I arrived on May 24 a day before the group so I could work out the incoming kinks and boy am I happy that I did. The four hour time difference between Florida & Alaska put me in my hotel room with only one stopover in Houston, at 2:00 am body clock time. It was an exhausting trip and I am really happy I came a day early.
The next day folks started to arrive and I organized a trek to a nearby meeting at 5:00. I had called ahead a month ago and told them they will have extra guests and the note left in the chairperson’s box was really cute. They could not interpret it! It didn’t matter because there were 12 of us in a room with 5 local Anchorage folks and the fresh horses were surly needed. One gent coming back from a relapse, one gent wondering if he could ever travel again sober, one gent lamenting the fact that he could not have a couple of beers on Memorial Day Weekend. The lamentor had just gotten out of jail from his sixth DUI. This disease is so baffling, he can’t make the connection between drinking and jail.
When we got back to the hotel, I had arranged for the shuttle to pick us up and bring us to the Sourdough Mining Company for dinner. We had some wonderful local fare. The show, “The Adventures of Dusty Soughdough” out in the back barn where there was a stage was cancelled, so we just milled around the chocolate factory across the street where they have the world’s largest chocolcate fountain. It was awesome. The shuttle took us back for a great nights sleep!
This whole trip is so organized and easy. We boarded a private motorcoach which brought us to our glass domed train the next morning. Awesome views while sitting in a dining car in booths from heaven! The reindeer sausages in the omlettes while traversing the wilderness was an elegant affair. I felt like I was on the Oriental Express…only with my alcoholic family giggling the whole way. It is the beginning of the season here and we were only the second group on the train. Our waiter looked at Bill’s tshirt with the triangle and breathed a sigh of relief. He was jumping for joy when he knew all 45 of us were in recovery! We meet up tomorrow with 25 more folks for the rest of the journey.
McKinley Village Lodge, Tuesday, May 26…rustic, we are the first guests of the season…I think they didn’t know we were coming!
Wednesday, May 27, Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge is sublime! This three story fireplace in the lobby is like a ski lodge in fantastic mountains.
EXCURSIONS: I took a flightseeing tour to the top of Mt. McKinley with 9 other folks. We landed on a Ruth Glacier. This was the experience of a lifetime! It was like standing in God’s hand. The majesty of the mountains and glaciers defies description. My camera was impotent, my heart bursting with gratitude, and my mouth hurt from smiling. The sun does not got down here until late late at night. My flightseeing tour