Denali National Park–
Left Denali National Park this morning with the likelihood of rain. It had rained hard last night and got cold. The temp this morning was 48 degrees F. but because it was so damp outside it felt much colder. RVs that had parked in the Riley Campground on damp ground yesterday now stood in pools of muddy water this morning. It started to rain almost as soon as we left the park and soon we saw a moose along the side of the road.
Talkeetna–
There is a 14 mile spur road to Talkeetna off the Parks Highway. It is an excellent road and the town turned out to be worth the effort. Along the way are lovely views an point of interest. We got a good laugh out of driving between “Question Lake” and “Answer Creek”. Also, along the road is “Alaska Bush Air” located on beautiful, Fish Lake. We’d heard they have very good flight tours and that the one to Denali mountain was especially good.
The town of Talkeetna is small but totally devoted to the visitor and the town history. The Roadhouse here has an excellent bakery/restaurant and we admit to taking part in tasting some of their goodies. The Roadhouse is an historical building in itself. Tasting their goodies and learning about the proprietors, I can understand why Charles Kuralt came here with his “On The Road” segment of the Walter Cronkite show. I used to love watching the Charles Kuralt segment. We also shopped at the historic Nagley’s Store and bought a loaf of their good dark bread. Besides walking around the town, we spent a good part of the day poking around in the interesting Talkeetna museum. At the cost to enter of $3, it turned out to be a very good bargain. One of the best things to see in the museum for us was the display of old photos of the climbers of the Denali mountain and examples of some of their gear. Climbing that mountain just seems like a painful way to have fun! Of course, the railroad section of the museum was also excellent.
Boondocking–
We will leave Talkeetna this evening and boondock in the Lazy Daze along the way to Willow and Wasilla, Alaska. Even though it was cloudy and rained today, we still took in plenty of solar energy and our batteries are well charged.
