Overview
After sleeping in until around 9, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the lodge before packing up our things and checking out of our lodge.Exploring Downtown Talkeetna
We didn't have much of a plan for the day beyond making our way eventually to Denali National Park for the evening, so we decided to explore downtown Talkeetna for a while.
They had these colorful wooden moose statues all over the place - too cute :)
The little town was adorable, and we spent a good half hour exploring before deciding to take a flightseeing tour.
Flightseeting over Denali/Mt. McKinley
Our flightseeing plane left at 12:30pm, and it was incredible! We took about a 90 minute flight over the mountains in Denali National Park, and aside from the choppy parts, it was an extremely intense view. Mark got to feeling a little green during some of the really choppy parts of the ride, but he pulled through like a trooper. I think we figured out at least one thing between Hawaii and Alaska: we're not cut out for small aircraft lol
Some of the great views from the ride. And by "some", I mean a very few of the 100 or so I took :)
Lunch and Shopping in Talkeetna
After our flightseeing tour, we headed back to the downtown area and found some lunch and did a little shopping before getting back on the road to make the long trek to Denali National Park.
Twister Creek Restaurant
We had lunch at Twister Creek Restaurant and it was exactly what we needed to fill our bellies.
Mark had the grilled cheese sandwich and minestrone soup:
I also had the minestrone soup, but with the most delicious sweet potato fries:
Roadhouse
After shopping around a bit, we came across this place that boasted cinnamon rolls, which sounded delicious! So even though we really didn't need a cinnamon roll, we got one anyway :)
I kid you not, this was the best cinnamon roll I've had in my entire life. If they weren't $5 apiece, we would have bought a few more to take with us, but wow! If you go here, you MUST get one :)
We had such a fun morning and afternoon in Talkeetna and would love to return some day :)
Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge
While shopping in Talkeetna, we saw this incredible painting that we were tempted to buy, but with a $500 price tag for the art alone, we were hoping that maybe we could get a similar shot from the same location the photographer took theirs. We decided to stop at this lodge (which was beautiful, by the way) to check out the view off the back deck. Unfortunately, the leaves hadn't quite changed colors here yet, so a duplication of the autumn view of Denali wasn't possible :(
I thought this hat was kinda cool...just not $495 worth - yikes!
I also thought this was pretty darn creative: a wooden moose with its antlers made of wine corks.
The flowers outside were beautiful!
I also thought this was pretty darn creative: a wooden moose with its antlers made of wine corks.
The flowers outside were beautiful!
Drive to Denali National Park
It seemed like SUCH a long drive to Denali National Park, but probably part of that was the part where there was no civilization for hours, no radio stations, no cellphone reception - just wilderness alongside the road. But the views were incredible!
These plants were pretty cool and they were all over in the ditches along the way.
Although the drive started off with the leaves being pretty green, it wasn't long before the ground and trees were flourishing with color!
