We took some good pictures in Alaska but we also took some interesting and really bad ones that made us laugh. Our favorite...tiny legs. Also, Jane captured some pictures of some funny tshirts. This guy was on our tour and he is a cop.
I thought these should be included just for our amusement.
Well, we did it. Today completes our tour of Alaska. We had to find something to do for the day because our shuttle leaves at 6:15pm.
We rode on a tour bus around Anchorage and watched an Aurora movie. We also went to yet more souvenir shops. I'm pretty sure we have PLENTY of trinkets to remember this journey:)
This has been a trip of a lifetime, well worth the five year wait. I will never forget (until I can't remember of course) the things we did and the sights we witnessed.
What an awesome trip with a wonderful travel partner. I loved every minute!!!
We made it to Anchorage, our last destination before the flight home tomorrow afternoon.
We stopped along the way in Wasilla at the Iditarod headquarters. We visited the dogs and even took a ride. Those dogs are amazing! That was a fun stop.
And about Wasilla, it is the home of Sarah Palin and the duct tape capital of the world. How about that for some strange trivia.
We are staying in a nice hotel, the Captain Cook. It is pretty close to the touristy stuff so tomorrow before our afternoon shuttle to the airport, we will hop on and off a sightseeing bus. This should be our last activity before home.
Right now, they are having a street fair with music several streets over. It is very loud in our room. It must be blowing out the eardrums of the folks attending. Yes, I know, I'm old.
Holy cow, I don't even know how to even describe the morning we had. I'm not sure what the term for hillbilly in Alaska is, but I'm pretty sure we spent the morning with one. It definitely had a Deliverence vibe.
We started the the morning with a group of 11 in Rich, the guide's van. The tour was a wilderness gold panning experience.
Rich drove us to his cabin in the woods, narrating the entire way. We saw the home of the other guide who was supposed to be there to help but he was still hungover.
We saw the shack of his deadbeat son who wouldn't work but he has two babies so he let's his sorry self live at what used to be his office. Etc. He had LOTS of colorful descriptions.
When we arrived at his cabin, he gave us each rain boots. While we were there, we were SWARMED by mosquitoes. Thankfully we had long sleeves and pants. Those with exposed skin definitely got bit.
After that, a long ride to the river. When we got to the last public restroom, he stopped for anyone who needed it. He promptly peed off the side of the road. He said real men don't pee in restrooms.
At that point, the entire van started giggling. It was really something and the morning had just begun.
Along the way to the river, he kept calling...here ladies, come on out. He was talking to the moose. He also said no Barbies live here. And…he can't attract a woman because he doesn't have a toilet. He's pretty sure when he builds one, the woman will follow. Now he only has an outhouse. Also, if you have a sister who isn't pyscho, sent her to him. That was only a few of his comments.
Once we arrived at the river, we grabbed a shovel and pan and hiked down to the river bottom. He demonstrated the panning technique so for the next hour+ we panned. It was actually very entertaining. He went from group to group to help out. We ended up with tiny pieces of gold in our pan.
We then went beck to his cabin, he put some reindeer hot dogs on the grill and made lunch for us. While the hotdogs were cooking, we transferred our gold flecks to a vial.
Next, a trip back to the lodge. We are exhausted but we have yet another tour booked. Doing the booking online several months ago, you can't imagine how these excursions will turn out. If I knew then what I know now, that would be it for the day. But, in a couple of hours, we are going on a river cruise.
So we are back from the river cruise and dinner. The cruise was uneventful other than the engine started smoking. I thought that safety drill was going to have to be initiated...a plunge in a fridged river with life jackets. Luckily, he was able to pull over, drop us off and go back for a new boat.
The event of the day was definitely the gold panning. We laughed all thru dinner talking about the day. Something for sure! Out of all the amazing things we did in Alaska, somehow I think this gold panning adventure will be the one we remember the most.
Our room is good and new (and doesn’t stink). It is pretty far away from the main lodge but they have shuttles that will deliver us anywhere.
Tonight, like the first night in Denali our tour guide set up our restaurant reservations. He says he pairs up couples because the restaurants require it that way. The first night in Denali, we were paired up with Stan and Ida. Because we had the room mixup which caused us to be late, they ate and left so Jane and I had the table to ourselves.
Tonight we were paired up with Kenneth and Susan. To our glorious surprise, they too didn’t want to eat dinner with some strangers. They asked if they could have a table of their own. When the hostess told us this, I said our tour guide said you require us to be paired. She said nope, not a thing. I guess we caught Jeff the tour guide in a little lie. It is Jeff who wants us paired up, but I’m not sure why. Maybe he thinks his tip will be better if we are all lifelong friends at the end of the tour.
So, we got to have a private dinner and we were thrilled, just like I’m sure Kenneth and Susan were.
He also arranged a cocktail party for the group this afternoon, of which we didn’t attend. Not our thing. We both don’t drink cocktails so we were not interested. He can drink with Ida and Stan and Kenneth and Susan and all the rest of the folks in our group. Not a problem.
One more thing. When we got to our cabin, Jane leaned over and said there is a bear over there. Jeff heard her and said in a kind of snarky voice…Jane said she just saw a bear.
Polly the bus driver (older lady who teaches special needs kids) very quickly spoke up. She said I’m sure she did. There has been a bear hanging out by this cabin all day today. Thank you Polly!
So, we had dinner and now we are lounging in our cute room. Tomorrow will be our final day of excursions. We have to get up early and will be gone most of the day but it should be fun!
