Live from Princess McKinley Lodge!

[inkmahm]

We took the train here from Anchorage yesterday and had beatiful views of Denali on the way. The full mountain was out in sunshine! By the time we got to the lodge, the mountain was partly clouded over but still somewhat out. We were very lucky to see it.

 

The weather has been great- beautiful sunshine and low 70's. My nose got sunburned on our 1 hour horseback ride yesterday afternoon.

 

Food at the Twenty 3 20 restaurant was good for lunch and dessert last night (EXCELLENT wildberry pie.) My halibut at the Mountain View restaurant would have been better had it not been overcooked.

 

Our airboat excursion was canceled for last evening due to mechanical difficulties. We were a little disappointed but used the time to relax and have dinner instead.

 

We really like this lodge. Last time we were here was May, 2005. It was earlier in season then and things weren't running as smoothly as they are today. We've had nothing but good service from Princess all along the way so far. The workers have all been very pleasant and helpful.

 

Today we woke up to cooler weather and mist. It looks like it is trying to clear up though. We board the train soon to go to Princess Denali.

[milolii]

We took the train here from Anchorage yesterday and had beatiful views of Denali on the way. The full mountain was out in sunshine! By the time we got to the lodge, the mountain was partly clouded over but still somewhat out. We were very lucky to see it.

 

The weather has been great- beautiful sunshine and low 70's. My nose got sunburned on our 1 hour horseback ride yesterday afternoon.

 

Food at the Twenty 3 20 restaurant was good for lunch and dessert last night (EXCELLENT wildberry pie.) My halibut at the Mountain View restaurant would have been better had it not been overcooked.

 

Our airboat excursion was canceled for last evening due to mechanical difficulties. We were a little disappointed but used the time to relax and have dinner instead.

 

We really like this lodge. Last time we were here was May, 2005. It was earlier in season then and things weren't running as smoothly as they are today. We've had nothing but good service from Princess all along the way so far. The workers have all been very pleasant and helpful.

 

Today we woke up to cooler weather and mist. It looks like it is trying to clear up though. We board the train soon to go to Princess Denali.

 

 

We love this lodge, too. So many folks say it is too far from everything, but we thought it worked great. Glad the mountain was out!

[jwendy31]

I LOVE the live feeds...thanks! I'm taking my DH and myself next year on our 1st Alaskan cruisetour, and can't wait. Eagerly awaiting your next live post!

Judy

[jwendy31]

I LOVE the live feeds...thanks! I'm taking my DH and myself next year on our 1st Alaskan cruisetour, and can't wait. Eagerly awaiting your next live post!

Judy

[inkmahm]

A quick post before bed as we have to be up before dawn tomorrow to get ready for ourTundra Wilderness tour!

 

It has rained most of today so I've gotten some use out of my raiin jacket. Most of the time we were on the train from Talkeetna to the Princess Denali lodge. We really like the train and all the scenery. Today we were lucky to see a black bear from the train. There were some women on the train sitting behind us who commented that the views were great, if only the train had a casino it would be perfect. :rolleyes: Of course,they were also complaining about tomorrow's 6 am Wilderness tour saying Princess had to give it to us because no one would want to buy a tour that starts that early. Yes, they are annoying.

 

The lodge is larger than I remember. We are in building #10 overlooking the river. It's beautiful!

 

We ate at the King Salmon tonight- beautiful view and great food.

[jenjens1023]

Just a couple questions....

 

How far is the lodge from the visitors' center?

Are there shuttles to take you there?

Are there teens at the lodge (we'll be traveling with our 18 yo DD, so I want the answer to be some form of "Yes"!).

Are there other restaurants in the area, or are you a captive audience of the lodge?

The rooms on the website look small, but after a ship maybe it doesn't matter....

[inkmahm]

Just a couple questions....

 

How far is the lodge from the visitors' center?

Are there shuttles to take you there?

Are there teens at the lodge (we'll be traveling with our 18 yo DD, so I want the answer to be some form of "Yes"!).

Are there other restaurants in the area, or are you a captive audience of the lodge?

The rooms on the website look small, but after a ship maybe it doesn't matter....

 

the visitor center is very close but not within walking distance. There are shuttles quite often but we didn't use them. We did the

Tundra Wilderness tour and they picked us up right at the hotel. I haven't seen any teens here, to tell you the truth. We are at the "Canyon Station" section of the hotel with our room overlooking the river. It's very nice! There are a couple of restaurants across the street but none that look any better than the hotel restaurants. Food here has been fine. We didn't do the dinner theater but we did eat at 3 of the other restaurants.

[ddeprez]

we're leaving 1 week from tomorrow- can't wait! How was the TWT?

[inkmahm]

we're leaving 1 week from tomorrow- can't wait! How was the TWT?

Sorry I didn't keep up with the live reports once we got to the ship on the 23rd.

 

We loved the TWT. Saw lots of bear, a HUGE moose right along the road, caribou, sheep, assorted small critters and birds. Going in late August made a huge difference compared to our initial TWT in late May, 2005. Our favorite part of the tour was seeing a wolf hunt for his breakfast. He killed a small animal (squirrel, maybe) and tossed it in the air, just like a cat would do to play with its food. We ordered the copy of the tape (dvd?) the driver made on our trip so we will have a recorded copy of the trip. Since I don't have it yet, I can't comment on the quality of the recording. I will say that having the camera on the bus so that everyone could see all of the wildlife sighted was great. Even with wonderful binoculars, the bus wasn't always in the sightline of the wildlife for everyone on the bus. The first moose sighting was frustrating for my husband and me as we were positioned behind a bush along the road and couldn't see the moose at all other than on the video screen. Later, we had a great view of a grizzly mom and her cub but the people a few rows behind us on the bus had a bush so that they couldn't see.