Scenic Train Ride/Fairbanks

 After a wonderful dinner last night (Highlights were Halibut and Salmon), we had a beverage on a deck with a gorgeous view until the temperature dropped and chased us closer to home. We returned to a fire pit table at Denali Square and heard a late set from Johnny Cash tribute couple (not as good as the night before). Met two interesting women from San Diego and had a nice conversation. 
This morning we put our bags out at 7 am and had coffee and a grab and go breakfast. We boarded a bus for the train to Anchorage at 8:15. A short time later we climbed up a flight of steps into our glass-topped observation car on the Alaska Railroad train. We met our knowledgeable guide, Peter (originally from Iowa), and our energetic bartender, Lexi. We were told that we would arrive in Anchorage around 5:30 pm. 

Sue ran out of adjectives to describe the spectacular scenery in the first 30 minutes and Julie just kept repeating how magnificent it all was, lol. We crossed dozens of beautiful rivers and streams, saw snow-dusted mountains and rode through lush greenery all under a gorgeous blue sky. The rivers are mostly glacial fed and are named after the glaciers that feed them. On Sue’s side of the train, she learned to put her phone right against the window glass to reduce the glare in the dozens of photos she snapped. We were steadily snapping photos.

We learned about various flora and fauna, including about wolverines that they are trying to train for search and rescue missions. We saw ghost forests decimated by spruce bark beetles. These are not invasive but there are stronger populations due to warmer temperatures.  We were told to watch for moose and learned that they live around 15 years in the wild. Calving season is mid May - June. The calves stay with the mom for a year. Moose love willows. There are over 50 types of willows in Alaska. The moose are excellent swimmers. They can dive up to 15 feet and swim up to 10 miles. One moose can feed a family of 4 for a year, and it’s a serious crime to waste meat from a moose that has been killed. We spotted some Trumpeter swans and learned that Trumpeters like it cold. They are the first to arrive and last to leave for migration. We also learned about beavers, the largest member of the rodent family. They cache sticks and get to them without leaving the lodge in winter

Summer solstice is tomorrow; the longest day of the year. There will be 20 hours of daylight in Anchorage. We had our first potential Denali sighting but had no luck. The mountain was covered in clouds. 
After lunch downstairs, we went to the open air observation deck and saw more streams and mountains. 
We stopped on a 100-year old bridge over Hurricane gulch. Jen told us it is tall as the Statue of Liberty. We snapped many pictures and noticed someone had flown some paper airplanes from off the front of the train. 
A little while later we stopped in Talkeetna and dropped off and picked up more riders. It was the inspiration for the town in the show "Northern Exposure". Around the corner on our second opportunity- Denali is visible! More photos of this inspiring sight. 
We passed through the remnants of the 2019 McKinley fire. Then Peter told us about the Iditarod. The Iditarod follows the old Iditarod trail that was used during the gold rush. It runs from Willow lake to Nome. They start with 16 dogs and must finish with at least 5 dogs. There are 26 or 27 checkpoints to check the dogs’ health. There are 3 mandatory stops, mainly for the mushers: 2 8-hour stops and 1 24-hour stop.  The winner gets $50,000. Every finisher gets $1,049. The record is 7 days. Dallas Seavey has won it the most times. (We're going to Seavey's kennels on Sat)
We passed Sarah Palin's hometown and Peter told us about a mysterious plane crash that claimed the lives of famous politicians in the 70s. No sign of the plane was ever located. We came to a more developed area and learned that homes on a lake sell for between $850,000 and $1.2 million. An average 2-bedroom home in Anchorage costs $350,000 - $400,000. 
Less than an hour from Anchorage we spotted our first moose.  It was trotting along a parallel railroad track. The tour group went wild. Peter then told us about the 1964 earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded. Weather wise, Anchorage averages 79 inches of snow per year, but last year they had 131 inches. There was a November storm with 40 inches and people were snowed in for a week. They blamed the mayor who did not get re-elected, much like Chicago's Bilandic after the snow of '79. The municipality of Anchorage is the size of Delaware. There is a large military base on the outskirts. We pulled into Anchorage station about 5:45 pm and boarded our coach for the Captain Cook Hotel. After dropping our bags we met up with Polo Reyes, the Customs Control Director here in Fairbanks. Friends of Julie had met him on an earlier trip and connected us. He picked us up out front of the hotel and we all crammed into his Suburu. We went to a Mexican restaurant away from the tourist area and had a lovely meal. Polo knew the owner and we got deluxe treatment. Polo regaled us with stories of the differences between working at the southern and northern borders and had many amusing stories of spicing up life in the much more laid back north. He related a sweet story of the "elusive brown squirrel" and a young boy who was disappointed that this was his only wildlife encounter. Julie's notion that squirrels are taking over was reinforced. After dinner we drove to Chugach State Park at Black Top Mountain overlooking all of Anchorage, the 3 nearby volcanoes and Denali in the distance. Clouds and the lowering sun (it's the Solstice!) made pictures a bit difficult but it allowed stunning views. On the way back to the hotel we detoured to a quiet road Polo knew behind the airport to hunt for moose - so our only encounter wasn't with the damn squirrels. It was beautiful but no moose - until Polo u-turned to head back and there was a moose ahead of us walking down the middle of the road! Quite fun. Another fabulous day in this amazing State. Cell and internet service has been sketchy hence the posting in batches but we are doing our best to keep up.