Alaska- Day 4

  Early in the morning we caught the shuttle back to town to go white water rafting, another spur of the moment activity. I still am so surprised that my Dave would just drop money on something he had not researched or shopped around not once but twice in two days! I'm so proud of him. Or maybe he was trying to kill me. I HATE water that I can't see the bottom. It took us about 20 minutes to drive to the drop of point and the guy that was giving us the safety talk was NOT nice. I was seriously crying by the time he was done. He pretty much told us we had a 50/50 chance of coming back, but most likely we would die. I'm so glad that when we got there he got in a different raft. Our guide was really nice and from Eastern Tennessee. He reassured me that we would be fine and off we went. The trip us 4 hours. The first 2 were really just a float, there was a man and his son with us in the boat. The rapids were class 1 and class 2 so really nothing. We got a little wet but really it was relaxing. After 2 hours we dropped off the 2 guys and Dave and I ended up being the only ones to go on. There was another boat that had 4 people in it that went ahead of us. Our guide had us sit in front, since there was only the 3 of us. We really did have a blast, I think it was one of Dave's favorites.  

   Getting ready to go. So scared and COLD. They told us the water was 36 degrees, IT WAS.

   When I was in the back the first 2 hours it wasn't that bad.

   The only picture of Dave. I wasn't letting go to take pictures. But he was there and loved every minute of it! He even wore his hat.

   This is the start of the class 3 and 4 section.

   Right before he tried to lose me in a class 4. The water was really cold.  We were wearing wet suits but they were not warm suits!

   The rapids don't look that bad, but we dropped a good 3-5 feet after the little wave into the rapid. Notice how far forward I am. They convinced me that was the only way to make sure the boat stayed stable with only 3 of us. Pretty much they just wanted to soak me, which they did.

   It got really hairy in there. We went trough this canyon here and the wind was blowing really bad. Dave took of his hat and sat on it, that's saying something. To the side of me is a class 5 rapid that the guide had to go around, he wasn't aloud to go through it. The wind was so bad it was everything he could do to steer out of it. The wind kept knocking us into the side of the canyon, I thought it might pop the raft. As soon as we got out of the steepest part of the canyon, he radioed back to the base and told them they had to cancel the rest of the rafting until the wind died down, it was just to strong.


  When we got done rafting, we were FREEZING, but we had about a 30 minute drive back to the base and then they drove us back to the cabins. We kinda thawed out in that time. We only had an hour when we got back to shower and get everything ready before the bus picked us up to go to Anchorage. Everything we did they picked us up and the cabins and dropped us of at the cabins. It was great. We thought we would have to do a taxi or something but everything was right there for us. We hurried and got ready and then rode the bus to Anchorage. It was about a 4-5 hour drive. There was only maybe 10 people on the bus and they showed a movie about Alaska. We were able to sleep, we had been going none stop. Once we got to Anchorage, while we waited for our shuttle we got some dinner and went shopping.

   I wanted this moose so bad! I think it says its about 7 thousand dollars. I made take a picture, it was so big! We headed to our hotel and got some sleep since we were so tired.

Alaska Day 3

    On the third day we had booked a bus tour that went 92 miles into Denali National Park, farther than any other buses or tours got to go. It took about 5 hours to get to the Denali Back Country Lodge where we would eat some lunch and pan for gold. We caught the bus from our cabin at 5:30 AM.

 

   Right after we left the Cabins, we saw a few Moose right off the side of the highway.

    Doll Sheep. These were way up the mountain but we zoomed in so we could get a better shot.

   Mt. McKinley. The bus driver told us this was or best chance to get a shot of the mountain as it is normally lost in the clouds. He was very excited that the clouds parted so that we could a good view of it.

   A gray wolf just wandering down the road.

   We stopped after a few hours for a potty break near this stream. It was so cold but Dave had to run down to it first thing. We collected rocks for the boys here.

