8/29 – Princess McKinley Lodge and Jetboat tour

We stayed at the Artic Adventure Hostel last night, which was cheap and did the job. 🙂   Our bedroom was tiny but was equipped with a refrigerator and linens.  We had to make the bed up – big deal – it was literally half the price of other motels.  There was a kitchen with microwave, fridge, stove, dishes, etc. for us to use. 

By the time we rented the car (2007 Grand Prix) and got there, it was 10 pm.  I was feeling quite icky and the only thing I could even fathom eating was soup, so we went to Walmart and got soup for me and a frozen pizza for Walter, then heated it up at the hostel.  We went upstairs and I promptly crashed!  When we got up we went to McDonald’s for breakfast, then headed up to the Princess McKinley Lodge.  The motif of the room is cute – moose everywhere! 

 

When we got there, it wasn’t time to check in yet, so we killed an hour, then boarded a shuttle to Talkeetna to go on Mahay’s Three Rivers Jetboat Tour.  That jetboat was neat!  The whole thing is covered and made of glass, so you don’t get wet or too cold from the wind, and  you can see everything.  The boat can go up to 30 mph.

 

The captain of our ship was Steve Mahay, the owner of the company, and he was a neat guy!  We went up and down two rivers but couldn’t navigate the third because the water was too low.  That was disappointing, but we got a refund for a portion of it.  That was pretty nifty though because we had a TourSaver buy one get one free coupon to begin with, so it only ended up costing $55 for both of us! 

Along the way we saw a bald eagle and an eaglet.  The pictures of the eagle and eaglet didn’t come out too good, but we did get video, and when I am done playing with the video I will upload those in a different post.  We stopped and saw a huge beaver hotel which had been deserted when water levels went too low.  Walter held a beaver skull – icky!

          

We also went to one of Steve Mahay’s old trapping lodges. He used to trap animals to sell the pelts and showed us all sorts of stuff about that.  The entire tour was VERY informative and fun and I strongly suggest you check it out if you’re going to be in Talkeetna!
    

The full set of pictures from the Jetboat tour is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/48311514@N00/sets/72157601786878395/

When the Jetboat tour was done, we boarded the shuttle back to the Princess, checked in, then went to eat in their Twenty Three Twenty (named for the height of Mt McKinley, 20,320 feet) restaurant.  The girl at the front desk had described this as “like Applebees” but it wasn’t!  It was higher than Applebees for certain.  Walter got a bacon cheeseburgerand fries ($9) which he said was no better than Hardee’s Six Dollar Burger, and I got a chicken parmegan sandwich ($10) and some fruit instead of fries.  The sandwich was good, but it was not worth $10!!!  As soon as we got done eating, I crashed again. LOL

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.