Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

... was incredibly muddy and slippery from persistent rains – my horse decided to kneel down and roll over, almost on top of me. It happened so quickly, my first thought was that the horse was dying, so I jumped off and narrowly missed being laid upon. Luckily the horse rolled over on some brush and didn’t lean the other way, which would have been in 10-inch deep mud, so I was unscathed or dirtied. The horse, however, bolted up and shot forward ...

... are that cute. That said, aside from the dog demonstrations, we particularly enjoyed Jeff’s speech, during which he recounted some of his experiences – he’s run the race every year for more than 20 years, and is going again in 2010 – and what it was like to raise his family up there. K bought his autobiography later, and raced through it, saying it was a great read.

After lunch, we boarded a coach and had ...

... Alaska. When you're here, if you take picture, you look at them thinking "Huh...it was so much more..."

When I got back to the Village, a few of my friends here had the movie "Without a Paddle" ready to go. I don't know that I have laughed that hard at a movie in a while. I think it was funnier because some of the parts can easily be our experiences here.

So today I was sent to Talkeetna with some of our guests. They were a lot of fun to drive to Talkeetna, mom and daughter :) I stopped at the South Overlook and the guests were able to see most of Denali out in all her glory. Though, I think I surprised some of the people in ...

... climbers. It was a privilege to be in the same company with these courageous climbers. After a brief visit, the three of us and the pilot boarded our plane and took off. What a ride and I am proud to say - barf-free (official term). When we landed, we noticed that the snow had begun to fall and the view of Denali was gone. Timing is everything, isn't it? Throughout my time in Alaska, the volcanic eruptions and ...

... icefields, mountains,
and the world's deepest gorge. Mt. Mckinley and Denali were beautiful
to see. Around the lodge, we went on a trail thru the forest, there
were signs posted beware of bears and we saw some bear tracks along the
way!!!

... I was disappointed because I couldn't get a good shot of the bird. After the trip, I walked around and saw historic cabins and spots of the city of talkeetna. I walked to the edge of town where the tress reminded me of the movie, "The Village." This is where the mosquitos swarmed all over me.