   There was a bookstore there also. We got a few books about animal tracks and postcards fro the boys. We tried to send each boy their own postcard everyday while we were gone. I think they ended up with 4 each, we tried.

     A Moose's rack.

    A red fox. It had been hunting right off the side of the road for a mouse that was trying to hide.

    Another rest stop. I loved how you could just see miles and there was nothing.

   Two Moose skulls stuck together. The story was these 2 moose got into a fight and one of the horns stuck into the others eye; which killed one. Since they were stuck together the other died from starvation soon after. This stop had a big museum where we got to touch a bears pelt, moose, and a badger. It also showed how the Alaskan wilderness we explored. The rest of the tours had to turn around here and go back so we only saw 2 other buses the rest of the trip.

    Three bears right off the road. They were really big, it was a Mom and 2 babies.

    Elk, as seen through the binoculars. Thanks to Dad and Dee who let us use their really good ones.

      The Back Country Lodge. Seriously we hadn't seen anything bus, truck, anything for over an hour and then right over the hill was this place. After we had a REALLY good lunch, there was a list of things we activities we could do. The thing I was most looking forward to doing was panning for gold, so that's what we did. The Mosquitoes ate us alive!

    We had 2 hours after lunch before the bus headed back to wonder and check everything out. Dave had heard, when we first got to Denali a girl talking about how she flew in a Cessna around Mt. McKinley and how awesome it was. Dave wandered into the office while we were waiting to load the bus and checked the prices. Apparently it wasn't that bad because when he wandered out he had tickets. I don't like flying on big planes and he is holding tickets to a 6 seater. He told me that he had been planning on doing it since he heard that girl talking but didn't want to tell me so I wouldn't worry. That was nice because at that point I was crying and searching for my Xanaz. While I was very nervous to go on the plane, I really didn't want to ride a bumpy bus for 6 more hours.

   Me waving goodbye to the bus, the only other way back home.

    Yep. That's the plane.

   Dave inside, the lady behind us had a bench seat for 2. Dave and I could not have fit back there together, so even though it was a 6 seater, it really wasn't.

    Connie, our pilot. He is giving us the run down. We had to wear head sets so we could hear him and because it was so loud once we got going.

   These are called kettle ponds. They are just melted snow and ice and mosquitoes.

    This is what we flew trough for a good portion of the time. There were 3 planes in the air together trying to circle Mt. McKinley about the same time. Connie kept talking to them  so we wouldn't get to close to either of them, and they were saying how it probably wouldn't be visible at all. Connie talked to us a lot about the plane and the mountain. He told us that small planes have to stay 12,000 ft because they don't have oxygen so it's not safe. After a few minutes of thinking we weren't going to get to see the mountain, he turned around to face the 3 of us in back and handed us a pack of gum. He said 'I think we can see it if I go above this cloud layer, but that means going above 12,000. So put some gum in your mouth and chew.'

   We are not that close to the mountain, but we really are!

    We are at 12,300 and still climbing. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I really started to have a hard time breathing. I was nervous, but Dave was having the time of his life.

The Glacier on the side on the mountain, he said one person dies every season trying to climb it.



 Mt. McKinley. How many people get to be this close to this mountain? It was breath taking, really amazing.

   As we started to descend back through the clouds, we noticed a plane really close to us. We then saw the rainbow surrounding it. It turns out it was our shadow, how cool is that!

    Denali. Notice the river, you will need that next post....


 

I didn't have to use it!!

    I really was excited I made it.

   Mark, the shuttle driver for the Cabins told us that since we had some time to kill we for sure needed to take a picture by the Denali sign and then took us there and took our picture. He was great!  He took us to 'town' and we wandered around for a few hours and had some great salmon for dinner, then signed up to go WHITE WATER RAFTING early the next morning before we caught a bus back to Anchorage. Flying around Mt. McKinley was a spur of the moment add on, but it was so awesome. I'm so glad we did it.

