Day 9: August 28, 2011
August 28 (sunny and warm)
Slept later and then rode a shuttle bus into town – walked the town and visited the shops along the way – interesting artists – purchased a painting by local artist, Tok Hwang, who takes pictures and then turns them into painting – we bought a painting of the Alaska Railroad with the Mountain in the background
Had lunch at the Denali Dog House – Carol had chili and Rich had a Reindeer sausage – very good
Met the bus for the ride back to the hotel to catch the shuttle to the train depot
Boarded the afternoon train to Fairbanks – retraced our ride of the previous day and saw the mountain again – as well as some more animals
Arrived in Fairbanks and took a taxi back to the Holiday Inn – treated ourselves to a burger and fries at the Fairbanks McDonald’s
Stayed up late in order to head into the mountains to see the Northern Lights
Left the hotel at 12:30 AM and drove into the mountains north of town – witnessed an awesome display of the Northern Lights – they were like a river of bright green – almost white that stretched from horizon to horizon directly overhead us – they moved in waves over us and back – swirled into tight bands and then separated into three bands – they undulated and pulsated – reds and pinks would flash at the edges of the lights as they thrust out spikes of light =downwards at us – it was like watching a flowing curtain, but from underneath – we were on a side road with no visible lights other than the stars and the Northern Lights in a massive band over us – then a dog barked – it was an eerie feeling – but one we couldn’t leave – we watched the lights for an hour before we left for the hotel
As we pulled onto the main road, we saw flashing lights form an emergency vehicle on the side of the road – as we passed it we saw two other vehicles, some men standing on the side of the road and a large moose lying dead in front of the police car – looked as if someone hit a moose – it was a young moose, but very big, it looked as if it would have stood over 8 feet – we prayed that no one was hurt
Slept later and then rode a shuttle bus into town – walked the town and visited the shops along the way – interesting artists – purchased a painting by local artist, Tok Hwang, who takes pictures and then turns them into painting – we bought a painting of the Alaska Railroad with the Mountain in the background
Had lunch at the Denali Dog House – Carol had chili and Rich had a Reindeer sausage – very good
Met the bus for the ride back to the hotel to catch the shuttle to the train depot
Boarded the afternoon train to Fairbanks – retraced our ride of the previous day and saw the mountain again – as well as some more animals
Arrived in Fairbanks and took a taxi back to the Holiday Inn – treated ourselves to a burger and fries at the Fairbanks McDonald’s
Stayed up late in order to head into the mountains to see the Northern Lights
Left the hotel at 12:30 AM and drove into the mountains north of town – witnessed an awesome display of the Northern Lights – they were like a river of bright green – almost white that stretched from horizon to horizon directly overhead us – they moved in waves over us and back – swirled into tight bands and then separated into three bands – they undulated and pulsated – reds and pinks would flash at the edges of the lights as they thrust out spikes of light =downwards at us – it was like watching a flowing curtain, but from underneath – we were on a side road with no visible lights other than the stars and the Northern Lights in a massive band over us – then a dog barked – it was an eerie feeling – but one we couldn’t leave – we watched the lights for an hour before we left for the hotel
As we pulled onto the main road, we saw flashing lights form an emergency vehicle on the side of the road – as we passed it we saw two other vehicles, some men standing on the side of the road and a large moose lying dead in front of the police car – looked as if someone hit a moose – it was a young moose, but very big, it looked as if it would have stood over 8 feet – we prayed that no one was hurt
