May 26 - The Land of the Midnight Sun

The past 2 weeks have been quite eventful – from culture to food to accommodations.  And we “lost” 10 time zones.  Susan and I enjoyed the luxuries of our Viking cruise in the Mediterranean, loving the people of Italy and Croatia, the speed of the Formula 1 cars in Monte Carlo, and the soaring spaciousness and light of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.  And of course the food, tasty with lots of choices and wine to savor with every meal.  That ended May 13^th.  On May 20^th, we flew from Atlanta to Fairbanks, Alaska and into the Land of the Midnight Sun.  This picture is from our cabin window as we’re on final into FAI at 12:30 AM.     Technically the sun had “set” at 11:35 pm and was set to “rise” again at 4:34 am.  But when we were waiting for our shuttle to take us from the airport to our hotel, it was dusky twilight…definitely not dark.  And it will be this way until the summer solstice on June 21^st.  On this date in Fairbanks, they play a baseball game starting at midnight without lights. 

This picture is taken from the balcony of our luxurious dormitory (ahem) at Denali Park Village at 3 am.  Truly the Land of the Midnight Sun. While the room size is about the same as the Viking Star we were on 2 weeks ago, the bed is not nearly as comfortable, the closet is…sorry, there is no closet…and the bathroom is – yes, there is a bathroom but we have to share it with some suitemates (who have not arrived yet and hopefully never do!). 

But here we are – Denali National Park.   

 We worked in Denali for a different company in 2018.  This year, we’re working for Aramark: Susan (as always) is my favorite retail associate and I’m driving shuttle buses from Denali Park Village (DPV) up into Denali, about 7 miles away.  Aramark also offers the longest running, live dinner theater in Alaska called Cabin Night, and I’ll be picking up guests from other properties in the area and bring them here for the show (and taking them back of course 😊). 

One of my favorite runs is taking and picking up passengers from the Alaska Railroad.  There's always a mystique to trains, but the blue and gold of the Alaska Railroad always blows me away.  

There are only 8 highways in this immense state, and only one railroad line.  The ARR runs from Seward to Anchorage to Fairbanks. 

Alaska doesn't have official state colors.  But if they did, I'm sure they would be blue and gold.  Since Aramark isn't providing a way to get back to Fairbanks to fly home in September, we'll probably take the train.  I'm looking forward to it.  

I did see 4 caribou today plus a female moose.  Since I was driving, no pictures. Hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend.