I was now one very unhappy camper. As it turned out, I was unable to figure out how to print a confirmation for the RR, so that was a moot point anyway. Being in a funk as we arrived at the depot and trying to corral the CO cousin who was busy running up and down the tracks gawking at the train cars, we find the right line to stand in and discover (big surprise) they don't have our names. I already had a good head of steam but before I could get started, the gate attendant just whipped out some ticket blanks and wrote our names on them, for both legs. Gasp. Blink blink. That was waaay too easy! Now what am I supposed to do with all that annoyance? Gaaaah! So we checked our luggage and boarded the train. Rather anticlimactic.FYI about the Alaska Railroad (AKRR). The AKRR owns/operates/maintains all trackage, engines and passenger service in AK. Princess, HAL/Grey Line, and other tour companies "lease" trackage and engines to pull their own cars. The AKRR also maintains the last flagstop rail service in the U.S. Which means that if you're on a flagstop train, and someone in the middle of nowhere (and there's a lot of nowhere in AK) wants a ride, they raise up one of the flags alongside the tracks, and hop on! Same if you want to get off. There are many 2 or 3 car parking lots alongside the tracks, or up or down a hill, where you see vehicles parked. Folks who have cabins in the middle of nowhere (or off to one side of it) take the train from town, get off and take the car to the cabin. Hmm. It's different up here. AKRR is also the only game in town for rail freight, also. OK, lesson over.
Our tickets were through Holland America/Grey Line, so we were in one of those two-story, glass-topped cars one sees in the cruise brochures. Talk about a panoramic view. Got settled in for the ride to Denali National Park. Breakfast was in two seatings, and we were first--good thing, we were starving! White linens & cheap crystal on the tables (can't have everything...). Got to eat breakfast as we were pulling out of F.B. Had reindeer sausage! Looked like a Kosher hot dog, not greasy, mildly spicy; pretty good, actually. Did not taste like chicken. BTW, anyone know what the difference is between reindeer and caribou?
Heading south to DNP we lost the sun behind gathering clouds. Terrain was pretty flat, taiga forest, mostly black spruce, aspen, other "low-light" trees. Pretty scruffy looking. Some of the surface soil had thawed and there were puddles/ponds everywhere. No wildlife spotted yet. As we pulled into DNP the skies were overcast, but still lots of light. The train started curving around hills and what was a flat road became a shelf built out from the side of the mountain, dangling us over a silver river that mirrored the skies' colour perfectly. Got some great shots of the train as we snaked around the shoulders of the mountains. We followed the course of this river (Nenana), that forms the eastern border of the park, then turned into the "commercial" area and disembarked. Definitely chillier here, especially with no sun. Got to our lodging, a cross between log cabins and traditional two-story motel. Our package instructions told us to go to the neighbouring property to exchange vouchers for our tours the next day. While at that other hotel I noticed those pothos plants I posted about earlier. Ooooh, serious plant envy. Could've figured out a way to transport some cuttings, but did not want to tote them around for the next 10 days. Sigh. Whilst exchanging vouchers for tickets it was then I found out why we weren't on the train manifest--they had us down as arriving May 29th! Which means they didn't have us down for the correct bus tour date, either. We consulted our itinerary and it was correct, so who knows where they got that date. At any rate, before I could get up a good head of indignation they booked us on a slightly later bus tour (1/2 hour sleep in time--yay!), that would still get us back to make our afternoon tour. Since we were hungry we enquired about restaurants and ended up with tickets to "Cabin Night", a sort of dinner theatre themed around a Gold Rush-era roadhouse. Family-style (mediocre, as it turned out) food, with singing waiters and a skit with dessert. Clerk smiled slyly and said to "bring singles" (heh, heh). Spouse thought that meant to bring the Co cousin as she was single. Sigh. The singles were for the "kissing bandita" who puckered up and planted one on an unsuspecting victim's face for a dollar. Got the spouse, who was duly surprised and startled (we have photos--film only, sorry). After dinner we went for a walk by the river to soak up a little 'sphere (atmosphere). Saw some kayakers go by, in full wetsuits/hoods/gloves and float vests. Saw woman tourist in bathing suit wade out into current, shrieking loudly and almost getting swept off her feet! Sigh. Hello, glacier-fed river! Kayakers making better than 5 knots! OK, so I had to get close enough to stick my hand in the water. Note to self: dumb thing to do in a glacial river when one has arthritis. I guess I could have left it in long enough to get numb, but there's still the thawing-out process. Estimated water temp: 45-48 degrees F. Estimated time of survival in bathing suit: minutes, very few of them. That's why the kayakers were bundled up! Glanced at watch and was past time for bed. Room was loaded with character, but not very soundproof. With the mountains ringing the area we had the closest thing to twilight yet. Being tired (literally) of the crappy, cellophane pillows I decided to use the bath towels, which offered better support. So, on with the sleeping mask and earplugs. Big day tomorrow. Nighty-night!