Day 4 July 7, 2022, Thursday

To my readers: This post is long and I dithered a lot about whether to split it or not. Let me know if you liked it long or if you think I should have split it into morning and afternoon. Thanks.

We traveled a lot on Day 4. We packed and were at the hotel bus stop in the parking lot by 7:15 a.m.  I had breakfast with one last serving of gravy and biscuits and said goodbye to the Denali Bluffs Hotel and Bar with its lovely breakfast bar. Once again, we were all at the bus stop on time with luggage.

SQUID ACRES KENNEL

Our first stop was a private dog sled racing kennel called Squid Acres Kennel. Cody and Paige were the owners and both of them had raced in the Iditarod and the Yukon Gold dog races. They greeted us as we got off the bus and showed us where they kept the dogs. It was a large yard with each dog having an individual little house. Each dog was staked outside their house with a cord attached to a halter. The cord was long enough for the dogs to be able to jump up on the house and rest out of the dirt. I suspect the dogs appreciated being up high when it is wet.

A lesson in dressing to race

We were invited into a yurt on the premises for a show-and-tell discussion of dog racing and the equipment they use. A couple of the dogs came in with us. Cody, one of the owners, showed us a demo sled similar to sleds used in the Iditarod and Yukon Quest. He had an outfit that he wears available to look at and asked for volunteers to try it on. Cathy volunteered. She put on the pants, which of course were way too big for her, then the jacket. Cody offered the gloves in the photo below. He explained each of the items as she put them on. He talked about the layers you have to wear and how he has to work really hard not to get sweaty because if he gets his underlayers wet, hypothermia is a real threat.

The dog that is greeting Cathy is one of their former sled dogs. When the dogs get too old or injured to work, the couple retires them to become pets.

Sled dog ride

After the lesson in the yurt, we were invited to go for a “sled dog ride.” Since it was summer, we could, of course, not go on a ride on a sled, but instead, they hitched two dog teams up to two ATVs and let the dogs pull those. The engines are on. John and I rode with Paige and she assured us that with the engine on and the transmission engaged, the dogs don’t pull any more weight with the ATV than they would with a sled.

I will say one thing. It does seem true that those dogs love to do what they are asked to do. They wagged their tails the whole way around the trail. When we got back to the yard, the dogs lay down on the ground. Each dog was given water and they slurped it up, then they were returned to their place in the yard.

At orientation, Tom had told us that we would experience over 10 different modes of transportation on this trip. I’d counted the jet that we flew to Alaska on as one, then number two mode was the buses we’d been driven around Alaska in. Would the third mode of transportation we’d experience be the ATVs that the dogs had pulled? Why not. That’s three.

The couple also showed us four puppies they were dog-sitting for another kennel. Inside their yard was a running wheel, just like you see in a hamster’s cage.

It was pretty obvious that they love to run in that too. Krista, Cathy, and Karen really enjoyed the puppies.

After playing with the puppies, we chatted with the owners. We asked why they named their place, Squid Acres Kennel. Cody and Paige told us they were in Alaska in graduate school doing research when they met. She was studying invertebrates, so they chose the name Squid.

I asked Paige whether they had t-shirts and she said, “Why, yes, we do.” She showed me the little building that housed their souvenirs and I looked through them until I found a shirt I liked for Micah.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND MOOSE

The best sighting of a moose though was going to the train station after our visit with the dogs. We saw a cow moose and her two babies walking down the shoulder of the road. When they were first spotted, a tanker truck of some kind was directly behind them and our bus was behind the truck. Once the road was clear of oncoming traffic, the truck driver pulled into the oncoming traffic lane to get around them. I suspect he had a schedule to keep and they were just a nuisance to him. Not to us. The bus followed her for twenty minutes until she either got tired of us or she got to where she wanted to go. She headed off into the forest on the side of the road and the babies trotted after her.

Next stop: Train

Our number four mode of transportation: a train. We loaded back on our bus and disembarked at the train station back at Denali Park near the visitor’s center. We had time to go to the gift shop and I bought another t-shirt for one of Becky’s girls. I wasn’t sure which one of the girls it would fit, so I decided to let Becky figure that one out.

Colby, our Nat Hab helper, met us at the train station with our bags from the bus. He’d promised to get them to the train. He also had our tickets and pins for the train. He said the pins proved we had paid for that car without anyone looking at our tickets. See the picture below of our tickets and under “class,” it does say “Gold Star Service.” Nothing but the best for Nat Hab travelers, I guess. We said goodbye to Colby at the train station and thanked him for all the snacks and luggage lugging. I didn’t know what his next assignment was, but it was not to travel with us.

You’ll notice the little martini glass shape punched into John’s ticket. We had two free alcoholic drinks that came with our Gold Star Service seat on the train. John used one of his and got a punch.

When the train arrived, we took our tickets to board the train trusting that Colby and Tom would get our luggage on board.

We all had assigned seats on the train and were going to eat lunch in the train’s dining car. Tom knew we were going to be eating late, so Colby had stocked up on more snacks for us. We had dried fruit, granola bars, and nuts for the asking. Turns out we needed them too.

Each car seemed to be a self-contained entity. On top was the passenger seating with canopy windows for sightseeing. Cathy and Karen sat in front of us. The car had a fully stocked bar and we had two free bar tickets each. John got some wine. Cathy got a rum and Coke and got a little tipsy. She was funny and John took a video of her. He told her he’d sent it to Steve to show that we were having a very good time. Oh well, she entertained us. As fast as Cathy got tipsy, she gets sober just as quickly. It was fun while it lasted.

Down below the top floor of passenger seating were the restrooms and the dining area. Since the dining area could handle only half of the passengers in the car, the staff divided the passengers into two based on seating. We were sitting towards the back, so our group was to eat second. This is where Tom and Colby’s snacks came in handy. I did indeed avail myself of a Kind bar or two before we got lunch.

Lunch

Around 2, it was our turn to go down for lunch. The choices in the dining care were hamburgers and fries or veggie burgers and fries. I guess we’ll have hamburgers. They were edible. Below is a picture that Tom took of us on the train’s dining car. You can see the pins prominently on our shirts. We look like we are listening to instructions. Probably the waiter telling us about lunch. I was definitely attentive to that.

NEXT STOP: TALKEETNA ALASKAN LODGE

Another bus ride from the train station to our hotel. Our bus driver was Steve who was our previous bus driver, Anna’s husband. Small world or small company Nat Hab deals with. We stayed at a very nice place called the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Our room had an amazing view of The Mountain.

We ate dinner at their high-class restaurant with white cloth tablecloths and all. I felt a little underdressed in my hiking boots and pants, but I suspect many of their guests come in dressed that way.

Before we ordered, the harried server told us that there were only two servers in the room and it might take a while. They, like everyone else, he said were short-staffed. I ordered a salad with grilled shrimp, which tasted good and service was slow. Good thing the server had prepared us for that possibility.

After dinner, we went to our rooms and to bed. The next day we were going flying. Whoo-hoo!