Day Eleven--Seward Debarkation, Anchorage, Talkeetna

After a wonderful final evening on the Radiance of the Seas, we all got an early rise to have breakfast at 6:30 at our last port, Seward, AK. We went to the dock then down a few floors to our debarkation of the ship and on to the chartered bus waiting for us. On the bus we made our way through Seward up the Alaska Highway to Anchorage which took a couple of hours, maybe a little longer. This highway is one of the top 5 in America to travel on so needless to say, the view was beautiful. We stopped in Anchorage for a few hours to get a feel for the downtown, shopping (and yes, a few more bargains we just couldn’t pass up) and a nice meal at the Brew House.

We then got back aboard the bus to head up to Talkeetna, AK. We passed through Wasilla, hometown of Sarah Palin and the home of the largest Wal-Mart store in the world and they sell more duct tape per day than any other store for an average of 39 rolls a day. Interesting, huh? We arrived in Talkeetna which is very small town and it is the kickoff point for climbers of Mt. McKinley. After checking into the lodge we went out to the deck to view Mt. McKinley. Many times the view is obstructed by clouds, so we continued our streak of good fortune with clear skies. We were told today that only 33% of visitors get to see Mt. McKinley like we did today! Again, the magnitude of this mountain is amazing and we are still 30 miles away. At this time, 269 hikers are on the mountain and only 48% will make it to the top. Eight hikers have died so far this year. We went into town for dinner and found the West Rib Grill (Man versus Food featured) for a great burgers. Again, needless to say but the burgers were great and Sara and Janie added the "fat ass special sauce” to their burger.

After dinner the boys took the shuttle back to the lodge for shower and relaxation, while Janie, Sara and Dad walked back and hiked the nearby trails. Then a late view of the mountain and the lodge fire place which is 48 feet high. At 11:00 p.m. the sun is still up with sunset expected around 11:40. Something to experience for sure and can imagine what it would be like with only 4 hours of sun in the winter.

We have an early morning rise to head up to Denali National Park in the morning and pictures will be posted later.

Oh...forgot to mention in yesterday's post that Drake won second in the rock wall climbing contest. Of course, we had no idea he was doing this but he has a medal to prove it. Congrats Drake!!