The day my Mom and Uncle David were scheduled come visit Denali had finally come. I was so excited for them to be here and to see their familiar faces. They had traveled over 4,000 miles to get here, spent their first day in Fairbanks and then rode the bus to Denali. So, needless to say, when they got here they were exhausted. I was working in the gift shop when they got here, so when they came to see me it was a quick "Hello" and off to dinner they went.
They were on one of those organized tours so they pretty much have their trip all scheduled out. So the following day they went on the Tundra Wilderness Tour, which was the same 8 hour bus ride into the park that I went on. I had to sit that one out because frankly I've had enough of the bus rides with the tourists. They said they had a good time though. They saw all kinds of wildlife…..bears, moose, dall sheep, golden eagle, fox, ground squirrel. They even saw a wolf stalking a caribou. How lucky they were to see nature in action. I bet that was so cool. I was so happy for them because you don't always have that much luck seeing so many animals and it kind of made up for the cloudy day they had.
After their adventure we all went out to eat and had a nice hearty meal at the restaurant in the hotel and I have to say it was De-li-cious! It was definitely a much needed meal after all the cafeteria food I'd been eating. And even better, I got to stay in their hotel afterwards! It was so nice! I got to take a bath and sleep in a queen sized bed that didn't have springs poking through my back. They also had a really nice balcony right next to the river with a beautiful view of the mountains. Ooohhh, the simple pleasures in life!
The next day they had all to themselves without the tour group so we decided to go into the park. It was a cold and cloudy day again, with just a bit of sun poking through so I was a little bummed. But they weren't complaining because 50 degree weather to them was a complete delight since they had just come from hot Georgia and even hotter Florida. They said it was over 100 degrees when they left! Oh, I'm so glad I'm not down there right now.
The first thing we did on our outing was the Sled Dog Demonstration. This is where they take you out to the dog kennels in the park and let you play with the Huskys for a little bit and just demonstrate how they strap them on to the sled before they go mushing. It was really quite cute when they were gathering up the dogs to strap them in because they all got so revved up, started barking and jumping all around. And right after the selected few had been picked they calmed down. They just all wanted to be the one to put on a show.
Then, after we left there we went on to the visitors center to walk around and check out the museum and read up on all the Denali History, Geography, and Wildlife. I felt like such a tourist.
For our next destination, I desperately wanted to get them into the park and get on a decent hike. At first they wanted to go on the trails around the visitors center but I really wanted to take them to Savage river because those are nice but they look so much like all the trails back home and I wanted to wow them with the scenery.
We took the 10 minute ride to the trail, hiked around in the fast blowing wind, and enjoyed the beautiful canyon view. We saw ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird, right when we got there and they were all walking around in a group of 4 right on the trail. They were so cute. They looked like little miniature chickens scurrying around.
We were all taking a leisurely hike down this incredibly unique V-shaped canyon. We scoped out all the wild flowers and walked the line of the river the whole way just taking it in. I watched as Mom and Uncle David took pictures and admired everything around them and it reminded me of how I was when I first took this trail.
We were so caught up at that point that we forgot to look at the time. It was 2:15, and our bus was scheduled to leave at 2:30. Crap! So, I started booking it on down the trail to try and catch the bus before it left and the whole way I was thinking….I'm never going to make it, I'm never going to make it. But, luckily I did, right at 2:30 but they weren't with me. So, I begged the driver to wait and her response was, "I can wait 5 minutes and then I have to leave. Dang, I thought, if we miss this bus we have to wait another hour and we'll be late for our scheduled events that night. But then, to my surprise, there they were huffin and a puffin down the trail, and they were going to make it! I was so proud of them.
We had such a good time. We saw a couple of moose on the way back and continued on our way back to the next scheduled event. I really wish we could have more time hiking in the park, but it is just impossible to see everything I wanted them to see. It makes me really glad that I am spending this amount of time here because there are just way no way you can really see Densli in 3 days.
It was their last day here and it was on to the next adventure for them. They headed out on the train to Talkeetna, then to Anchorage and on to a glacier tour that would eventually land them in Juneau. Oh, how I wish I could have gone with them. I know they are going to have an unforgettable trip.
It was so nice to see and spend time with family here. Alaska is just a place that I've truly fallen in love with and I'm so glad they got to see first hand how I did. I think we may have found paradise here.
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