Triple Denali and Noordam Southbound 2022

  Friday was our free day and we packed a lot into it with a really nice surprise mid day.   We started the day by getting our Covid tests which we passed.  We then caught the shuttle over to the National park visitor center for our granddaughter to receive her Jr. Ranger award.  After we got off the bus I remembered that I forgot my backpack on the shuttle. I made a quick phone call to the front desk and it was retrieved.  After our granddaughter's award ceremony, we took a shuttle back to the McKinley Chalet, retrieved my backpack, and got on a return shuttle back to the visitor center.   At the visitor center we started the line for the bus to the sled dog demonstration as we learned it was wise to be early for the first pickup.  At 1:10pm we departed for the short 5 minute drive to the kennel area.  We entered the kennel area and suddenly I heard my name being called.  It was our friends Lynda and Terry who w...

  On this first full day in Denali, we caught the 9:40am TWT014 tour.     I had heard stories of how the tours were done using old school buses, and this was no exception.     However, the seats were covered in a comfortable fabric and there was air conditioning.     It turned out to be a very comfortable ride for the day.     Our driver and guide was Mary Jane.     She was excellent with lots of background information from her over 20 years of doing this.       We had no sooner passed the visitor center when there was a mama moose along side the road.  Mary brought the bus to a quick stop and trained her video camera on the moose and broadcast her video on drop down screens located throughout the bus.     The road is paved to a river crossing just past the Savage River Ranger station. The remainder of the road is compact gravel and very smooth with the last 20 ish miles one lane.   Along...

  Today was our big transfer day to Denali from Fairbanks. I set my alarm for 6am and put our luggage outside the room with our transfer tags affixed.     These had to be positioned there by 6:30am.     I reset the alarm for 7 and drifted off to never never land before being startled by the 7am alarm.     We all got dressed, packed our backpacks, ate the last of the pizza and made our way down to the lobby where our coach was waiting.       It was a short drive out to the Riverboat landing which is located very near the Fairbanks Airport.  The riverboat tour company has been in business some 72 years and Mary Binkley, the wife of the founder, at 96 years old is still active in the business.  Her husband, Jim Binkley, passed away some years ago,  but their descendants are still running the company.  There's a huge gift shop and meal facility adjoining the dock which the owner constructed, ...

  Today is technically the first day of our trip as it's the day we are scheduled to arrive in Fairbanks and be transported to our hotel, the Westmark Fairbanks.      Fortunately for us we were able to fly in yesterday. So today we all slept in until 9am.     For me last night was the best night of sleep in many months.     Last night at 11pm, I took a photograph of outside and it was as light as noonday.     But the wildfire smoke continues to be thick and oppressive.       We headed out of the hotel walking north on Noble Avenue towards Griffith Park and found the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center near the Antler Arch. This museum is very good with lots of interactive exhibits.  Our granddaughter pronounced it "Cool!". We even was able to acquire her a National Parks book in which to collect stamp impressions from parks that she visits.  From there we continued walking NE across the Chena ...

  After arriving in Fairbanks on a hazy day due to some lightning strike caused fires, we deplaned and headed for the baggage claim area.  We were greeted there by friendly HAL/Princess representatives.  I explained that we were a day early, and they didn't have our materials ready for us.  They would be available at the hotel tomorrow.  The agent then arranged for us to check into the Westmark hotel 24 hours early which was a tremendous help.   We gathered our luggage and boarded the motor coach along with another guest.  We had just left the airport when the bus was called back and two more passengers were loaded on.  They were dropped off at the Princess Hotel which is quite near the airport.  Our driver then dropped us off at the Westmark where we received room keys at 1pm from a very friendly desk clerk and we deposited our luggage in the room. Normal check in is at 3pm.   It was really quite smokey and wearing a KN95 mask really he...