Tuesday, May 29

I like that our 14-person traveling party doesn’t feel compelled to have identical itineraries. While we mostly do things together, one or more of us will occasionally break from the group.

Such was the case last night when Kyle, his father-in-law Tim, and I broke from the group and ate at Moose-Aka’s, a wonderful Eastern European restaurant across the street from our hotel. The schnitzel was amazing…second only to the butter schnitzel made by Annie in Speicher, Germany.

At the restaurant, we met a soldier (a former Army running back and linebacker) who was having dinner with his wife. Tim wasted no time in getting to know the guy and later picking up their tab, a very thoughtful gesture on Memorial Day. Kyle will end up a better man having married into the Genry family.

This morning we left by coach and headed south, once again spotting a few moose along the way. Our bus driver explained how Alaskan residents living in the bush, off the grid, utilize one of the last remaining flagstop trains. They walk from their remote homes to the train track and wave a flag for the train to stop. After going to town to resupply or perhaps to a favorite fishing spot, they get back on the train and once again signal when they want to get off near their homestead. Pretty neat system.

We arrived at the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, which was even better than our Denali hotel, due to its remoteness. There are no cheesy strip malls here—just pure Alaskan wilderness. We had lunch together at the hotel restaurant, where Kyle and I feasted on plates of Mac n Cheese with reindeer meat.

After lunch, Janet and I broke off from the main group. They went on a fly fishing/panning for gold excursion.

Janet and I opted for one of her passions—horseback riding. As is always the case, the guide/cowgirl looked me up and down and then selected the largest, slowest, most lethargic, nearest to death horse from the available options. I’m at peace with that. In fact, while horseback riding, I have only two goals:

1. Janet must have fun.

2. My privates must remain in my underwear, pressed against the saddle. This is achieved by holding the reins with my left hand, and cupping my privates with the right.

We had “fun” riding along sheer drop offs and up and down rolling hills. I was reprimanded twice for allowing my horse to eat, and once for allowing him to press his nose against the behind of the horse in front of me. I always forget to pull on the reigns, and instead sternly bark ineffective commands like “Stop eating!” and “Get your nose out of there!” Truth be told, I’m more of a walker than a rider.

Two other afternoon highlights:

1. We saw Denali! Yes, after much waiting and anticipation, the highest mountain in North America finally came into view. As this is something that only happens once or twice a week, we were grateful.

2. We made a short hike up to a treehouse! Not just any treehouse, but one built by/featured on Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters. The deck provides a perfect platform to view Denali.

Our traveling companions returned late that evening with the following report…

– No fish caught…water was too high and fast. They did learn the basics of fly fishing though.

– Discovered a few nuggets of gold, worth about $100, according to their guide.

– Quality time spent with Alaskans.

– Most importantly, lots of fun had by all.

Tomorrow, we get to ride a train through the Alaskan wilderness, and then set sail on the high seas!