Day 12

We woke early and after breakfast at the Fairfield Inn in Anchorage we headed for the Alaskan Railroad Train Station to catch our train to McKinley Wilderness Lodge. We boarded our Dome car for the 3 ½ hour trip to the lodge. The views from the train were fantastic; of course Rod and I did catch up on some sleep. We arrived at the lodge around noon and planned our activities for the next day. Plans are to take an air tour of Mount McKinley and land on the Ruth Glacier. We all hope the weather cooperates and we get to do this. Well maybe all of us do except Janice and Debbie are trying their best to talk their way out of it. We sat out on the deck and watched the mountain come and go from sight behind the clouds and just relaxed. The weather is perfect, just a little cool, if only the clouds would break a little. It’s fun listening to other people tell their stories of their Alaska vacations, never heard of a complaint yet. Most have flown or taken a cruise. They cannot believe that we drove from South Georgia up the ALCAN and Yukon, seems like we have the best stories and have seen more of Alaska than any of them. We have not met anyone here that has been to the Arctic Circle, or drove the Dalton Highway like we have. The cruise and set itinerary tours may be good for some people, but I think the drive and the freedom to see Alaska the way we want is worth every minute we have spent. We had a great dinner here at the lodge and are turning in early to get some rest for a day full of adventure tomorrow. More to follow, along with more pictures………..