8/31 – Talkeetna, Wal-Mike’s, and BirchTree Dining in Anchorage

We got up and checked out of the Princess and went back to Talkeetna to explore some.  There really isn’t much to see.  We went to a place that bills itself as a chocolate store, but all it appeared to us is a place that orders chocolate from other places and marks it up.  We ate at a place called the Dancing Bear, which was essentially a little building for someone to cook in, then a dining area that was really not much more than an outdoor tent.  They had a VERY limited menu.  Walter got an elk burger and I got a buffalo bratwurst, both of which were good but didn’t taste different than beef versions to me.  The brat was $4.75 and the burger was $8, but the cans of soda were crazy – $1.25.  I can get those for $0.50 from vending machines at home!!!

 

We left Talkeetna, then headed to go get our marriage license in Anchorage.  We BARELY made it before they closed – I am talking like two minutes.  I was panicking.  We just underestimated how long it would take to get there.  On the way we stopped at this insane place called Wal Mike’s.  From the outside it looks like this huge garage sale and the inside is all junk too, although arguably some of it was antiques.  They also have a reindeer outside (which I found out is really a domesticated caribou) that we could pet.

The full set of Wal-Mike’s pictures is at http://flickr.com/photos/48311514@N00/sets/72157601865719959/  

After we got our wedding license we checked into the Dimond Center Hotel.  It is situated in a parking lot between a mall and Walmart.  The rooms would have been $249 a night, but we had a free night (up to $199) from the Tour Saver Coupon.  It was decorated nicely – the furniture all matched (bed, dresser/bureau, and armoire), there was a decent-sized desk with internet, and it had a king-sized bed they bill as the dream bed which was comfortable but nothing particularly noteworthy, and a 72” bathtub.  There was also a refrigerator and microwave.  Nice, but not worth the full price!!

We ate dinner at one of the places we had gotten those www.Restaurant.com gift certificates from, Birchtree Dining. http://restaurant.com/microsite.asp?rid=316448&mcn=00012052  It was good for $25 and we’d paid like $4 for it.  We got an appetizer sampler (HUGE plate of onion rings, wings, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers) and dinner, which included either soup/salad and garlic bread.  The menu was HUGE and we had trouble deciding, but Walter got chicken parmesan and I got shrimp alfredo.  That was SO GOOD.  It was obvious it was not from-a-jar alfredo sauce – I could taste the butter.  Walter said his was really good too.  The portions were rather generous and we took home essentially an entire meal for each of us (which sadly did not get eaten).  I think mine was $11.95 and Walter’s was $9.95.  Walter got cheesecake and ice cream for dessert, also very good.  The menu choices are abundant, the portions are large, and the price is good – I wish this place was near home!

 

After dinner we went back to the Dimond and I promptly crashed out.  See the pattern here? LOL  Pregnancy does that to you!

Thursday August 30 – Scenic flight around Mt. McKinley and dinner in Talkeetna

Except for actually getting married, the flightseeing trip around Mt. McKinley has been the highlight for me as I write this on September 2. We got another van from Denali back to the airstrip in Healy, then back on the plane with Erica and Trent as pilots again. We flew back to Talkeetna but took a totally different route. This time we went near Mt. McKinley and through the Ruth Glacier. This is a map from Talkeetna Aero Services’ website with some of what we did, plus we did Mt. McKinley.

I told Erica and Trent I was going to write about them and they seemed delighted, so here’s a picture of them in front of the plane (complete with my shadow taking the pic, lol):

I really cannot even accurately portray how amazing this second flightseeing tour was.  Erica and Trent told us all kinds of nifty information, such as how the glaciers were made; why the water pools on the glacier look blue; and much more. They identified different mountains and glaciers and such. I really can’t even describe what we saw, so here are some pictures. The full set of pics from this tour are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/48311514@N00/sets/72157601780942362/

When the flight was over we went into “downtown” Talkeetna and ate at the Wildflower Cafe.

We were shocked at the prices – but then again, we are cheap Walmart rednecks, lol. I got a FABULOUS halibut dinner with bread, a great salad with a mixture of greens (not just iceberg from a bag like at Princess’ Twenty Three Twenty), rice, fresh steamed veggies, and garlicky red mashed potatoes. All was incredibly good – but the $28 price seemed outrageous to me. However, that was the same price range for dinner of everyplace in town to the best of our knowledge. A can of Sprite was $2!!! Walter got a Philly steak sandwich (which I didn’t even want to taste; I hate what other regions label as Philly when I had the real deal at home up until the year 2000!) and fries. He said it was good, but he’s had better.

