Stopover in Girdwood

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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, Alaska's only ski resort. Right now, the mountain is snow free and is used by hikers and bikers. Today there was some sort of bike race down the one side of the mountain. That seems crazy! Anyway, the bus drops off at a gas station right off the highway. Luckily there is a free bus that loops around from the resort, through town and out to the highway. And it happened to be stopped right when the bus arrived. The lady driving was a bit odd and kept talking about herself and other weird things but eventually she pulled in to the resort.

My room wasn't ready so I dropped my bags at the desk and headed for the tram. Now I hate trams but it was the only way I was going to get to the top of the mountain. Hiking to the top was not for me! Unfortunately the top was shrouded in clouds so I couldn't really see anything and that was disappointing. I also was going to grab lunch at the deli up there but the line was long and moving at the pace of a snail so I decided to go back down and eat at the resort. The ride down included 4 dogs! Two in backpacks and two bigger dogs. Usually there is only one dog allowed and the dog has to ride in the crate that is kept on the tram. However none of us minded the ones in the backpacks or the 4th dog who was carried on by his mom. Apparently all the dogs had hiked up the mountain with their owners and were getting an easy ride back down. There are a lot of dogs here! One dog even went in the little pond to chase a stick!

I chose to eat at Pond Restaurant as it was sit down and I was still waiting for a room. I'm so glad I did! I got the reindeer bolognese and it was delicious. Lots of pasta, cheese and reindeer sausage. I ate the entire bowl! The waitress said that is her favorite thing on the menu.

After lunch I was able to get my room key. My room is on the 7th floor (of 8) and faces the front of the resort. There is a nice view of some mountains, a heated towel rack, cozy robe, two bottles of water and a comfy bed. This is certainly a splurge! I sat for a few minutes and then headed out to walk off my giant lunch. The only problem here is I would be hiking alone and there was no one else heading out on the trail I was going to take and there was a sign about a bear a few weeks ago. I decided I didn't want to encounter an angry bear so I turned around and wandered around the grounds of the resort instead. It's a very busy place but also quite peaceful if you find a spot away from the entrances.

I checked out the various shops, got myself some stuff for breakfast tomorrow from the grab n go place and came back to relax for the rest of the night. I mean if the hotel provides a soft cozy robe I can't not use it!

Tomorrow I will meet up with the Park Connection bus around 12:30 and take that all the way to Denali, with stops in Anchorage and Talkeetna. Hopefully there is an empty window seat available when I get on the bus. I'm sure tomorrow's ride is going to be amazing!

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