Alaska days 1 & 2

 Back In July Dave and I FINALLY made it to Alaska!! We have been dying to go for ages but just haven't wanted to spend the money or take the time. Living so far away from family, the only vacations we take are to see them and I don't want to miss seeing them for a year for my selfish reasons. But we decided we needed to do it when the boys are old enough to be fine with a sitter for an extended period of time. We planned for a few months and decided on the perfect trip; everything we have ever wanted to do because when are we ever going to go back. We convinced my parents to take the boys for 10 days, and we headed out. The boys and I headed to Moses Lake in June so I could hang out for a week before I flew up to meet Dave.

Dave and I met in Seattle where we both had layovers. This is where we found Qdoba...amazing.

There was one in Anchorage and we ate there probably 4 times as we passed through, it was so good. 

 The Alaska coastline. We were so excited!!



The next morning we headed down to the train depot, where we caught a train to Denali National Park. We

booked the Gold Star Service which has an open upper observation deck and a private dining car. It was fancy, but I'm glad we did it.

 Sydney in front of the Train Depot.

   Dave and a Totem Pole.

  Our tickets. Funny how I paid for them together and everything but they still miss spelled one of our last names. I guess it could have been worse.

   Us before our adventure. I have never ridden a train before so I was super excited; Dave who has ridden LOADS in Japan, didn't share my enthusiasm but still let my have my fun.

 One of the little rivers we crossed.

  

   Dave

                                                                                 Syd

   Us together. We stood in between two of the cars that had a door that the top half opened. That way we could see everything and it was less crowded.

   We passed through Wasilla and the lake was full of these Water Planes; I can't think of the name right now but they were cool.

    The train stopped in this little town to pick up supplies and a few people. Dave hoped off so he could snap a picture of me on the train.

   Me along a river. The tour guide said the water is this gray color because of the silt in the water from the glacier runoff.

   A clear stream. There were a few people we saw fishing in there. Dave would have jumped off to join them if I would have let him.

   More open space. Seriously it was so pretty.

   This is Hurricane Gulch. The tallest train bridge in Alaska.

    It was like 900 feet tall. It was high.

   The train stopped right after we crossed the bridge. I'm not sure that the whole train was off the bridge, we thought maybe that they were stopping for pictures but the guide said that the train had lost power. That's nice, broke down in the Alaskan wilderness. Luckily we were only there for maybe 15 minutes.

   The inside of the train.

   The Denali Train Depot. The train ride took 8 hours, long but so beautiful and I loved every minute of it. There was a dining car on the bottom floor of our car. For lunch we got sandwiches from the Deli car but we decided to check out the dining car for dessert. We had this Brownie ala Mode thing. It was AMAZING!! I'm so glad I told Dave he needed to get his own or else he wouldn't have gotten any.  Once we got to Denali we caught the shuttle to the Denali Cabins, which were on the outskirts of 'town'. The Driver's name was Mark, he was so funny. He gave us all this paper of his recommendations to eat and do while there. Some of his thoughts were so funny and mostly about the places with the best drinks.

   We checked into our cabin and headed over to check it out.  It was fun. I didn't expect to stay in a Marriott so I was okay with it. and it was really clean.

   We headed to Mark's number one pick for food in Denali, because it had 52 beers on tap. It was a pizza, pasta place. It was great! Dave ate a whole pizza himself, I have fettuccine alfredo. It really was good food. We sat next to the bar, so we got to check out all the beers on tap, some were really weird, some DIRTY, but it was seriously from one wall to the other of taps.

  We got back from dinner and wondered around the cabins to see everything they had there. They provide housing for their staff, because they are only open for 4 months. It was a big property, they have a living / computer space for everyone, a dining room with all the hot chocolate, apple cider, and coffee you need.  We were starting to get tired but it wasn't really even dusk yet so we thought we were just weak sauce, but that when we realized it was 10 PM. It just didn't get dark.  This is days 1 and 2, more to come!!