Midnight Sun

As the airplane landed in Anchorage, I saw mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds hovering, waiting for me – they seem to know I am here. Luckily they are slow and easily squashed right now. I laughed when I saw that the airport is called the Ted Stevens International Airport, but apparently up here he is known as “Uncle Ted”, felony conviction notwithstanding.

Wendy’s plane out of SFO was late, so I waited at the Anchorage Airport for a couple hours, and we rolled to the Anchorage Sheraton close to midnight. It was still light.
This morning we took a bus to Denali National Park, cruising the well-maintained highway with many other tour buses loaded with mostly elderly tourists shuttling from cruise ship to mountain to town to ship. No glimpse of Denali, which is not unusual, since it is visible from the ground only about 20% of the time. We were met with heavy clouds, intermittent rain, and light winds. Later in the evening – about 8 p.m., the sun came out, and we had clear skies and sun until we headed to bed around 11 p.m. Kind of crazy, this much daylight! I may become a night person….

In Denali, we met up with JC, a friend from the Jack Johnson Tour who is working at the Denali Foundation Elderhostel (the “camp”) for the summer. He arranged a cabin there for us, which is great! Not only do we have our own guide, JC’s dog Chowder is filling the sidekick role, keeping us occupied throwing sticks.


The highlight of the day was the momma moose and her 2 calves hanging around the camp. The babies are barely as tall as their momma’s knees and are thought to be less than a week old. We saw them through the woods and I didn’t get a great photo, then ran across them later at night when I didn’t have my camera. I learned the hard way – ALWAYS carry your camera!