Of course, today, when we aren’t flying or sightseeing, the weather is blue sky and puffy clouds (Kendra clouds, we call them and she knows why). I walk out early to the Talkeetna Roadhouse to buy some of their famous cinnamon rolls – the choice is from frosted, nutty, sticky or raspberry…raspberry has fruit, so it wins. They are enormous and yummy; neither of us finish. We call Nancy for a ride to the train but when 10:15 comes and goes, we worry she’s gotten busy and decide to walk. Down our forested street, turn right…oops, according to google maps, there’s a road here but we encounter two cones blocking entrance to an overgrown gravel path…we take it anyway, the walk back to town will cost us time. Next, a left turn…another oops…no road, well we can see a road…on the other side of a grass airstrip. Undeterred, we trundle across, dragging suitcases and hoping a plane doesn’t try and land. All is well from here and we make the Latitude restaurant to hand in our key.

Baggage collectors take our luggage before we can even enter the station and then our tickets are waiting for us, top of the pile. Everyone is friendly and there is an expectant mood as the northbound train pulls in. This time I’ve upgraded us to Goldstar class, big windows, glass ceilings, all food included and an outdoor viewing area. It’s a treat and worth the money for this section of the track. Lunch is served not long after we are on board, so we dine downstairs on a summer salad and a club sandwich. The food is excellent and so is the company as we chat away with a farming couple from South Dakota. They run sheep, mostly for meat and also for pets and live not too far from De Smet, home of Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie fame. Around 4pm the train stops in Denali, kicking off point for the national park, we manage a brief glimpse of the mountain before it is obscured by cloud.

Lots of people leave the train in Denali, but even more get on. Still, it’s not crowded and we spend the next hour out on the back deck sipping a cocktail…tough life. The scenery is interesting, the railroad cuts through a river valley and crosses over and under some steel trestle bridges and follows the raging Tanana river for miles. There are sometimes moose and trumpeter swans and even an eagle. The trees are stunted due to the permafrost and are almost homogenous in variety. Fairly soon we get the dinner call and go back down to the dining car. This time our companions are a young boy and his grandma. The train ride is a treat for him. She lives in Seattle and is taking Franklin back to his father who is based at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. We speak about his three tours to Iraq and one to Korea and I can see by her face that the worry doesn’t lessen. Dinner is once again an excellent meal, almond crusted cod, a side salad and chocolate peanut butter dessert.

In no time at all the eight hour journey is over and we make our way out to find a taxi. These need to be ordered we discover but are pleased to find it doesn’t take long. Our driver, Sunshine, is open and friendly, even offering reduced rates to ferry us around if needed. She moved up to Fairbanks from Georgia six years ago with her son and loves the lifestyle and the people. We hear this a lot. The Alaska Heritage House is in the downtown area surrounded by other lovely old homes with well tended gardens. It is a B&B and living museum rolled into one. We have the garden room, it used to be the garage, it is decked out with old pottery, gardening books, Tiffany lamps, a claw foot bath and a beautiful old wooden writing desk. To get to the main house from our room requires you to cut through the old boiler room, it’s decorated with old implements, washboards and vintage photographs. I love staying in a place with a bit of character. Surprisingly, we are tired and switch on the tv for an early night.