Wednesday, 9/17 – Anchorage to Denali

Up in the morning fairly early, Ed out to get coffee and our midnight girl was still there. The night before, she had kept saying "yens" = and I joked with Ed that Alaska was just like Pittsburgh! Well, yeah, she’s from Bloomfield!!! What a small world. Has lived in Alaska for some years now, moving from Juneau to Anchorage. Amazing!

Continental breakfast of awesome looking muffins and bagels. But = don’t want to start on that carb trail, so we stuck with coffee. Shuttle took us over to Enterprise at 9:30 and we were in the car and out of the airport before 10am. Headed south to a new beer and wine warehouse Ed had seen advertised in the paper. We’re stocking up! Great prices – for Alaska! I got a 1.5 L pinot grigio for 6.99! Miller Lite only $18.99 – not too bad considering. Then went to Fred Meyer – which we didn’t realize was Kroger! Kroger brands all over and signs all co-branded. But no Kroger savings card – so no extra discounts. Stocked up on snacks and fruit and headed out to Denali.

Even though Anchorage is a big city for Alaska standards, it’s still very navigable – one road in and out. Made it through town in less than 20 minutes and were on Route 1 headed out of town by 11:00. 254 miles to go – the skies sort of cleared and the rain held off while we headed north into the Taiga forests. Perfect time to be going into the mountains. The leaves are just changing and the Aspens are fabulous. All burnished orange, bright yellow and a million shades in between. Peaking out from the green pine trees so ubiquitous in Alaska, the scenery was spectacular.

We hit the “infamous” Wasilla at 11:35. Had to try to find the county courthouse, but didn’t quite locate it. Maybe on the way back! After Wasilla, there isn’t much for the remaining 200 some miles up to Denali. Gorgeous foliage, to be sure, but civilization? Oh no. There were little cabins, one room log cabins, that were for sale or rent. Looked like people lived in them, but they couldn’t have been more than a couple of hundred square feet. Really odd.

The road to Denali is a two lane undivided highway. The only road North out of Anchorage – and the only road to Fairbanks. Even so, after Wasilla, there wasn’t much traffic at all. Not going North.. It’s the end of the season, literally, in Denali and we drove for miles and hours without seeing another car going North. Lots of southbound traffic, including a bunch of Royal Celebrity and Holland America buses that looked empty, but we were it heading into the mountains.

Turned on the radio to get the weather and were transported right into Northern Exposure and “Sicily” Alaska! The announcer was going through the emails they received, and remember “we only check emails Monday through Friday”. People had sent in requests to ask about their lost dog, a very friendly spaniel mix, someone left an umbrella at the town hall – please call (insert number here!!!) to claim your umbrella. Then he moved into the trading post/sell or sale! Kid you not – need firewood? Call this number. Then a pause and a “hmmm”, Doris is looking for an Elizabethan collar for her dog, please call her at X number if you have one. Oh yeah – this is like the Outer Banks in the 40’s we think!

The total drive took about 4 hours. It really wasn’t all that bad, very pleasant on the eyes. A little rain here and there, but not too bad. And of course the towns, or what passed as towns on the way, were priceless. Like Cantwell, a crossroads with 2 gas stations, log cabins to rent and the Flour Kitchen restaurant. Oh, and let’s not forget the Antiques/Tires/Firewood store.

Arrived at the park (milepost 254) and headed to the Wilderness Access Center, which is where we thought we would pick up our tour on Thursday for the park. It was deserted. Two cars in the lot. So we headed to the Visitor Center. Um, closed for the season! We knew the town was shutting down because we had problems finding places to stay. Virtually everything closes down on 9/15, only 2 days! Did find the info center at the museum, and the sweet park rangers told us that yes, in fact, we should go to the Wilderness Center and since there were only 2 days left of tours, that was why there were few people there! Asked them about recommendations for restaurants, and they told us about the Totem Inn which is open year round, and another little café up the street form our hotel.

Outside the park, heading North, you immediately come into Denali “central”. All the cruise hotels, the souvenir shops, deli’s, little restaurants, all the tourist traps you’d find outside a major attraction. It was pretty deserted and all the shops had 50% off sales – we’ve heard it’s a zoo during season – which we can only imagine. We sailed through there – watching a ton of Princess shuttles loading people with bags. Where are they going? At 4 pm? We’re clueless, but maybe we’ll figure it out on the ship. Or ask someone up here.

Heading to the Lakeview Inn, about 10 miles North of the park, with a stop in Healy to check out the Totem inn. Again, Healy is little more than a cross roads. The Totem inn on one side of the crossroads – a little grocery and liquor store a ways down on Healy and some big apartment house looking thing on the other side of the crossroads! The Totem is a basic little cabin style motel, with a diner restaurant. Serves breakfast all day – I’m in! Figured we’d go there for lunch tomorrow. Tonight we planned to go to the Black Diamond golf café– which is less than ¼ mile from the inn. Stopped by on our way to the Inn, just to make sure they would be open. They are – for the last night! Geez! So we’ll head there for their halibut or salmon or baked brie with garlic. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow night may be an issue, but we are hoping to go to the Great Alaskan Fish company for fried fish – either panko breaded or Alaskan beer battered. Probably great after a whole day in the park.

On to the Inn. Past the Black Diamond, hang a left on the little dirt road that heads toward the lake. Past the ATV company, on the left is a precious looking 2 story house. Check in? Look for your welcome note on the bulletin board! It’s an honor system check in! Instructions tell you where your room is and not to wear your shoes on the carpet! We have the Mt. Glow room, downstairs with a deck and an incredible view of the lake. Totally adorable!

There’s the honor system store - $1 for just about everything, sodas, popcorn (we brought out own), candy, snacks. $2 for the laundry machines. Breakfast waiting for you in the refrigerator – fruit and cheese and bread for toast. Full coffee pot in the room with regular and decaf. All the comforts of home. It is just great.

Nice afternoon relaxing on the deck with our coffee. Later – as it started to rain – we came inside for beer and wine – Ed sitting in the rocker/recliner watching the lake and the mountains! This is nature – and Alaska at it’s best!

Dinner at the Black Diamond was great. About 16 others there as well for the last night of the season. I ended up with soup and salad, which was perfect. Ed had the seafood sampler of shrimp, scallops and halibut. All was excellent. Ended up back at the room around 8, watched a dvd movie then hit the sack. Still catching up on our sleep – obviously!!