Hochmuth Adventures 2022 - ¡Vámonos!

Day 12/13 - Wednesday, August 31, and Thursday, September 1, 2022- Juneau to Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto to Oakfield Slept in and went down to the hotel - Westmark- restaurant for their buffet breakfast. Luggage out at 11 and the bus for the airport left at 1. Our flight to Vancouver was a little late but we had a 2 hour layover. It will be a long trip. We went from Vancouver to Edmonton, with a 6 hour layover, from  midnight to 6 am, needless to say I didn't get any sleep but you can see from the picture below that we had the airport to ourselves. While waiting for our flight to Toronto we got word from Air Canada that our luggage was delayed and wouldn't be in Edmonton until 9/2. I filled out forms to have them delivered but thankfully they were there when we got to Toronto.The rest of our trip went without incident and we got back into the states easily. We tested when we got home before we went to visit Ron's Mom and guess what - I tested positive. Since our house ...

Day 11 - Tuesday, August 29, 2022 - Denali to Juneau The next days will primarily be travel days. Suitcases out by 7:30. We went and had tea, chai latte, scones and muffins at Starbucks. At 9:30 we boarded Dwight's bus for our ride to Anchorage. We made a lunch stop at Princess Wilderness Lodge for a box lunch. We arrived at our hotel around 3:30 and had to wait a little while to get our room but I have to say that Holland America has their mess together. Every step of the way they had info ready, room assignments, room keys, luggage tags etc. I was really impressed the whole trip. After getting our room we ventured a few blocks to Humpys. We had some beers, a huge plate of nachos and 2 lbs. of steamer clams. Excellent. This shows the train we took to Denali. Today we take a bus. Lunch stop - Beautiful grounds but really in the middle of nowhere Our hotel in Anchorage - The Westmark

Day 10 - Monday, August 29, 2022 - Denali I got up at 7:30 but Ron slept in a bit. It was 25 degrees when I got up so we'll have to dress warm. We have plenty of warm clothes though. We walked across the road from the resort and had tea and muffins and some coconut breakfast cake. We browsed the gift shops and went back to our room. Our excursion didn't leave until 1:30 from the main lobby so we had a little time to rest. We made our way up all the stairs to the main lobby and had a 4 1/2 hour natural history tour of Denali. Our guide Laurie was very informative. First we saw a 15 min film on the history of the park. Then we drove through the park with the guide pointing out different vegetation, explaining the geology of the park, life in Denali and native American customs. The views were impressive but as is usually the case Denali was elusive due to the clouds. We had a few sprinkles but we lucked out again with the weather. We were prepared to have rain every day as it had ...

Day 9 - Sunday, August 28, 2022 - McKinley Denali Express to Denali Up before 6 and dressed when room service was delivered at 6. Ate and got ready to disembark at 7:15. We were assigned wave #s and when they called we took off to the train. It is the McKinley Denali Express but don't let the name fool you. It is a 9 1/2 hour ride and average speed is 32 mph. They had a tour guide who pointed out highlights along the way, a bartender, and a food person for breakfast and lunch. It is a domed train to give you greater views.  Along the way we saw osprey, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, and dall sheep. W e also saw glaciers; beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and meandering streams. Lunch was available for purchase on the train and we arrived to our stop at 6. From there we got on busses and it was a 10 min. drive to McKinley Chalet. Our suitcases were waiting for us and we had a really nice room - 2 beds - king and queen- and rustically decorated. Because so many people were arriving at ...