June 27: Today we drove from Fairbanks to Denali. For the most part, the roads were surprisingly smooth and solid, although there were the occasional brief stretches of single-lane traffic where the road was being repaired and/or resurfaced. Sometimes these stretches involved longer delays that the amount of traffic seemed to merit, but we were in no particular hurry. In one spot we saw an enormous front loader helping clean landslide debris off the inside lane, and it was making pretty quick work of it! Glad we weren’t there when the land slid—all that dirt and rock could ruin your whole day! It was once again a rainy, dreary day and I find myself tiring of this in a hurry. The good news is that the weather is forecast to lift tomorrow and allow a little sunshine. Sure hope so!

We enjoyed dinner and live entertainment at the Cabin Night Theater near where we are parked. Once again, the food was delicious and the entertainment delightful. After dinner and the show ended, we went back to the coach for an early evening to bed.

June 28: Sunshine again!! Yay!!! Dave and I were signed up to take the tour through Denali National Park, but we did the same tour several years ago on a crystal-clear day. So in light of his lengthy day on the 26^th , we decided not to spend 10-12 hours on a bus again right now. Instead, this was our lazy, catch-up day. The cool, sunny weather was great for walking around the area, doing a little tourist shopping and having pizza for lunch. Naps were in order this afternoon, then we got our respective materials ready for the Motorcade’s worship service tomorrow a.m.

June 29: It was another gorgeous day, and we began it with a brief worship service in one of the buildings at our campground. One group of early rafters had already left, and as soon as the service ended, our main group subdivided into several smaller groups for the various activities of the day, which included rafting, ATVing (is that a verb??), and jeep tours of the Park area. Dave and I joined an ATV group that went out around 11:00 a.m., and we had a grand time—although there were moments when I questioned the sanity of our decision to go!   😉   Anyway, we had a great time and saw some lovely scenery (see photos below). We were back to our coach by about 1:30 p.m., so we had a quick lunch and a long nap! Then I finished knitting a scarf and started knitting a pair of slippers while Dave rode his bicycle a little way into the Park grounds and back (10.68 miles roundtrip). We’ll probably make an early evening of it, because we travel tomorrow and will be helping park coaches at the next campground. This means we leave earlier than everyone else and arrive in time to help the others in our group find the right campground and their particular parking spot. So tomorrow, we’re off to Anchorage!

June 25: Today was another day of no scheduled activity for me … except sewing the binding on one quilt and piecing blocks for another. It rained most of the morning, so in addition to sewing, I managed to work in a nap!  😉  That evening, Dave and I attended a dinner at the Salmon Bake restaurant in Fairbanks’ Pioneer Park. Once again, the food was plentiful and scrumptious, especially if you like fish! The dining hall was decorated with a number of Alaska-themed quilts of various sizes, made mostly with batik fabrics. The largest one featured a depiction of the Northern lights against a background of mountains and a full moon. It was gorgeous, and I guessed correctly how the maker got the Northern lights effect … judicious use of fabric paint! Overall, quite a lovely effect.

After dinner, we walked through the little village itself, which included various relics and buildings from the Gold Rush days that were interesting to see. Later, our group attended another vaudeville-style “revue” that was even better than the one in Whitehorse. The performers had great fun interacting with some of our group who were seated in the front row—at the end, we left with our sides hurting from laughing!

June 26: Another rainy day in Fairbanks! I had no special activities scheduled today, either, so I enjoyed being cozy and dry in the coach while I pieced some more quilt blocks, washed and dried 3 loads of laundry, did some hand sewing on a quilt binding, and—yes!—napped. And I quite enjoyed it! Dave had signed up for a trip above the Arctic Circle, so he left aboard a small plane around noon and returned by bus around 1:00 a.m. (and yes, it was not dark outside yet!). Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy for the entire trip, so he failed to see much outside the plane or the bus. That was a major bummer, because he knew there was some gorgeous scenery out there, but it wasn’t visible through the clouds and fog. Our next major stop is Denali, so we hope the weather lifts a bit so we might be able to see animals and/or scenery there.