Train Ride to Denali

Mary and I got a cab to the Anchorage Railroad Depot, checked in our tagged bags, drank a delicious coffee and waited to board the glass roofed train to Denali.

At the start of the train ride there were just nine of us and then 58 joined us at Talkeetna.  It’s now the end of the season that started in May.

We decided to get breakfast after an early start

Mary ordered the reindeer/ egg scrambler skillet.

Chef Malachi cooked our breakfasts to perfection!  Delicious.

Jerrica tended the bar at the front of the car

Our conductor A.J.   He has to get off the train to manually switch the tracks so we could wait on the side as another train passed, going south.

Matthew our excellent server on the left and Crystal our knowledgeable tour guide.

Both of them made it a fun and memorable adventure. The train ride is about eight hours.  We didn’t knit or nap, didn’t want to miss a single second.

(Good sports to let me photograph them, thanks!)

We saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans who mate for life.

Their young ones were swimming on their own

 

After the lunch crowd left the dining car and went back upstairs, I enjoyed a Forest pie with rhubarb, apple, blackberry and strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream. Matt asked if I wanted a lot of whipped cream or a little. 🙂

Everyone was so nice, the scenery so incredible. Andy took a photo of us at the table too,  which was great for the memory book, but unfortunately I did not take his pic.

We highly recommend the train tour.