Alaskan Adventure: Alaskan Veteran's Memorial and Denali Park

8-18.12

Heading North, on Sat. morning, we were soon informed that we would have views of Denali by our bible Mile Post magazine (has every detail of the roads in Alaska and on our highway). Unfortunately a weather front had come in from the West and despite early clear blue skies, the clouds just continued to build. I kept trying to find a break in the clouds as we traveled, and took some photos but in no way am I sure I didn't get clouds instead of snow.

We had an hour stop at the Alaska Veteran Memorial which was also suppose to have a clear view of our highest mountain in the U.S. I stared at the spot and watched each imagined mountain top, actually turn into a piece of dark cloud. The Memorial site was very impressive and we took some more photos of our group. This stop actually even had women's restrooms, a rariety. When we stopped for long events like this, we had very short lunch stops so it was another day of peanut butter and jelly lunches.

We arrived outside of Denali Park at our Grizzly Bear campgrounds/motel. I had bit the bullet and paid for two nights in the beautiful western styled hotel and it was lovely and warm with a fridge but no microwave. Unfortunately, the Wifi didn't work here either, so I was quite frustrated when I had some time to get on Sunday morning. Ironically, Donald and Lenore's cruise add-on to Denali, included a hotel right across the road from ours, so we met around 7 when they were retuning from the tour of the day and had a nice dinner together.

Their frustration and mine was that the add-on train left Sunday and not Monday as they had thought, so I missed a trip into the Park but instead left at noon for Anchorage. I got the laundry done and packed up my extra stuff that wasn't needed so Donald would have some room in the camper and prepared to leave in Sunday a.m. By the time we realized the mistake, most of the friends I thought I would say goodbye to on Sunday at left for their dinners and in the morning were leaving early for their tours of Denali. It was bittersweet, in a way, to leave the companions of three weeks. But there will be other convoys, and I am sure we will join them.