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Today was our middle day at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. This morning, we headed off for a horseback ride on trails thorugh the woods around the lodge. What a wonderful experience. The scenery is incredible and the ride itself was very enjoyable. A lot of up and down on the trails, making for an interesting ride, especially for those of us who have only been on a horse a few times. After having rode in Barbados, I can testify tha a western saddle is infinitely more comfortable than an English saddle! Here’s a picture of us with a view of Mt. McKinley in the background (well, the mountain is there, but hidden from view due to the clouds).

After the ride, we went for a nature walk on a trail in back of the main lodge with a park ranger. Everything is just starting to turn green here, with numerous berry bushes, ferns, and other plants peeking through the brush. Then we off to lunch and then another walk, this time on a trail above the lodge. More beautiful views of the lodge, the river, and the mountains.

Now we’re hanging out at the lodge, doing some reading before dinner.

The camera on my phone is so-so, so I’m posting a few selected pictures from our camera.

Here we are getting ready to order breakfast on the Midnight Sun Express train on the way from Anchorage to Talkeetna on Friday.

As the train approached Talkeetna, we were greeted by a beautiful view of Mount McKinley.

When we arrived at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge, we headed straight to the deck to take some photos of Mt. McKinley before the weather could change and hide the mountain.

Mount McKinley,
originally uploaded by Ladewig.

We left Anchorage this morning on the Midnight Sun Express bound for Talkeetna. Breakfast was on the train and came complete with some delicious reindeer sausage. Yumm!

The ride to Talkeetna lasted a bit under three hours. As we neared our the station, we were greeted by a picture perfect view of Mt. McKinley. We had prepared ourselves for the possibility that we wouldn’t have a clear view of the mountain during our stay, but we lucked out. Over and over we heard from Princess staff how lucky we are.

At Talkeetna we disembarked the train and boarded our motor coach to take us to the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. On our arrival, we headed for the deck at the lodge to get some photos before the weather could turn and hide the mountain. The view is breathtaking. The mosquitos, on the other hand, I could do without, but the bug spray seems to be working.

We are staying in a new part of the lodge, part of a major expansion. Part of this expansion included a few glitches, however, as we started off in the wrong room due to a system “upgrade” that dropped the first digit from our room number. After lunch we were reunited with our luggage which was waiting for us in the room we were supposed to be using.

Now as I write this, we’re sitting at the lodge, looking out the mountain. This sure beats working! The weather is warm in the upper 50s and in the sun is warm enough for short sleeves. The attached photo is of McKinley this evening as some clouds have rolled in, still leaving her visible though.

Tomorrow we’re going horseback riding. Hope the weather holds. Until then….

Alaska!,
originally uploaded by Ladewig.

We have arrived. Just walked off the plane at the Anchorage airport. FYI, the airport is named for Mr. Pork himself, Ted Stevens.

Lunch in Seattle,
originally uploaded by Ladewig.

We’re sitting down to lunch at the Seattle airport. Here’s Kristin chatting with our friend Alison in Chicago. We leave for Anchorage in a couple hours.