Day Four -- Tuesday -- Fairbanks to Denali

Awake at 5 am -- luggage outside the door by 6 am -- and by 8 am we are on the McKinley Explorer for a four hour train ride to the McKinley Chalet Resort in Denali Park, AK  -- just outside Denali National Park.

We are in a domed car with great views -- seating is on the second floor -- dining on the first floor.

Dining is in shifts since the dining car seats about half of the second floor seats.  We are invited to the dining car in the first shift.   For breakfast:  Patte had Breakfast Burrito, Dave had Flapjacks, Phil had Crabcake Benedict and I had an Egg Dish with bacon, cheese and tomato.  All dishes came with fresh fruit and all were pretty good.  The coffee was delicious.

Back upstairs, our Train Guide is Laura -- who narrates our trip pointing out highlights along the way.

We pass through several small towns including Nenana where there is a contest each year to see who can guess when the river will start to break-up -- announcing Spring is here.

We are fortunate to have Mt. McKinley visible today -- it is behind a few clouds but we can see the peak.  We continue through the Alaska Mountain Range arriving at the depot in Denali about Noon.

This resort is huge and owned by Holland America -- we are in the Canyon Lodge.  Our room has a king bed and is on the 2nd floor.  A very steep hill separates us from the main chalet from which all the excursions leave and restaurants and shops are located -- good exercise.  

Once settled Patte, Dave and I take the shuttle to the National Park Service Visitors Center to view their extensive exhibit on the history of Denali National Park.   Phil checks out the rest of the area -- and we meet back at the Chalet.

By 5:45 we are on a shuttle taking us to the Black Diamond Horse Drawn Covered Wagon Adventure.

Since we are a little late -- the last covered wagon is pulling out and there is no room for us so we get to ride in an ATV to catch up to the second wagon where there is room.   We went from one extreme on the ATV to another on the covered wagon -- like traveling a 100 years in a few minutes.  

The covered wagon trip was fun.  Tim, our guide, was a little too full of himself but he was entertaining.  Sean, our driver, was from Southern California -- in Alaska for the summer ---  he's an educator in the winter.  Our horses Joe and Mike were great and so strong.    After 45 minutes we arrive at the Pavillion where a wonderful dinner is served -- ribs, chicken, salmon with potato salad, cole slaw and blueberry cobbler -- it is blueberry season in Alaska.

It was a fun excursion allowing us to see and learn more about the wilderness surrounding Denali National Park.  We arrive back to the Canyon Lodge about 9 pm -- exhausted.   

Tomorrow we will spend the day in Denali National Park.

Thanks for Reading!

Pat