Almost a repeat of yesterday. Usually I like to have things to see and explore while vacationing so not having anything to do any of the days seemed strange at first but I got over it! I walked to the beach before breakfast today just to enjoy it without all the people. And I ate later since I had to go for my Covid test after. Breakfast was at the buffet again. Today I went with eggs, hashbrowns, fruit and some pastries. The Covid test really puts a pause on your trip. You have to get one to return to the US and you have to wait in line to schedule and get tested, which takes some time out of each day. An online scheduling system would improve the overall process. Anyway, I got in line ... read more

Time to depart cold, grey Illinois for warm, sunny Dominican Republic. I booked this trip on a whim after seeing a deal for a 3 night stay in a junior suite with free upgrade to a rooftop terrace. Kind of hard to turn that down when the price includes everything! And it was perfect timing to get a break from the rough start to 2022. My departure time was 10 am from O'Hare and I arrived early, as usual, to avoid rushing through security and to the gate, which always ends up being the furthest away from security. I parked in the relatively new Multi-modal Facility. This new parking garage houses the rental cars as well as two levels of economy parking. It is also connected to the airport by the people mover, which just reopened ... read more

Today I had booked a 3 hour guided hike with Walk Denali, a local hiking company. And then I decided that wasn't enough and did another hike in the afternoon. I think I'm all hiked out now. I grabbed breakfast from the lodge because that's basically the only option for food. Pickup for the hike was to be between 7:45 and 8 so I headed up to the parking lot to wait for the guide to arrive. There were two couples on the hike plus myself. Our guide, Jeremy, has lived in Alaska for 15 years and really likes hunting. But he was also very knowledgeable about the plants, landscape and wildlife. He took us to the Three Lakes Trail, which is part of Denali NP but we used a trail head at the south end ... read more

Denali National Park was established in 1917, however it was then called Mount McKinley National Park. Apparently people were huge fans of President McKinley and thought that was a better name than the one the native people's had called the mountain. I had to look him up because I couldn't even remember his first name or when he was president. The name debate continued and in 1980 the name of the park was changed to Denali NP but the mountain was still called McKinley. Finally, in 2015, the mountain was officially resorted to Denali. The park is a little over 6 million acres and has one road that extends 93 miles into the park. The first 15 miles is paved and open to cars, the rest is by tour bus or campground bus only. However, as ... read more

Today it was time to move on from Seward. It was a sunny, crisp morning and I was able to clearly see the surrounding mountains. I enjoyed my last morning of free breakfast, packed my bags and headed out to meet my bus. Today I had a short 2 hour ride on the Park Connection bus from Seward to Girdwood. The bus was a regular bus with nice seats and big windows. The Park Connection is a good option to get around if the train schedule does not work out in your favor. I chose to spend the night in Girdwood to break up the journey from Seward to Denali and to experience more of Alaska. Girdwood is a small town about 40 miles south of Anchorage and the main draw here is the Alyeska Resort, ... read more