Alaska Journal #29: Mt. McKinley Chalet Resort

It's Sunday, June 8th.  We left Seward at 8:00AM on the motorcoach and arrived at McKinley Chalet Resort, near Denali National Park, at 6:00PM.

Cameras are an invaluable companion on a trip like this.  Other than the obvious reason for bringing one along, now that I'm home and the trip is a bit of a blur in my mind, I have asked it many questions and it has all the answers.  Like the dates we did this or that, the times we did this or that, all things I like to keep track of as accurately as possible.

I do have to give myself credit for subtracting three hours from the time recorded on my camera when I mention it here on my blog since my camera was set on Wisconsin time.  I'm grateful for small things, such as, my brain.  If I had a larger one, I fear I'd be more dangerous than I already am.  

We enjoyed dinner with Lynnette, Alice, Donna and Debbie here at the Nenana View Bar & Grille.  We sat at a table outside with a beautiful view but ventured inside to eat.  It seems I'd had enough picture taking by that time, although I did capture a few photos of my beer.

Obviously, as you can detect from the pictures below, I faded quickly after dinner and a ruby ale. 

 

The next morning, Monday, June 9th, I was ready to go again.  Our room at the resort was in the Cottonwoods complex. 

The resort was spread out over many acres. 

Imagine that, a gift shop.

Across the highway, more gift shops were lined up, drawing us like hungry magnets.

We were hungry too, so we put off shopping and went in search of breakfast.  Others in our group were going on various expeditions so we were on our own.

 

We liked it here and were quickly seated.

I liked the decor.  Like home with lots of wood.

Nice big windows worked well considering what was out there. 

The crowded dining area was disturbing but we dealt with it as best we could.  :)   

I wandered around while our food was being prepared.  The Alaska Gold Rush wall hanging looked interesting.

Who doesn't want to know how to find and mine gold?

Dang, the waiter has brought breakfast to our table.  There's no time for acquiring gold prospecting tips today.  I'm used to getting my money at the bank, anyway.  It seems easier compared to what I scanned here in Mr. Minor's book.

It is nice to know that if the bank stops providing us with money, we can return here to seek our second fortune.   

A credit card worked for breakfast.  Thank God!!  I didn't have a smidgen of gold dust anywhere on me.

Read all this carefully.  There will be a quiz.

Quiz question:  How many acres are there in Denali National Park?
1.  500,000
2.  6,000,000
3.  Too many to measure 

Same picture, but a different day and a different camera than yesterday.

Everyone's gone and we've nothing to do.  Okay, okay, let's go across the highway to those hungry shops.

We did, but bought nothing.  We preferred being outside and looking at Alaska.

I wish I'd taken more photos of the grounds and of our room but it's nice to see the sights occasionally without a camera.

 

At, 2:30 that same day, we gathered before boarding the bus for our tour of Denali National Park.

Laura (in all green) and Sherry (on Laura's right) were all excited after their excursion, Denali Glacier Landing by Helicopter.  Lynnette and Alice were just back from the Denali Flightseeing Tour while Donna and Debbie had gone on a Husky Homestead Tour, home of Iditarod Champion, Jeff King.  All were bursting with adventure memories. 

Hi, Debbie!!

Laura, Lynnette and Alice, boarding the bus.

Donna and Debbie were ready for adventure #2 of their day.

Alice and Lynnette were settled in as well and all smiles as usual.  Such fun people, all of them.

Denali National Park and Preserve, here we come!