Denali National Park

We are stopped briefly at Denali National Park on our way to Talkeetna. We left Fairbanks this morning. We are so lucky. The weather is warm and completely clear. We have seen Mt. McKinley in the distance. It is beautiful with no clouds in sight. There are very few days like this each year when the mountain can be seen clearly. The guidebook warned us that it would probably be covered with clouds.

Fairbanks was nice. It's a rather small town and easy to get around. Some of the highlights there were going to the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Pioneer Park, Chena Hot Springs, and just enjoying the good weather. The museum is wonderful. It has a nice modern design and has fantastic exhibits of the history of Alaska and of the species living here. Pioneer park includes many of the old houses from the city that have been moved there and now serve as small shops. Chena Hot Spings was a wonderful place to relax outdoors with warm waters.

The Townsite Gardens B&B in Fairbanks was the best so far. We stayed in Suite A if you check their website. It was clean, plush, bright. The owners were so nice. The breakfasts were fantastic. This morning we had fresh fruits, eggs with sausage, bagels with homemade chokecherry preserves, juice, coffee, and fresh yogurt with berries. Ummm!

Yesterday, we went to a local truckstop called the Hilltop--"Get Filled Up at the Hilltop Truck Stop"!! And that we did. We had two huge slices of meatloaf with mashed potatoes and brocolli and cheese. Before that was either a huge bowl of chicken and dumpling soup or a salad. It was delicious and too much!

Well, I'm on a free computer at a lodge where I am not staying. I need to let someone else online. Just wanted to post a little. More to come when I can get to another computer.

Added info: I'm at our next B&B (Talkeetna Chalet) in Talkeetna now and am editing and adding to the previous entry. Just a few more notes:

Wednesday night we drove out to the university and wandered all over the campus. Not much is happening, since they have ended their semester. But we saw their indoor hockey rink, their art department, their theater, etc. On the way to Chena Hot Springs we took a photo of some wooly buffalo at a ranch along the road. They were quite interesting to see. We shopped at Sam's Club in Fairbanks. Gas was much cheaper there, and we bought a pizza to eat one night and hot dogs to eat another time. We saw the Alaska Pipeline several times over the past two days. It ran along the highway we were following.