“Rena,
Karen and I wanted to thank you for setting up a wonderful vacation for us.
We are nearing home from a great week+ of enjoying the wonders of Alaska. Granted the weather was about as perfect as it can get but the ease of navigating the wonderful sights and experiences you selected was a lot of fun.
A few key notes we wanted to highlight:
- Trip to Crescent Lake for bear viewing was a great kick off – the staff and team were very engaging and knowledgeable. I could tell they really enjoyed what they do each day. Bears in their natural setting was a lot fun for us.
- Drive to Seward was beautiful and easy for us. We headed out for fishing and had a side benefit of watching 10-15 Orca whales as they headed out of to sea – captain said he would charge us later for the whale viewing ????. We again had great weather and caught our limit of Halibut – although after shipping to my in-laws and to our home, it would have been cheaper to go to the grocery store. Great day!
- Drive from Seward to Talkeenta was nice – in hindsight, we have now adapted to the flying around Alaska (Karen was apprehensive) that a flight would have been fun as well.
- Talkeetna hotel setting was a very nice touch to setting us up for the wonders of Denali. The views were spectacular – again weather cooperated with a clear view the entire stay which I understand to be unique. A little bonus on Monday night was the Northern Lights appeared – for me it has been 30 years since I have seen them. Saw glimpses of them later in the week as well.
- The village of Talkeetna itself is a unique setting – it was during this stay that it began to set in that many of the staff were on their final week and really ramping up for departure that week or the following. It was great talking to them about what was next and where they were going next.
- K2 Aviation flight around Denali was probably one of our highlights – Chip our Captain was great, very knowledgeable in many regards and put us all at ease about the flight and what we were experiencing. I would highly recommend this to others as an experience of a lifetime.
- Drive to Denali was easy and great way to experience in a small way the vast wilderness of Alaska.
- Again the location of the Grande Denali hotel was excellent. Staff was great and we enjoyed the stay.
- Our trip into Denali was wonderful – we were able to see a variety of wildlife: caribou, moose, wolves, sheep and bear. Scenery was wonderful – while a long trip in we truly enjoyed it. Karen and I do want to that THANK YOU though – flying out was a nice touch, another 6 hours back out may have spoiled a great first part of the day. Additionally it was like a second Denali fly-by given by another pilot from the North side.
- Lastly as we departed on our train back to Anchorage – we had a small group and open seating from Denali to Talkeetna which was very enjoyable. The last leg from Talkeenta to Anchorage helped bring us back to reality with more people onboard and bringing us back to the real world.
Rena – really want to thank you for a great trip.”