At the station, there was a small model train (HO scale) museum which had some great displays - they had a cute scene with a bear on road, etc...
We rode the McKinley Explorer to Denali National Park. The views were beautiful. For those who don't know, the train has a unique domed car on top which makes for some terrific viewing of the scenery. We saw two moose, but the train went by so quickly that we didn't get a picture. We met a couple from Irvine, CA (Jack and Rose). Rose is a graduate of UCSD (Revelle College which is also Angie's alma mater) - small world.
On the train ride, we saw some sheep on the hillside. The train had a viewing platform (a vestibule) to lean out and get some photos and video. Steve needs to start taking more video.
We arrived in Denali and boarded a bus to the hotel. This was not a Holland America bus. The hotel staff was just as clueless as most of the Holland America staff we have met so far. They could not tell us if our luggage had arrived, they gave us the wrong luggage tags for our trip and didn't have an information about the land tours.
I thought the bus was not a Holland America bus because the depot was in the park but princess hotel had their buses there. So we are pretty sure that they just didn't have the better buses up in Denali.
We saw s lot of caraboo laying about. The bus had to stop because of a moose and her two calfs. They were walking right down the road in front of the bus. We were stuck in the back of the bus and everyone was standing so we could not see them well enough to get a picture. Our friends we met on the train may have taken a picture. If it comes out, they will email it to us.
We saw some dall sheep on the side of the mountain. On the side of the road we saw some birds it was the Alaska State Bird - Willow Ptarmigan. These birds turn all white in the winter and then back to their natural color in the summer.
We had some interesting experiences on the bus. There was a very rude woman on the bus who was complaining that her neck was cold because the windows were open. She had no regard for the fact it was roasting and very stuffy with them closed. We basically gave a 1/2 hearted effort to put the windows up and finally gave up so she would stop complaining. At the turn around point she asked some other passengers to put the windows up. When we boarded the bus, it was extremely hot, so we put the windows back down. I think she got the point.
This experience allowed us to meet two other couples. Both from Long Beach. One of the couples has a son that lives in Tierrasanta. A very small world. We rode back to the hotel and arranged to meet for dinner.
We went back to the room and Angie was relieved our luggage made it to the room. So far there was a lot of doubt as to how organized the tours really are. We went to dinner with some of our new friends we met on the bus tour. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Dinner was not good, there were several problems. One of the drinks never made it to the table. We had to ask for it a second time. Angie ordered pork and it was not cooked. We then ordered desert but they were out of 4 of the 7 deserts on the menu. One desert came with peanut butter when it was specifically stated that they wanted no nuts. Fortunately it was a taste preference and not a medical reason. The manager came over and asked how things were. We gave her a polite earfull. She didn't offer to comp our meals, just offered apologies and the excuse that everything is new, including the kitchen.
After dinner, we sat and had drinks with Mike and Judith. I think I am in trouble because Judith is now hooked on Kahlua and Creme. The bar did not have any Frangelica. I asked the bar tender to make sure they get some for the next night. He stated he would make sure they went out and bought some. We were not sure if he was joking or not.
We walked back to the room and got ready for bed.