M&I / GBMINI

The day began very cold, at freezing, but took us on a long and beautiful journey by train to Anchorage on the McKinley Explorer:

Coach transfer from Fairbanks to Denali Lodge near Denali National Park was some 3+ hours with views somewhat ruined by the damp windows – another disappointment was that the planned Denali Natural History Tour was completely cancelled due to excessive snow within the park, so we were left with an empty afternoon but a nice upgraded-by-us room to enjoy it in!

Evening dinner was a struggle, the lodge dining had long lines as did most other across-the-road alternatives, but we found one place offering crepes.

After visiting the three north west states that we’d never visited before, we flew to Fairbanks to both visit Alaska, and begin our Holland America cruise – which includes a land section … we flew over spectacular scenery of mountains, glaciers, snow, rivers …

In the evening we walked around Fairbanks, including a visitor center with a nearby arch sculpture …