Final posting of this trip 2035!!!

Long long day traveling!!  Left our Talkeetna hotel at 10 am and got home at 4pm the following day!! and that wasn't because of anything delaying us!!!

lots of pictures - bear with me!

Last Alaska Airlines first class service!!!  plus a warm chocolate chip cookie!!!!

Goodbye to Anchorage!!

who wouldn't expect a bush plane in the Anchorage airport??

the view of the mountains coming into Anchorage from the north - so mammoth, so humbling

in the Talkeetna hotel lobby

you can see the bear in the back right hand of the picture

me sledding!!

Clam chowder with halibut!!

Elk meatloaf

this woman walked in and I thought "what is my past sister-in-law Suzanne (Toot) doing here in Alaska???  the picture doesn't do her justice - she looked so much like her!!

you wouldn't think that sledding at 74 would be such a big deal!!!  there were so many dents in the bottom of the rental it wouldn't go down the hill!!!! and you can see where Randy pushes me down the hill on the tube with his foot!!

The month went so fast - said so long to a lot more people and enjoyed every day......so what's the next big adventure????!!!!

 

Trip back to Anchorage

 What a time for a snowstorm!!!  wasn't too bad but made the driving slow and treacherous  - finally got to our destination for the night  Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge - I have pictures from our room but none from the lodge entry - look online and you will see more beautiful pictures than I have!!  Timing was bad as the clouds are covering Denali and probably also no northern lites but it's 2 hours from the airport in Anchorage and we have a 2:20 flight out so we thought

we could get some "Alasking kind of atmosphere " just before we go!!!

I think this is supposed to be mountains including Denali 

This is Jesse Holme's supermarket - he lives 45 miles east of here and you can only get there by snow machine - in case you are not a fan, he just won the Iditarod - we stopped for a coke and I asked the lady selling if she knew him and she did and said I could leave him a note if I wanted to so I did= written on a small green sticky note - we will see if he ever gets it!!  we have some history with him as in 2010 when we were racing in Fairbanks we saw him out in like -20 handling dogs in a wind suit and thought he looked pretty cold - so Randy got out a one piece carport suit for him and gave it to him out of the goodness of his  heart, not knowing we would someday be really proud to know him - he still has the carport and remembers us and we were able to hug him both at the start in Anchorage and the re-start in Fairbanks!

Randy enjoying the view from our room

the deck just below us

from the room!!

this room has the most cushiony pillows I have ever seen!!!  they are like marshmallows!!!!

oops!!! forgot to post for the 3rd day of ONAC!!!

the knotty shop

the cabin that Ken and Lori stay in at Dawn Brown's - no running water - the bathroom is in the garage!!

Laura getting her award

ONAC dinner - very good!!!!!

the fur trappers auction again Sunday = I could not believe the number of horns!!!  $40 for 2 little tiny white tail deer horns!!!

Laura at the start

guess who got to sit here..................................
 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!!

 We have not   done anything particularly Irish today - I guess my sweatshirt is kind of a mint green.......

Slept very well at the extended stay home in Fairbanks - I thing spending 5+ hours a day for 3 days out in the cold creates "good sleep" scenario!!!  Got up kind of late, drove to Salcha to leave Ken and Lori with a big suitcase to carry back to Michigan with them so we would not have to drag it through  the airport in Chicago to get to our connecting flight to Muskegon on Wednesday!!  Stopped at a quirky gift shop mostly to see all of the burls on the building to compare them to the ones we are going to put up on our new porch extension -   ours look good but I think smaller............

Drove back to Fairbanks and had lunch at our favorite restaurant  - Brewster's and had our favorite meal - halibut!!!  This time we were smart and instead of ordering 2 dinners we ordered the double halibut meal and shared!!!

Drove around to 2 places in town to see if anyone could provide emergency care to my fur ruff.......dead on arrival..............  no help, said that I should try gluing suede to the back to hold it together - we will try!!!

the wildlife at the knotty store

on the ceiling you see moose antlers entwined - Randy surmises that they were fighting, got hooked, and then died

same here

the view behind at the gift store - only bought ice cream

you can't tell but this was one big bison!!!

went by Eielson Air Force base and saw some serious looking planes

can anybody tell me what these are????????????

second day of the ONAC

Amazingly the stations of the cross at St. Raphael in fairbanks are done in      beading!!!

second day times

fur auction in the parking lot in front of of the musher's hall today