64°50' N, 147°43' W--Fairbanks, AK
Another early morning. The hotel wasn't great, but we had a surprisingly good continental breakfast there. Then a two minute shuttle to the Alaska Railroad station at Anchorage. This is the way to travel--plenty of room, a dining car, and great views on the way to Fairbanks.
Went through Wasilla--saw neither Sarah Palin nor Russia. We're on the lookout for moose--when someone shouts "moose!", everybody rushes over, usually too late. Mindy coined "moostyria" for the phenomenon. Suddenly, a herd (well, five) moose appeared. Martha spotted them-she really wanted to see wildlife on this trip, so--check!
Dining on a train is interesting--4 cars worth of people want to eat in the single dining car at once, so Mindy and I scouted it out and saw a table empty out. She grabbed it and I tipped off the in-laws. Sandwiches were pretty good.
Took more pics, this time of mountains and landscapes. You generally have .0001 seconds to snap it before your view is obscured by trees; speaking of them, here's where Christmas trees go after the holidays...
Reached Fairbanks around 8p local time. Our hotel didn't seem to remember that a TRAIN FULL OF PEOPLE arrives once a week, and thought a small van would suffice. Mindy got them to send a taxi with a driver who seemed to be from the cast of Gomer Pyle USMC--nice guy.
The hotel apparently hosts a lot of sports teams, to the point that the posted a sign in the elevator--"no horseplay or jumping". Their restaurant was hosting a bridal shower with My Super Sweet 16 of Fairbanks--short skirts and skin tight dresses--so we did takeout then crashed.
Tomorrow we will end the day in the same place for the first time.
Beard Day 3--I'm sporting the perma-stubble all the movie stars have.
