Day Nineteen, Telkeetna, Alaska

We drove from Denali to Telkeetna today, just 153 miles.  We made a stop at the Alaska Veterns Memorial which is half way between Anchorage and Fairbanks on the Parks Highway.  The memorial is very well done and pays tribute to MIA's, POW's, and all veterns.  I was especially interested to read of Alaska's part in the civil war.  The Alaskan people didn't play a part in the civil war except that the union had whaling boat in Alaska's Bering Sea and sold the whale oil to the British to support the war effort.  The Confederates had a ship built to capture and stop the whaling.

We are still searching for Mt. McKinley (20,320 feet tall, the tallest in North America).  The photo to the left was taken at McKinley View Lodge, 134.5 Mile Parks Hwy.  Mary Carey opened the roadhouse in the 60's and is now being run by her grand daughter.  She asked the governor for a highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage.  The govenor replied that the state already had two highways, how many more do you think we need?  She did get a highway and it went right past her roadhouse.  Many photos for post cards are taken from her property.  Most of the mountain is missing from this photo.  I asked one of the locals which cloud is Mt. McKinley.

We arrived in Telkeetna early enough to take a walk to downtown.  Here's a photo of Rose and Bill by what is now our famous Telkeetna sign.  It's famous because we have a picture of Tom and Pat Linder by the sign in 2004 and a picture of Dave and Ruth Buck by the sign in 2007.

Tomorrow we have a four hour rafting trip with the folks from Telkeetna River Guides.