I would have expected some fancy décor for those prices, but it was a couple of dining tables that looked straight from Walmart along with some cheap cafeteria-style tables and chairs. The bathroom, on the other hand, is neat. It was painted with all sorts of wildflowers. It’s a shame they didn’t exert that energy out in front. They had neat centerpieces on the tables – what appeared to be real rocks with the bottom sanded flat and a hole drilled in the center, with water and flowers in it.

When we were done eating we went back to the Princess and I promptly crashed!

Thursday August 30 – Flight to Healy and Denali National Park

We stayed at the Princess McKinley last night and woke up mega early to be at the Talkeetna airport by 6:30 am for the package deal we had reserved through Talkeetna Aero Services – $375 per person (but we had a buy one get one free from the Tour Saver) which included the flight up to Healy from Talkeetna, flight back to Talkeetna from Healy, bus tour 60 miles into Denali National Park, van transportation to and from the Healy airstrip to the park, and lunch and snacks.  Here’s the map from Talkeetna Aero Services’ website of this trip:

The plane was what Walter calls a puddle jumper.  Including the pilot it holds 10 people. It was a Piper Navajo Chieftain. The pilot was a lady named Erica and her co-pilot was Trent. Here are Walter and I with them outside the plane, and Walter and I in the plane:

Walter and I sat in the next two front seats, and the six people behind us were a family – a mom and dad; their three boys; and the dad’s mother, Doris, who was visiting from Bogota, Colombia. They were so nice – they gave us a bag full of souvenirs as a wedding present! Here they are:

The flight up to Healy was neat, but didn’t compare to the flight back to Talkeetna.  We flew over mountains and rivers and Erica and Trent pointed everything out to us.  When we got to Healy there were some state workers mowing the airstrip so we had to circle around.  Then we got on a van to go to the park.Talkeetna Aero Services packed a huge lunch/snack for us:a big turkey and cheese sandwich, a bottle of grape juice, a bottle of water, a pack of chocolate chip cookies, a granola bar, peanut butter crackers, Fritos, and fruit.

The bus tour driver was Mark Anderson.  For some reason I couldn’t get the Neo character from the Matrix movies out of my head, not because he looked like him, but because of the agent saying, “Mr. Anderson…”  Mark was great.  He had a great sense of humor and was really nice.

The first fifteen miles of the road into the park are paved and accessible to private vehicles.   After that it is by special permit only, or on these tour buses.  The vast majority of the park is open access, except for some spots that are known to be areas where the animals frequently hang out.  They told us that if you make noise bears will likely stay away, and they were selling these jingle bell type things to wear.  They also said that if a bear sees you not to run, because it will take that as a challenge/prey type of thing and chase you.  On the other hand, moose are very aggressive, especially the cows with calves, and will stomp you to death, but it’s OK to run from them.  Walter is quite aggravated by the fact that people are allowed to go anywhere in the wilderness, but you’re not allowed to carry firearms to defend yourself.

On the bus trip we saw a moose, some bears, and some caribou.  The scenery is breathtaking – you are driving in a mountain range.  The driver stopped when we saw the animals so we could take pictures and such.  My cheapie 5 mp digicam has no zoom, so we didn’t get many good photos, but the camcorder has a great zoom and we got some good video.  At some point I’ll edit that into small enough blocks to post. We also saw from a distance some Dall sheep up on the mountain, and a wolf walking up the road before going off into the brush.  Here are Walter and I in front of the mountains:

We stopped every hour and a half or so for port a potties, and at one place they had antlers that they’d found laying around from when they shed.   Here’s Walter with moose antlers:

 

And with caribou antlers:

 

When we got to the point where we’d reached the end of the tour but had to turn around and go back Walter and I were both tired and napped some. The bus was bumpy of course so I wasn’t able to sleep.  Somehow Walter did though!

Next post: scenic flight around Mt McKinley back to Talkeetna

Everything’s booked!

On Tuesday Aug. 28 we have an ultrasound appointment for the baby (see www.pregnancyjournies.wordpress.com) at 7:45 am, and later that day we’re on the plane to Alaska!!! Our flight itinerary:

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 (Arrives Tuesday, August 28, 2007)

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Northwest Airlines Flight 2818 1h 45m , 448mi	From Lambert St Louis Intl (STL) St Louis, MO Departs: 1:50 P.M.	To Minneapolis St Paul Intl (MSP) Minneapolis, MN Arrives: 3:35 P.M.	Aircraft Canadair Regional Jet (Jet) Economy/Coach Class
Northwest Airlines Flight 845 5h 54m , 2510mi	From Minneapolis St Paul Intl (MSP) Minneapolis, MN Departs: 5:15 P.M.	To Anchorage Intl (ANC) Anchorage, AK Arrives: 8:09 P.M.	Aircraft Boeing 757-300 (Jet) Economy/Coach Class

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 (Arrives Wednesday, September 5, 2007)

