Great Alaskan Road Trip: Day 6

This morning we left Fairbanks under a quadruple rainbow and headed south to Talkeetna, detouring back into Denali one last time to stretch our legs. There were other people at the Mountain Vista trail this time, so we were able to go for a short walk. The mountain was again hiding all of itself but a sliver, but we did see another bull moose on the way out. The whole drive took us about 7 hours, but we took our time and made several stops.

Talkeetna is our new favorite getaway spot. Main Street is lined with shops and restaurants, and biking, walking, and riding ATVs are all acceptable ways to get around town. We checked into the Talkeetna Roadhouse and are staying at their Trapper John's cabin about a quarter of a mile off the main drag (and on the same property as the roadhouse owner's home). A true trapper's cabin, it comes complete with pelts on the walls and a kitchen with all vintage appliances.

We walked down to the community-built playground (which was further than we thought), designed by the same company that just did ours in Homer. It was similar yet very different, and felt much more Alaskan-themed than Homer's, but I don't think I could choose one over the other.

We headed to Mountain High Pizza Pie for dinner and intentionally ordered too much so we have leftovers for tomorrow. Then it was back to the cabin for jackets to help keep the killer mosquitoes at bay before heading on a short walk.

The roadhouse proprietor told us to head down the street from the cabin and around the end of the village airstrip to pick up a trail through the woods by the river. I felt like I was back in Kodiak, where we would cut between the airstrip and the float plane lake to get to the diner. As soon as we got to the end of the airstrip, a plane started taxiing for takeoff. To say the kids were surprised as it flew right over our heads is an understatement.

Our hike through the beautiful birch forest was short lived thanks to the mosquitoes. We are all tired anyway, so the kids are tucked in bed while the Alaskan summer sun streams in the cabin's kitchen window and the resident roosters crow at 8:30pm.

Tomorrow it's breakfast at the roadhouse and then back to Anchorage with stops for groceries and running shoes, and then on home to our much-missed Dad, dog, and beds. Adventure Girl says she wants to keep traveling around, and Little Man wants to play in his own room with his own toys.

Photos: quadruple rainbow leaving Fairbanks, one last glimpse of hidden Denali, Talkeetna, playground in Talkeetna, Mountain High Pizza Pie, Trapper John's Cabin