Traveling with the Grobmyers August 10, 2024 North to Denali

 We took our time leaving Anchorage today. We had a four hour drive north to Denali, and of course it was raining.  We started out following the train tracks we were on yesterday. 

First stop today was a quilt shop in Wasilla. It was one of the larger quilt store I have stopped in on this trip. There was a group of women gathered today to visit and sew. They asked about my trip and knew I wasn’t from around these parts. One lady was pointing out all the fabric that was on sale. She said “we hang out here a lot.” I added to my fabric of things Alaska I have been collecting to make another Alaska quilt. This one right now I am planning on making a bear paw quilt, since we were suppose to see the bears.

One thing we never got around to scheduling before we left was a dog sled tour. We found the Iditarod Trail Headquarters here in Wasilla. We had conflicting information that it was open or closed today. So we headed out there to see. It happened to be open and was a neat museum with a 30 minute film that gives you a lot of information about the dogs and why they like to race. An added bonus was they actually had some dogs there. I believe the lady said they had all raced in the Iditarod at one point or another.

They sold tickets to ride their cart around pulled by the dogs. We didn’t really want to ride in the rain but it was fun to watch them run.

No more stops until we made it to our home away from home for the next three nights. We are staying at the Grand Denali Lodge. This was the GPS on the drive up.

I probably shouldn’t tell you about this but it was 44 degrees, windy, and raining when we got to the top. So we haven’t looked around much. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

We ate dinner here tonight because it was getting late. Our waiter was a nice young man from Macedonia. He has worked here for two years. He is in college back home in aerospace engineering. 

Crispy Brussels sprouts that were very good.

My salad tonight. It was called the healthy hiker.it had greens, quinoa, pepitas, cranberries, and golden raisins.

Joe’s salad with blackened salmon.

Tomorrow we have a wilderness tour of Denali. There is some confusion about the time. Thank goodness it is later in the day so we can call and find out for sure what time. Maybe the rain will move out and will just be overcast.