Northwest Airlines Flight 844 5h 14m , 2510mi	From Anchorage Intl (ANC) Anchorage, AK Departs: 9:42 P.M.	To Minneapolis St Paul Intl (MSP) Minneapolis, MN Arrives: 5:56 A.M.	Aircraft Boeing 757 all models (Jet) Economy/Coach Class
Northwest Airlines Flight 3649 1h 38m , 448mi	From Minneapolis St Paul Intl (MSP) Minneapolis, MN Departs: 7:25 A.M.	To Lambert St Louis Intl (STL) St Louis, MO Arrives: 9:03 A.M.	Aircraft Canadair Regional Jet 900 (Jet) Economy/Coach Class

This was without question the highest fee – it was nearly $1200! But we discovered an awesome coupon book at www.TourSaver.com which gives us Buy One Get One Free on a LOT of cool things! We got it on ebay for $30 because some of the coupons expire on Aug 31 – but we made sure to take full advantage of certain ones before that happens, lol.

Here’s what we’ve got going on the rest of the time:

8/28 – Our flight arrives around 8 pm. We are scheduled to be on a train the next morning at 8 am, so we essentially just need a place to sleep. Turns out that there are these things called hostels that are cheaper than motels because it’s bare bones. They provide the linen, but you have to make your bed when you get there and strip it when you leave, and there is a shared bathroom. There is the option of being in a dorm room, but we opted for the private room which is only $40 – compared to the cheapest motel we could find at $85+ – we decided to go for it. We are staying at http://www.arcticadventurehostel.com/. More info on hostels at http://www.hostelhandbook.com/whatare.htm.

8/29 - This morning at 8 am we leave for a rail tour to Talkeetna to stay 2 overnights. We are staying at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. Here is the tour we are taking: http://www.princesslodges.com/itinerary_7a.htm. This is one of the B1G1 coupons -$359!!  (We changed this – see post “Changes already”).

We are scheduled to arrive in Talkeetna around 11:30 am. We’ve got a 3 hour jetboat tour scheduled from 3:15 – 7:45 (see http://www.princesslodges.com/mckinley-three-rivers.htm and http://www.mahaysriverboat.com/denalialaska-mahay.com/dws.htm) – another coupon – $95!.

8/30 – This is a full day! We’re going on a flightseeing tour from Talkeetna to Denali near Mt. McKinley, plus a 6-8 hour bus trip inside Denali National Park. See http://www.talkeetnaaero.com/denali-day-trips.htm. Another B1G1 coupon – $375! There is a 40-minute flights from Talkeetna to Denali, one back, and a 6-8 hour bus trip into Denali National Park.

8/31 – We are planning a Jeep driving tour in the wild – see http://www.princesslodges.com/mckinley-jeep-safari.htm. No coupon for that one, dang it. LOL Our train back to Anchorage leaves at 4 pm or so and gets back at 8 pm or so. (Note: this is canceled – new stuff in works)

When we get back to Anchorage we are getting a shuttle from the railroad station to the hotel we are staying at for the next two nights – the Dimond Center Hotel. Another coupon for that one, $199! We’d have NEVER stayed in something so expensive except we got one night free, and we’re getting married the following day. Check this out: 72-inch soaking tub with view of 36-inch color TV with Pay-Per-View movies, AVEDA® aromatherapy bath products, and the ‘Ultimate Dream Bed’ which is ‘four fluffy pillows rest atop a handsome 100% Egyptian cotton duvet stuffed with extra fine European goose down. Luxury linens lay atop the exceptional mattress and spring unit…’ Also includes complimentary breakfast including traditional cold fare, boiled eggs, and hot Belgian waffles with strawberries & whipped cream.

9/1 - We rent a car this morning, which we will keep until we leave. And… today is our wedding! Will be a separate post. Stay at the Dimond again (the free night, of course!)

9/2 - We check out of the Dimond and into something less expensive. We leave Anchorage at 8 am to go to Whittier to go on a six hour glacier cruise. “Explore the untamed wilderness and calm waters of magnificent Prince William Sound. Visit a working salmon hatchery. Cruise spectacular Esther Passage before exploring the numerous glaciers in Harriman Fjord and Barry Arm. Stop at majestic Surprise Glacier. Marine animals and birds flourish in these waters. Lunch includes Alaska King Crab cakes, pasta salad with vegetables, dinner roll, cookie and a beverage.” Another coupon – $99 this time. After that we go to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way back. Another coupon – but admission is only $7.50 anyway, ha ha. They have bears, elk, moose, bison, other stuff.

9/3 - Possibly doing the zoo, the botanical garden… we have time to figure this out.

9/4 – Not sure what we’re doing during the day yet. Our flight to come home leaves at 9pm or so.