A Feast For Your Senses: Fuel for your sense of wonder and sense of humor

Alaska - Our first full day as a group (Part 2)

After reboarding the trolley train to take us back to the motorcoach, we drove over to Steamboat Landing to start the Riverboat portion of the tour. There were ramps to board the boat to make it accessible for wheelchairs and scooters.

Before we boarded the riverboat, we were given time to browse inside the gift shop. This shop also featured informational displays and a small shed space where you could pay extra to step inside and experience what temperatures would feel like at 40° below zero.

Not part of the regular Riverboat tour but included for us was the All you can eat family style lunch in the dining hall. It was a good hearty filling meal.

Since it was a nice day we chose to start our riverboat ride sitting outside. A good portion of the presentation is done with a microphone by employees along the shore but you can still hear and see them from inside. There was also a closed circuit TV system on the riverboat so that you could see everything on a TV even if your in person view wasn't the greatest. Our current view was great for seeing not only the TV but the narrator who stood up top by the bridge.

After passing by a few homes where the residents came out to wave, our attention was directed to the float plane demonstration as he took off flying right past us. He circled back and landed in the water again repeating the process a couple times.

Our next shoreside presentation was at the home of a dogsled racing father and daughter. They told us about the dogs and how they are trained as the dogs ran and played around them. The daughter demonstrated several tricks with the dogs before hitching them up with other dogs to a line attached to a 4-wheeler. Dad hopped on the 4 -wheeler and the dogs using just their force pulled the 4-wheeler across the yard.

The dogs were rewarded after completing the lap around the property by being let free to play in the water.

Our next demonstration was from a Native American woman who showed how they skin salmon and hang it up to dry.

Not sure I'll look at a bagel and lox the same way again:

After this last presentation, the riverboat docked at this Native American village and we were divided up to move in small groups between the various areas for many presentations. The employees were great about keeping everyone moving along and redirecting people who weren't sure where their group went next.

First up for us was learning about using the fur hide of animals for warmth. Can only imagine their laundry bill!

Our next stop was to see live reindeer in a pen. Just in case you wondered where they went the other 11 months of the year.

Next stop was to learn about traditional costumes and outfits worn by Native Americans:

Remember those dogs from earlier? They were brought over to the village to run in a pen of their own supervised by the daughter. You were encouraged to reach through or over the fence to pet them as they ran by. The daughter took questions from the crowd and occasionally showed off a trick or aspect of the dogs when someone asked.

This combo tour was a great way to spend the day learning a little bit about many aspects of life in Alaska. If I only had one day in Alaska, I would have felt satisfied with this tour. If you are on a tour that requires paying on your own for every excursion, this is one that should be included in your budget. All that was missing was glaciers and whales. Not to worry - they will be coming in future posts so stay tuned!

Alaska - On to Denali with a visit to the Denali National Park Visitor Center

After dinner last night in the lodge's restaurant, we packed our bags and set them outside with tags that said we wanted them to be with us at the lodge in Denali. We only packed one main suitcase each so we never bothered to use the "Meet me on the ship" luggage option. Make sure you set aside something to wear in the morning before you set your luggage out at night! So many stories of people having to head out the next day in bathrobes or less.

For the ride from Fairbanks to Denali, we traveled all together via motorcoach. It's the same type of motorcoach you'd use when taking a bus tour on a shore excursion. While we had some commentary from our guide during the ride, it's mostly just watching the scenery go by. Definitely set aside something for your own (and your kids) entertainment during these transfers.

The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is like a resort taking up essentially several blocks on one side of the street. Be prepared for a walk to go from your hotel rooms to the main buildings. There are restaurants on site as well as communal lounges both in the main building and in the new interior room buildings known as Building A and Building B. You can really see the difference between what Princess offers and the other cruise lines offer on Alaska land tours. As we walked the property today, we saw a bus from Royal Caribbean Cruises shuttling their passengers from some hotel outside of town into a restaurant across the street.

Today was mostly consumed by the travel between lodges. Our guide announced that while most of the lodge has motel style rooms with doors open to the outside, being on the Connoisseur tour got us rooms in the new supposedly nicer interior buildings. Our group was split between Building A and Building B with a nice courtyard in between. One of the nice touches each tour group gets is to pose for a group photo in this courtyard and then we each got a copy of the photo. Another nice perk is the extra service. While we chatted with our guide this afternoon, another couple called her to report that their luggage zipper had been damaged in transit. She immediately called for someone from the lodge to retrieve the suitcase to try and repair and to deliver a duffel bag to use in the meantime.

After we checked into our rooms and had our luggage delivered right away (much quicker when you're only unloading a single bus and not a whole ship's worth of luggage), we opted to take advantage of the lodge's free shuttle to visit the Denali National Park's Visitor Center. I had booked (at an extra cost and only for myself) an evening excursion but group tour activities wouldn't start until tomorrow, our first full day in Denali.

Already spotted signs of wildlife:

The inside of the visitor center was a small museum featuring crafted displays of what local wild animals looked like and information about them. It is a self guided tour with the option of seeing a 20 minute movie shown throughout the day on the hour and half hour. The visitor center hours are from 8AM to 6PM. Here you can seek out a ranger led walk or talk and of course visit the gift shop.

Several of the animal recreations were large and very realistic looking.

There was also a display showcasing what a homestead was like in the Kantishna gold mining camp:

That's a video screen mounted inside the upright trunk in the display. Wouldn't be for a century or more that luggage came with electronic capabilities.

If you have children traveling with you, Denali is one of the many US National Parks and features a Junior Ranger program. We passed a few families doing educational activities on the grounds like matching animal prints and creating rubbings.

Time to venture outside and walk along some of the trails:

The roads and walkways were all paved so easy maneuvering for walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, and strollers.

Alaska - Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

You've heard of a Walmart greeter? Meet the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge greeter. He gets paid in salmon.

Main building with check in, guest services, tour desk, and lounge.

When the property is so big it needs its own set of street signs:

All the paths around the property are paved for easy transfer between the buildings.

The older buildings with doors to the outside:

Our rooms were in the newer A & B buildings:

The communal lounge known as The Great Room. Here you could enjoy a beverage or snack from the café inside, sit and chat or read, and use the computers for free.

Courtyard between buildings A & B featured round picnic tables and comfy rocking chairs.

Wonder if it was intentional to design this concrete centerpiece so that the Sea Witch's hair in the Princess logo gravitated toward North for Alaska?

Umm excuse me, could you point me in the direction of our room? Hmm, thanks for the help.

The property looks even prettier in the moonlight:

Our hotel room - There was a small semi-enclosed entryway. The bathroom is to the right and an upright dresser with our ice bucket and cups was to the left. That's not the open bathroom door on the right but the actual wall.