Denali was a bust! On to Anchorage.

Recorded June 21, 2009

As expected the weather turner cool as we arrived in Denali Village on Wednesday afternoon the 17th. We did make one notable stop on the drive south on the Parks Hwy from Fairbanks. It was in Nenanan a tiny little town that is trying in a very big way to be a tourist town. It has exactly 2 things going for it….well 2+1/2 if you count the really old grocery store that’s supposed to be the oldest in the state or something but it had a real bad mildew problem so I do not think they should be sending folks there. Anyway Nenana is where in 1923 President Warren Harding drove the golden spike to complete the Alaskan Railroad. Nenana also has a very unique contest. It is a national guessing game where by every year since 1917 one can purchase a chance (today’s price $2.50) naming the date and time the Nenanan River ice will break up casting the town 15’ high Totem structure down into the depths of the river. Last year the prize was $300,000 split 3 ways. This little place has been trying to become important for over 90 years. Now they have a few historic buildings but I think they could use some marketing help.

The road trip was an easy one. Our Milepost makes every single sight along the way an easy talking point. The road was not too bad but just to keep us honest on nearly every highway there is a few hundred feet of gravel about 5 to 15 miles apart. These gravel patches come without much warning only a couple cones.

Once settled in our campsites in Denali Village which is a few miles from the park and in spite of the chill we made plans for the evening. ‘Cabin Night’ Dinner house theater is the local show in the village for all the tour folk. It's Fanny the roadhouse owner & her hubby's lite hearted history of the park and its first park manages. It’s all based in fact though little silly honk-e-tonk & a little slapstick but a fun down home night. Bill & I recognized the players from our last visit in 2006 so I guess they all have a regular gig.

Denali National Park was big on Linda & Bill’s to do list for Thursday. They left at 6:00 AM and did not return to the RV Park until 6:00 PM. Because it had been raining on & off all afternoon with dense low clouds and visibility of about 50’, they were disappointed. Bill & I had done the whole day bus trip into the park in 06’ so we choose to pass, knowing that it was cold, uncomfortable & we did not see many animals on the 2 X 80+ miles of gravel mountain roads in & out. They had no chance of seeing Mt. McKinley’s 20,320 proud feet either. We have seen so many animals so far on this trip that it was OK but it’s probably not something one would do twice.

I made a pot of stew for all of us to share as we planned our next days trek to Anchorage about 220 miles southwest.

We kept waking up all night the night of Thursday the 18th. It rained hard and it rained all night long. The guys were out in it hooking up the tow cars in the morning as it did not le up until around 11:00 AM. We were lucky because we were headed south and the storm was headed north so by the time we got to the little town of Talkeetna we had a beautiful day and even a lovely lunch outside. Takkeetna is a place that Bill says reminds him of Knott’s Berry Farm of about 30 years ago. It is really quaint with many historic buildings but its real claim to fame is many of the river float trips and Mt. McKinley Fly Tours originate there. It is located where three rivers merge together. Being 14 miles off the main highway we were very happy we stopped. Please see the pictures I continue to post on my Facebook page. You do not have to join Facebook to view the pictures, just look for Pam Dickey.

From Talkeetna it was 2 or so more hours to Anchorage. We were not really thinking ahead because we have made no reservations thus far on this voyage but we had spent 3 hours in Talkeetna. It was getting late. It was Friday night on Father’s Day Weekend & the Summer Solstice (A very Big Deal up here!). We had no reservation! I called ahead and got the last 2 big rig spots at the Golden Nugget RV Park. It was a so so park but come to find out ……They fed us dinner both Friday & Saturday so the $40+ per night was not so bad after all. Upon our arrival we find out that morning Bill Moorhead started to catch a cold. Well being the macho guy that would never admit to being (Talk to Linda!), he said he was fine and was happy to go and do what ever any of us wanted to do including sitting out in the 40 degree cold.

We spent 3 nights in Anchorage and on Saturday the 20th Billy & I were happy to be in a city and able to replenish our supplies at Wal-Mart, Costco & Fred Meyer, so that was our Saturday but Bill & Linda went off to visit some Iditarod Dogs. We did separately find time to do some sight seeing in downtown Anchorage at the open air market. It was wonderful. We had been to so many tourist events where they reinvent history for you that it was great to see how the real families, vendors & craftspeople spend their Saturday afternoon. We found every kind of carved birch item, Birch Syrup, Carved tusks & antlers, an unbelievable fur concession and lots of locally crafted jewelry. We even saw a woman who made area rugs, tots & purses plus sold her patterns out of trash bags & old cassette tapes! We had an amazing lunch of salmon Quesada’s. So YUMMIE we even got the recipe! This was a very good day.

On Sunday it got very cold all day, as cold as it ever gets in the desert in winter. It tried to rain on us but all it did was spoil our plans. We were headed up to Flat Top Mountain to get some pictures of the city but that was not to be. Instead we went downtown and took a trolley ride around the town. The driver had lived in the local area his whole life but from his jokes I gathered he has never been elsewhere. It was a nice tour but the best part was when he took us to the airport. It was unlike any airport you will ever see. Lakes, lakes and more lakes! Only a few planes were on the ground. We saw hundreds of floatplanes. We saw zero commercial airliners but he said it was the international airport but WOW. It was huge. It could have been one of his odd jokes. He did explain how dependant the entire state was on small planes as they have so few roads and the area is twice the state of Texas. As for learning something how about this; while talking with a shopkeeper we were told that last summer Anchorage only saw 3 or days of sunshine all summer long. I guess we should not complain. That would also explain why everyone seems to be in a party mood.

Well on we go it is Summer Solstice so we are out for the evening to a micro-brewery called Moose’s Tooth for Pizza. Linda say’s it is highly recommended. We would agree as we had a terrific pizza night!

Tomorrow June 22nd we again are on the road. This time it’s Seward only about 120 scenic miles south on the Keni peninsula.