Alaska Bound: Return to Anchorage

Thur. 7/25. Fri. 7/26

We had a little sleep and had to get up, pack, have breakfast and board the bus that was taking us to the depot for the train ride to Anchorage. It stated raining as we were getting ready to walk to breakfast and it never stopped until we almost arrived in Anchorage.

When we were standing at the depot, it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be just an ordinary train ride. According to the printed info, it was a train with an observation deck and a dining deck. What the brochure didn't tell us was how luxurious the accomondations were. When we were in the dining floor I thought I was Cary Grant in North By Northwest, when we were on the observation deck the views were panoramic. It was an 8 hour train ride that went by in a flash.

There were sightings of moose and bears, small villages with a population of 2 or 3, with their own city hall and post office. When the train went around a bend it reminded me of Von Ryan's Express.

We arrived in Anchorage, transferred to the hotel and spent our last night on our tour. Had a last breakfast with our dear traveling companions, Jim and Mary Ann, said our goodbyes and boarded the shuttle that would take us to the airport so we could continue our adventure this time with Marcia and Clifford, as our guides.

It was a different experience for me to fly on such a puddle jumper of an airline, although it was not a small plane, the hops were of such different lengths, it only was a 25 min. hop from Juneau to Petersburg.

It was good to see Clifford again, but Marcia and Jim were stuck on their tender and couldn't make it until the next day. But we had a great meal with Clifford, drank some great wine (not surprising) and had a wonderful time catching up, and talking about our plans for the next few days.