Day 2 -To Denali!

The river walkway at Denali Princess Lodge

The next morning our luggage had to be out by 7:30a, so we went to an early breakfast in the Edgewater. We left on the motor coaches for Denali.  Can I just say, Princess must be worried that the beauty of Alaska would so shock our systems that they'd better ease us into it. The bus drive from Fairbanks to Denali is pretty boring. We had three stops along the way; one for a view over a valley, one at the town of (I forgot the name of the town, but they have a lottery every year for when the ice will break up on the river) where we stretched our legs and looked through the native museum.  The most popular attraction seemed to be the flush toilets in the restroom.  There was a restroom on the coach as well. We had another stop for a quick photo op.  Not one of the stops was terribly remarkable; they must have some kind of regulations about rest stops for the drivers.

See, I'm not kidding. This was our first stop.

The landscape in Denali is more how I pictured Alaska, with huge mountains and pine trees. You cannot see Mt. McKinley from the lodge since there are mountains in the way. We arrived around 2:30 or so, and got settled in our room.  We were lucky to be in building 7 right across from the main lodge, so it was very convenient. We made reservations at Salmon Bake, the restaurant across the highway from the Denali Princess.  My son worked at the King Salmon restaurant at the Denali lodge a couple of years ago, and he said we had to try the Salmon Bake.  He said that all of his friends and his tips went there. 

The Salmon Bake Restaurant - kitty corner from the Lodge

Since we had a few hours to kill before dinner and we had an excursion to the Husky Homestead at 6:50, we decided to check out the stores across the highway. We saw a lot of the same stuff in every store. There were a few unique galleries.  I wish I’d bought some of the fat quarters in a small shop there; they had some cool prints with sled dogs, northern lights, moose, etc. Our biggest regret was not getting the 30% club t-shirts.  We hadn’t seen the mountain yet, and we figured they would have them in Talkeetna. They didn’t, rats! My favorite store for the prices was directly across the highway from the McKinley Chalet, at the northern end of the strip (Denali Summit Books & Gifts). Their prices were the best for the little stuffed animals, shirts, hats ($4 for my warm knit cap), etc.  I found the prices in all the Princess lodges comparable or cheaper than the gift stores elsewhere, so that was nice and unusual. At the Denali lodge we gave in and got the warm coats they were selling in every Princess lodge.  They are reversible, with polar fleece on the inside and water repellant on the reverse. The hood zips off.  You can get them for $29 each or two for $49.  My husband and I each got one. They seemed to be the Princess tours uniform; you’d see other people wearing them everywhere. We have gotten a lot of use out of them. Carefully check the zipper to make sure it works easily and check the pockets for holes.

The shops across the highway from the Lodge

Our dinner at the Salmon Bake was easily the best meal we’d had so far. The restaurant is pretty funky, there isn’t a level floor anywhere and you can tell it’s a local hangout. We had the yak quesadillas for an appetizer and my husband had the surf and turf and I had the shrimp basket.  Both were very good and we enjoyed just hanging out in the place.

We met up with our group to head out to Jeff King’s Husky Homestead. We had maybe 8 people in our group, and another van with the same number arrived at the same time for the tour. Jeff greeted us and told us a little about the dogs while his daughter and another trainer handed out the puppies. They had two litters for us to hold; one was 5 ½ weeks and the other was 2 ½ weeks. They are adorable and make a lot of squeaking noises. They let us hold the pups for a little while, so everyone got a turn. They explained that having us hold the dogs is good socialization training for them.

Me and one very adorable puppy

The dogs in the yard were quiet until Jeff brought out the training sled, and then all hell broke loose.  It was as if every dog in the place was hollering “pick me”.  The bedlam ensued until Jeff got on the training sled and gave the command to go. Then the dogs left behind quickly went back to their kennels and watched as Jeff’s daughter Tessa gave us a lecture on how the dogs are trained and what they look for in teaming them up with each other. When Jeff returned, he told us stories about the Iditarod race, which he’s won 4 times. After a couple of hours it was back to the Lodge.

Husky Homestead - this is how I pictured Alaska

Tomorrow - bring on the park!