Day 2
Day 2 started early, as we needed to have our luggage outside our hotel room door by 6AM. On the cruise tour, you are allowed one piece of luggage per person for the land tour, and one piece that will go directly to the ship. So, we had to pack carefully and apply the appropriate tags given to us so that our bags would go to the right places and we would have the proper clothes. For example, the land tour is exclusively casual. So any clothes needed for the elegant nights on the ship went into the bag that would go directly to the ship. The next time we would see those bags would be in our cabin aboard ship.
After breakfast, we were taken by bus to the Chena Riverboat dock for a cruise on the Chena river. Narration on the riverboat told of the history of the indigenous Athabascan people, and how the river was used. We saw a float plane take off and land. We passed by the home and kennel for Susan Butcher (former Iditarod winner) where they provided a brief demonstration of their training. We then stopped at an Athabascan village where we saw animals, cabins, and received a guided tour of the village explaining how the Athabascan people lived. There were also quite a few very large homes along the river.
After the river cruise, lunch was served at the dock house. Food was decent, but not spectacular. When lunch was done, we boarded the buses for the several hour ride to the Denali Lodge. About halfway, we stopped at the Nenana river and town of Nenana. During our short break we toured the railroad museum that is there. It is not a very large museum.
Upon arrival at the Denali Lodge, we were taken right to the cabin we would stay in. Our luggage was already in our room. Unfortunately, we were on the second floor, with no elevator. This is very difficult for Jean. So, before we joined our evening tour we checked to see if anything else was available. Not only were they able to move us to a room in a different building that had no stairs, but the staff moved our luggage for us while we went on our tour.
That tour took us to the DogGoneIt Kennel. we learned about how the sled dogs were raised, the racing that they do, and got to hold a two-week old puppy!
After the tour, we went back to the Lodge and picked up the keys for our new room and had a late dinner. After being up before 6AM, it was well after 11PM by the time we got to bed, and we had to be up at 5AM the next morning for the Denali Tundra tour.
Go to Part 3