World United States Alaska Talkeetna

Funchasers Travel Homepage Alaska Adventure 2008

From Anchorage to Talkeetna May 14, 2008

We were treated to a great breakfast buffett at the Sheraton this morning where we also met up with Robert & China who had arrived in Anchorage a day before us. While waiting to board our bus, we also got acquainted with 9 travelers from Springfield, Illinois, who were going to be part of our group. Their director couldn't come, so we've "taken them in." We left promptly at 8:45 for the Alaska Native Heritage Center just outside of town. We spent some time here learning about the different Native Alaskan tribes, along with their dances and rituals. Then we were off to a most entertaining stop at Happy Trails Kennels. This is the home of Iditarod champion, Martin Buser. Martin showed a short film of his Iditarod journey, and, while we had lunch, he cleverly explained what happens at the race checkpoints. Afterwards, we met the dogs and Martin demonstrated the fine art of dog sledding. Leaving Happy Trails, we drove on to Talkeetna. Talkeetna is rumoured to have been the village that the town in the TV series, Northern Exposure was modeled after. We were able to spend about 1/2 hour in Talkeetna, then checked into our accommodations at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Shortly after arriving at the lodge, our ride to the Mahay's River Boat journey picked us up and transported us to the Yukon River. Half of us were boarded in the first boat and it took off. The rest of us climbed into the second boat, and after leaving the dock, the anti-freeze hose blew off. We were dead in the water until the other boat realized that something was wrong and came back. The drivers were able to clamp the hose and off we went again. The river had only broken several days earlier, so a lot of ice was still visible. We again spotted moose before we landed at an old trapper's cabin in the forest. We made our way through the snow, mud, and mosquitos about a hundred yards to the camp. As our guide explained and demonstrated a typical trapper's life here, we kept alert for possible bears that might just be coming out of hibernation. The trip back down the river was quite nice. We arrived back at the lodge where everyone was free to have dinner at their leisure. It's quite chilly, so most of us made sure we had our heaters on in our rooms before turning in. It was a great day!