June 25th to 27th - Denali to Wasilla

June 25th – Mon – to Denali
We barely had enough water for very quick showers this morning. The mosquitoes were really out when we dumped our tanks and put in fresh water. We checked the rear truck tire that was low in Tok and found that it was low again. Terry dug out his fairly new air pump and it would not work! So we had to find somewhere with an accessible air hose before we hit the Parks Highway. We finally found a lube business, aired up the tire and headed out about 9:30 for the 2 hour drive.
The clouds did not cooperate so we didn’t see Mt McKinley – aka Denali – from the highway. Dave & Margo had just finished checking into Denali Park RV and Motel when we arrived. They could not reach the power box from the first site they tried so we are parked together with Rick & Pat a few sites away.
It is quite a bit cooler here than the last couple of hot days in Fairbanks so we changed to long pants before going to check things out. We drove into the park, stopped at the visitors’ center, watched part of a film and looked at nicely done exhibits. Then we went back to the Wilderness Access area where Dave & Margo booked a trip into the park for tomorrow. We drove up a very steep, winding road to a large hotel complex (Grande Denali) where we wandered through a gift shop and took pictures from a beautiful viewing deck. We stopped at one touristy store in Denali village before deciding it was time to head back for happy hour.
At 8 we all left for “Dinner Nite” back at the village. It was a family style, all-you-can-eat salmon & ribs dinner with a musical “play” performed by the servers after dinner. Attendees are taken by a shuttle bus from a hotel to the log “cabin” on a “treacherous” road. Terry had to check this out earlier when we were driving and had to back out of a dead end to get out of the labyrinth of cabins as one road was blocked by an incapacitated truck being loaded onto a trailer by a forklift. We all enjoyed the evening and got back in full daylight at 10:45.

June 26th – Tues – Denali
Rain, rain, rain!! Dave & Margo left early for their bus trip. Pat ran over in the rain and invited us to have waffles & bacon for breakfast. Her new waffle iron was not working too well but we ended up with a lovely breakfast. It was still pouring rain so Terry went to our place and came back with the card shuffler so we could play a game of Ponytail canasta. The guys won a hard fought game.
We then went into Denali village and had lunch. We were heading for a place that advertised “fish & chips” but it was little & cold so we went to a larger place that advertised “halibut & chips”. None of us had the halibut but we had very good, late lunches. We wandered through a couple of tourist shops and then headed back to the RV park but first we drove to Healy so Rick could get diesel at $4.60 a gallon.
I made a batch of brownies so when Pat & Rick came over (after Rick had a nap), Pat, Terry & I had brownie sundaes for dinner. Shortly after Rick & Pat left, Dave & Margo returned from their 12 hour bus tour. We spoke with them long enough to see how their trip went – they were glad they went – and they were ready to call it a day. We watched TV for a while and headed for bed.

June 27th – Wed – to Wasilla
Our truck tire was low again when we were ready to leave so we borrowed Dave’s air pump to fill it and pulled out about 9. It was cloudy the entire way to Wasilla so we did not get to see Denali (Mt McKinley). We did not have enough fuel so we stopped at Cantwell and got $50 of diesel at $4.90 a gallon!! We also got a sandwich for an early lunch at Subway.
We were right behind Rick & Pat checking in at the Big Bear RV park between Wasilla & Palmer. The address is Palmer but it is close to Wasilla?! Dave & Margo were not too far behind. Once we set up, we decided that maybe we should stay for 3 days rather than the 2 that we paid for. So we checked with the others and all went to the office to pay for another day.
We all went our own way for a few hours. We went to a tire shop where they found a screw in the leaky tire and repaired it. Pat went to a chiropractor and then Rick got an oil change. Dave & Margo found a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. We and Rick & Pat also stopped at a large WalMart for a few items. When we got back, I made a salad for us and then we went to Dave & Margo’s for HH. Rick & Pat had just returned as we were leaving so they joined us.
Back to our own rigs for dinner. We got General Tsao chicken at WalMart so I added teriyaki noodles from a mix for an easy dinner. There are still high clouds and we have the fireplace on but it is not raining.