Moose and bears and sheep, oh my

---

Last night was our “welcome” dinner even though it was our second night. It was at the Murie Learning Center. Dinner itself was a buffet, with Tuscan chicken, veggie lasagna, bowtie pasta with shrimp and salad. Dessert was tiramisu which was interesting because it was frozen. After dinner we had a talk by a naturalist, which was interesting, but a bit long winded.

Another early morning today, bus for the Park left at 7 am. Converted school bus, so a bit uncomfortable, but it was equipped with a camera controlled by the driver, and some screens, so when we spotted animals in the distance, he zoomed in and we were able to see them.

This place was GORGEOUS. My pictures will never do it justice. The foliage is changing color, so the meadows are a mix of yellow and red, almost a burgundy color that my camera just didn’t capture right. We spotted some moose pretty early on, then we spotted a grizzly bear with cubs and some Dall sheep and eventually some caribou. Dall sheep are white mountain sheep, a species that broke off from the big horn sheep of Wyoming during the last ice age. Our tour guide was quite funny and had a great voice. There is only one road into and out of the Park. Actually, the road doesn’t go all the way through the park, but ends at about the 90 mile mark at a town called Kantishna. We didn’t go that far, we went about 60 miles and then turned back. A bit different than driving through any of the other National Parks I’ve been in.

We got back to the hotel at 3:30 and rested for a while. Bus for the dinner theater left at 4:45. The “theater” is at another of the other hotels in the area, and I had a good time. The set up is that you are Fannie Quigley’s Roadhouse in Kantishna sometime in the 1930s. Tables seat 12 and dinner is family style. It included salad, ribs, salmon, corn (not on the cob), beans and potatoes and a berry cobbler for dessert. After dinner, there is a show, where the characters tell why they came to Alaska. The show was corny, but fun. I felt that the actor playing Joe Quigley was a bit off key, and the girl playing Amber was overdoing a bit. And I was a bad girl and stepped on a line… Amber says that she came to Alaska because she was looking for a man, and there were 10 men to every woman. So she likes the odds. Fannie states that there is something Amber should remember, that while the odds are good…. She paused a LONG time, and I completed the line, that while the odds are good, the goods are odd.

Bus back to the hotel and then one of the other women mentioned that she wanted to walk down to the stores but she didn’t want to go alone, so I walked down with her and we did a little shopping.

Have to be up and around by 8 tomorrow, so time for me to go repack my bag and get some shut eye. Tomorrow morning I’m doing a Husky Homestead tour and then we are off to Fairbanks.

---

Comments

[Keith & Millie]

Having a great time
Seems like you had a great day today. Keep up your blog. Thanks Millie & Keith