Two weeks in the far north. We’ve looked forward to this trip for a long time. We roll out of bed at 2:30 AM, not PM, and head for Hartsfield - Jackson International Airport for the first of 3 flights. We go from Atlanta to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Seattle, and finally from Seattle to Fairbanks. Total travel time is more than 15 hours. We are exhausted.

We arrived in Fairbanks at 3:00 PM Alaska time and were met by Holland America (HAL) folks who guided us to our luggage, and to the coach that took us to the Westmark hotel where we’ll stay for tonight. We were very impressed with the friendly helpful service from the HAL folks.

We met our Tour Guide Daniel Reynolds a young Canadian fellow who will accompany us for the next 6 days of the land portion of our tour.

Had an early diner at the hotel, and turned in. We were not impressed with the accommodations and service at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel. Maybe it’s because we were exhausted from the long days travel. But, we thought the food service was poor, and the hotel did not meet our expectations for the category of lodging we expected.

We have an early start tomorrow. The train leaves at 8:00 AM to take us to Denali National Park.