredge 4

Here are a couple of pictures of the ferry crossing.

Bud was in charge and making sure everything went smooth

More pictures of the area.

Dawson City

The ferry crossing started the 100 mile Top of the World gravel road.  They use the term gravel loosely as any gravel on the road is either on the side or all washboard.
Most of the time I was driving only 10 or 15 miles per hour.

The views from the highway were pretty amazing but I would never take it again.

We also crossed the border into Alaska while on this road.

We spent the night in Chicken Ak. Interesting town the total population is 3.  They have a campground and a gift shop, of course, and a little café.

Chicken AK.

Our next stop was Tok, Ak. where everyone got together and helped each other wash the RV's.  They were pretty disgusting.

More pictures of the area.

Top of the World


Here are pictures that were taken as we drove along the Alaska Highway.

Alaska Highway

And that brings us to Fairbanks, where we are now.  I will let Robin do this part of the blog as I was playing hooky through some of it.

We had two full days of touring. The 1st day started with a trip to the University of Alaska Museum. Like most museums, art and history of the area were the topics.

This first picture is of a outhouse, pretty fancy.

Lunch was provided at the Chena's Alaskan Grill. Linda joined the group for the second half of the day which was the Discovery Steamboat cruise on the Chena River. This cruise took us to where the Chena River and the Tanana River join. Notice the change in the water color, the clearer, Chena River, is fresh water, the cloudy water, Tanana River,  is moving Glacier flour, very fine silt.

The cruise provided awesome scenery, we also stopped at the Trail Breaker Kennels, Trail Breaker Kennel, which was established by Susan Butcher, 4 time Iditarod Champion. Also stopped and got off the boat at the Chena Indian Village. For more info about this cruise Riverboat Discovery Tour.

The cruise ended with a visit from an unexpected local resident

Second day began with a visit to the Visitors' Center, off to the Ice Museum, unlike most museums.

Lunch was on our own, afterward we boogied to Gold Dredge #8.

The Alaska Pipeline is also visible at the parking lot of the Gold Dredge.

 

The long day ended with a Salmon Bake Dinner and Stage Show at Pioneer Park. Great dinner included Prime Rib as well as Salmon and Cod and a very nice salad bar. The show was pithy but entertaining with song and laughter.

Two LONG, enjoyable days followed by two days of R&R. Fairbanks, Alaska