Booking It with Blasdel

Tuesday, August 27, 2013...We began today with a simple breakfast in the Marriott's restaurant, and then headed out to load onto Bill's tour bus at 7:20 AM. It was just a short trip to the Alaskan Railroad Station, where we boarded the wonderful Royal Caribbean glass-dome tour car of the train. Gail, our tour guide introduced herself and acquainted us with the amenities and safety feature of the train. Gail, a native of New Zealand, did an excellent job pointing out wildlife and landmarks as we made the four hour trip to Talkeetna. As we enjoyed the amazing sights of eagles, moose, native plants, mountain streams and ranges, Pat had a special "Glacial Ice" drink, while I warmed up with a warm drink called, "Moose Kiss." The train smoothly rolled over the terrain as we were treated to our first glimpse of Denali...the Great One! The beautiful blue sky afforded us several far off views, but Gail assured us that luckily we would be getting closer and even better views of what many know as "Mt. McKinley."

Our glass-dome train car...smooth ride & great viewing

One of the many mountain ranges and streams along the ride

Bald Eagle flying above our glass-dome train

Alaskan Fire Weed, found throughout our travels

Our first glimpse of Denali from the train

Soon we arrived at the Talkeetna Train Depot, where we quickly walked up the road, passing restaurants, bars, and quaint shops to follow the signs to the river. Just as we headed across and turned around a bend, there Denali appeared to loom across the water. What an amazing sight. Words can't describe the majestic, snow covered Denali Mountain Range...with the sun illuminating its massive peaks and valleys and the blue sky serving as a backdrop, we started snapping photos. Of course we had to get pictures of ourselves in the foreground to prove that we had indeed been blessed to be among the 30 or less percentage of guests who get to see Denali. It had been a perfect encounter for us! We reluctantly left the sandy beach and headed back to the village for a quick, but delicious lunch on the patio of the Denali Brewing Co. We walked the few blocks to our bus to await the next part of our journey to Mt. McKinley Lodge in the Denali National Park.

I'll let the following pictures speak for themselves:

After checking into our extremely warm, small room with a beautiful river view, we rested for awhile before dinner. Pat called guest services for someone to come check out the heater situation, as we even had a fan to try to cool the room down. It was a little chilly on the lodge's back patio, but we enjoyed having a simple dinner of roasted pepper soup & Mt. McKinley salad in the fresh Alaskan air. We had signed up for a program entitled, Homestead Huskies, so we next boarded a mini-bus for this event.

As we arrived at four time Iditerod winner, Jeff King's Homestead, we were each given an excited puppy to hold. They loved all the attention that we were showering upon them. After returning each puppy we were seated on benches and introduced to Jeff's fiance, who explained about the training of the sled dogs. She also told us that ANY dog with the ability to pull a sled is considered a "husky." It doesn't have to be a specific breed. As soon as Jeff's crew held up the harnesses, the dogs began barking excitedly...wanting to be chosen to pull Jeff across the homestead's training paths. Jeff then performed a training run with the dogs pulling him on a four-wheeler. He then shared about the rigors of preparing for a sled dog race. We would highly recommend a visit to Jeff King's Homestead Husky program if you ever have the opportunity!