No snow today, sunny and warm. I was in the Gold Star dome car with panoramic views and an outdoor vestibule at the back of the car. The lower deck featured the restaurant for all 3 meals served during the day, and the upper deck was the dome seating and stocked bar.
I spent almost the entire journey outside. With all my camera stuff everyone thought I was a professional photographer. Haha. Everyone was on animal patrol. Along the way we saw a Bear, Moose and Caribou. In Fairbanks we saw Reindeer, but they were domesticated. We went by Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in the US; we also passed by the Alaskan Early Warning radar site built in the height of the cold war and still in use today. This site and 2 others, one in GReenland and the other in Scotland are used to identify ICBM launches from Russia (then USSR).
Oh and about 1 hour outside of Anchorage, we passed through Wasilla, AK but no sign of Sarah Palin!!!
Food on the car was great. I also met lot of people. Once couple was from Salisbury MA just up the road from where I went to High School. 2 couples were from Australia, from Queensland (Brisbane) and they were fascinated that I knew who the Reds were and some of their star players Like Will Genia and Quaid Cooper. The Reds are the provincial Rugby Club and pro team that competes for Queensland in the Super 15 Rugby league that is contested by the top provincial teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. SANZAR (the 3 rugby national rugby unions) is also trying to promote rugby in Japan and the West Coast of USA and hopes to have franchises in both someday.
Anyway, the Aussies were saying that as amazing a country as Australia is, they really have no areas that regularly get snow and cold weather. So Alaska was blowing their minds! They had already visited the Glaciers and Fjords of the Kenai Peninsula (like I did) and had already been to DisneyLand in LA and loved it. The are headed to Las Vegas next. LOL
Majority of passengers from Anchorage got off at Denali, for trips into the wilderness and lodges. Others joined the train after having spent a week in the national park. One thing about Alaska......it is few and far between the times you see any sign of civilization. Just animals, wild rivers and mountains. Mt McKinley was impressive from a distance and my photos really don't capture it at all.
Okay bed time for me, as I need to be up to pack and catch the train for the ride to Whittier, and board my cruise ship tomorrow, the Norwegian Sun.
Oh, and even though it is light out, it is after midnite and I need sleep.
Ton of pics!!
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