All Aboard to Denali

I am still here! I want to finish our Alaskan Adventure, so here is my next installment.  I have been so busy lately that blogging has been down on my list! I did do a September project and I will post that later!  So, when I left you last, we had just left College Fjord and we cruised all day, and that evening we docked at Whittier, Alaska.  I looked out the window and what did I see, but a big FULL Moon over the bay.  It was beautiful, but my pictures didn't turn out.
We spent our final night on the ship docked at the bay.  I felt bad to leave the ship because we were having such a wonderful time, but inland Alaska waited for us! Then next morning, we got up and boarded a train.

We said good bye to our wonderful ship and climbed aboard a train!  It was early in the morning, so I am not at my best in this picture, but I wanted you to see how neat the train windows opened up!

A photo of the clear water.  It was taken through the window so it  has a rainbow feeling!

Here is picture of our train tour guide.  Her name is Ester and she is a retired school teacher.  I felt like we were in a classroom for the whole train ride!  I was waiting for a test at the end!   She was very good and I liked her style.  

Mt. McKinley or Denali.  It is the highest mountain in North America!  We were  so lucky to see the mountain this good from this distance.  They say that you can only see it 30% of the time!

Talkeetna, Alaska

We got off the train in Talkeetna.  It was the coolest town.  We were allowed to visit as long as we wanted and then catch a bus to our lodge for the night.   David and I walked the town and had lunch here.  It was 80 degrees!!!  All the shops in town are so cute and the plants are unreal.  I was so shocked to see BIG flower pots everywhere.  

Chocolate shop.. let's go in!

Road House... this place has been around since 1919.  It is where you would come  for a meal and  lodging. It is still in operation today.

Look at these flowers at the Mile High Pizza Pie store.

Nagley's Store... prices are high here.  A gallon of milk was $4.00, but it is the only grocery in town.  People were buying ice cream here.  It looked good, but we weren't hungry, so we passed! 

I love this sign... if feels so Alaskan....It was on Nagley's Store. 

Kissed by a Moose.  Good Bye Talkeenta.

Mt. McKinley Lodge

That evening we stayed at Mt. McKinley lodge.  Here is a view of Denali at Sunset.  Of course, this was taken about 9:00 pm.  The sun doesn't go down for a long time... about 11:00ish.

A view of our room...Big flower pots everywhere.  It was a pretty place.
That night we ate at 20,320.  We asked, "Why is this placed named 20320?", and our waiter said, " That is the elevation of Mt. McKinley."   Oh, we said... good to know!  We felt lame. 

A view of Mt. McKinley as we were driving away the next day!
Our next stop is Denali Lodge.

We have been  home from our trip for over a month and it still feels like we just got home!  I am glad I am blogging so I don't forget what we did.  I have so many more pictures, but I just can't fit them all in.  

Until next time...

Glacier Bay

This post is mostly pictures. I just wanted to show off some of the great pictures we took!  One of the highlights of the cruise was to go into Glacier Bay National Park.  When we were there it was cloudy and overcast with an eerie mystic feeling.   It is cold up by the glaciers and so you have to wear a coat.  The one good thing about it being overcast, was the color blue stands out more.

Glacier Bay

We were able to see some of the glacier fall off.  They call it "calfing". 

Leaving Glacier Bay

Once we were out of the Bay area, the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day.   These pictures were taken from our  balcony.   Such beautiful scenery. 

Notice the glassy water.  This was as we were entering College Fjord. This bay is full of glaciers , all named after Colleges in the United States. 

A fishing boat, that looks so small up against the mountains, but in reality, it  was a big fishing boat.   Everything is just so big!    I hope you aren't getting tired of my Alaskan posts.  We took so many wonderful pictures.  I feel like I have to keep posting them! 

Until next time!
 

This Way To Skagway

The next stop on our Cruise, was Skagway Alaska. This town is known for Gold Rush Fever.  It also became known as a tent city overnight because it was at the foot of the mountains leading into the Yukon Territory and the gold!
Today was Sunday, so we didn't want to do too much, but we wanted to get a feel of the town.  You can walk from the boat into town, so we did!  It was raining today, but not very cold.  We decided we would make plans for the day as we went along.  We started out with a walk to town and a stroll through main street.

The Red Onion Saloon is famous in Skagway. 

A view of the downtown street.  It was raining.

A stop at the saloon to warm up and catch up on the town news. 

A storefront in Skagway.. the National Park Service keeps up the painting in town.

Here comes the Train... Here comes the Train!

Let's take the train!

We decided to head over to the Train Station to buy a ticket.

Pretty Flowers~

Waiting for the train

A view from the train.

A view of the train!

A view of us, sitting in the train... wait!
David you ruined the picture.  Let's do it again!

There, that is much better!

Climbing the mountain to White Pass.  We saw a bear from the train, but it went by too fast for me to get a picture. 

The Top of the mountain with the misty clouds.

The United States and Canadian Boarder.  

We made it to the top of White Pass.
This is where the Canadian Mounty lived to make sure the miners had enough supplies to live in the Yukon, while they panned for gold!

Turning the train around.  The engine hooks to the back and we flip our seats and we are off again down the  mountain. 

David thinking about Alaska and wondering what it would be like to be a Gold Miner in these parts!

Heading back down the mountain

A rail road car you can rent for $35.00 a night!  It looked fun.

Today was a fun day and it was neat to see such a historic town and to ride the train!  It felt like we went back in time.   

We are having a great time on the boat too.  I didn't take very many pictures of the boat, because the outside scenery was so pretty and interesting.  We are headed to Glacier Bay and College Fjords over the next two days.  More to come!