We got back to the hotel late last night, but the “restaurant” was still open, so we sucked it up and gave it another try. We shouldn’t have. Something was very wrong in the kitchen. Everyone’s orders were taking over an hour to arrive. Lots of grumbling and walking out. The chef came out once and walked around a few tables murmuring apologies. The wait staff began ignoring the tables as there was nothing they could do. Food, when it did arrive, was mediocre. Guess I can’t say much good about the Denali Bluffs Hotel, at least from the culinary standpoint. The problem is, it’s located outside of town, so you can’t walk to alternative restaurants. We crashed soon after we ate, but only after first packing up everything. We were scheduled for another early (7:10am) pickup to go to our next adventure, river rafting on the Nenana River. Things didn’t improve at the restaurant for breakfast. Wait staff spent most of their time standing around talking to each other. At least we got off all right, and the hotel forwarded our luggage to the train station while we went away to Denali Raft Adventures. There, we listened to the safety talk, then clambored into full wet suits (bulky, not the surfer kind) and life vests. The Michelin Tire man. They had warned us that the trip would be quite wet, and didn’t recommend taking a camera. As it turned out, they were wrong, but I complied. The wet was mostly from the rain, but I have no shots of our float. These are from their website. I think we’d float just grand in these things.
For the first time on our trip, we had gray skies and drizzle, which lasted most of the way through the float. This web shot pretty much reflects our day:
As you can see, the water is not exactly roiling. To be fair, they did advertise that this trip was only Class I-III, but I don’t think we ever got above Class II. It was pretty much a slow float for sightseeing. Unfortunately, with the weather, there were no vistas at all, just low clouds (worse than above) and rain. They do offer more exciting runs, but those were too long and we had to get back to catch a cab to the train station for the “Wilderness Express” run back to Anchorage departing just after noon. It took a while to get out of our gear, catch a cab, all the while being soaked by the steady drizzle, but we finally made it to the station, hoping our luggage got checked, and getting ourselves checked in.
One of the few things we regretted over the course of the trip was that Loni didn’t get to see a moose, which for some reason was a major desire of hers. We were mingling around this waiting room (the train hadn’t arrived) when we heard a chorus of “OH’s,” low murmurs of the “M” word, and then a general stampede to the windows. We followed along, pushed our way out onto the porch, and, well, goodness me.
The local ranger kept trying to get everyone back, as moose can be quite unpredictable, especially with babies in tow, but she was pretty nonchalant. She wanted to get to some grazing across the tracks, but a railing stopped her. Only temporarily. With her long legs, she simply stepped over it, but left the kids stranded. She called to them from the other side, and the ranger told the crowd to be absolutely quiet, and then sort of shooed them around the barrier to join her. I think everyone was holding his/her breath hoping that the train wouldn’t come rumbling in. It didn’t.
So, Loni got her moose(s) after all, up close and personal. All was now well with the trip. I just saw a special on TV about moose, and it said that only 10% of the calves are making it through the first year. The moose population is in big trouble. The train was a bit late, which would only add to the 7 1/2 hours the trip was scheduled to take. I think we opted for this after seeing one too many of those advertisements for scenic train trips through the Canadian Rockies. Well, those ad scenes are probably exaggerated too. The train was comfortable, with big, cushy leather seats and wall-to-wall windows. But, as you can see, the rainy weather made for extremely limited viewing. I think we spent most of our time on our Kindles, only glancing out every so often.
It was kind of neat to see the train in front of us when we went around bends, and we did get something of a view when we went on bridges over rivers, but that was about it. Otherwise, it was rainy gloom and a tunnel of trees on both sides.
After all the waiting around, we were eager for the lunch service to start. It was only served in the dining car, and you had to wait to be called by your seat row as the capacity was quite limited. I was growling away by the time we got called, climbed down the stairs to the lower level, and through the car to the diner. Once there, it was pleasant, but the high prices left us to soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, both quite good. My stomach was happy, if not quite rapturous.
We also had dinner on the train, and were seated with a couple from Delaware and had a nice talk. Loni and I both had the Alaskan halibut with rice and green beans, but it was hopelessly overcooked. She, at least, enjoyed her glass of chard. At the end of the line in Anchorage, it was pandemonium as they put all the baggage out in one great mass (in the rain) and you had to pick your way through it to find your own. We found Loni’s rather quickly, but I’d almost given up hope with mine when a final group was offloaded late. We then had to scramble to get the shuttle to the hotel, missing the first departure as it was full, and waiting for her to come back. The hotel was the Ramada Anchorage, and about all I have to say about it is that it was located close to the station and to downtown restaurants. Otherwise, it was just a sad Ramada. I will say that we did find an excellent place for breakfast adjacent to it – the Slippery Salmon Cafe. Excellent blueberry sourdough pancakes. The only remarkable thing about our night’s stay was that I was able to get this shot at 11:45 pm. The land of the midnight sun, indeed.
We used our eyeshades to get some sleep. Our Alaska sojourn is over, but some pretty great memories will long endure. We also will not soon forget Chuck and Alice picking us up at LAX amidst the worst traffic jam I’ve ever seen there. Sigh, back to Alaska, anyone?
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