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

We’re in Alaska!!!

It is 6 AM Alaska time on Wed  8/29 as I begin to write.  I can scarcely believe we are actually here in Alaska!!! 

Yesterday morning we left the house early for the baby’s ultrasound (see www.ourpregnancyjournies.com) which went fabulously, then we ate at Denny’s with Walter’s brother Bill who drove us, then we got to the airport in St. Louis.  We had several hours to kill to begin with, but then that big storm in Minnesota yesterday made all the planes delayed.  Our connecting flight was in Minneapolis and THANK GOD that one was delayed too or we would have missed it!! 

And of course we had to get clear from the A concourse to the C concourse, but the Minneapolis airport has those moving sidewalk things – but I was still huffing and puffing by the time we got to our gate, and the plane took off maybe 15 minutes later.

The flight from St. Louis to Minneapolis was CRAMPED.  The plane held maybe 50 people, two per side, and it was pretty uncomfortable.  We were supposed to be on a Boeing 747 for the flight to Anchorage, but it was a 757 instead. That was better.  They no longer give snacks out I guess, because on the Anchorage flight we had to buy a turkey sandwich and some munchies.  At least the soda was free! LOL

The longest flights I’ve ever been on before were from Philly to St Louis or Philly to Florida, no more than two hours.  Can I just tell you how much a 6 hour flight bites???  I am a reader, but when I read I like to be curled up in my bed, or stretched out on the couch.  No can do on a plane of course!  I did manage to read one book in its entirety (a murder mystery I wouldn’t reccomend) but partway through the flight I started to feel like crap, courtesy of being first trimester pregnant.  I had heartburn, felt nauseaus, and just felt nasty.  And of course you can’t exactly lay down on an airplane!  The closest I got was to have Walter let me lay on him, and I was able to take a nap.  When I woke up we were over mountains!  I’ve driven from St. Louis to Philly and back and you go through some mountains on the PA Turnpike, but they are NOTHING compared to the view from an airplane in Alaska.  Here’s a sample, but I’ve got all my pics from the flight at http://www.flickr.com/photos/48311514@N00/sets/72157601749540241/