Day 11 and the final day of our Alaska journey. Day 11 consisted of getting on the Vista Dome train in Denali and riding approximately eight hours to Anchorage. I love riding in trains and this one was first rate. It was smooth, quiet and restful. They must have upgraded the tracks to all welded one piece construction because there was no clickety clack you usually associate with trains. The cars had wonderful suspension systems and it was like gliding along on a cloud. Very, very little side sway. The airlines could take a lesson or two about seat design as the seats in the Vista Dome were comfortable even for big guy like me. We ate two meals in the dining car below, lunch and dinner. Once again the Holland Cruise Line expertise did it's job. The meals were elegant and tasteful as well. I wish this country had a decent rail system in the lower 48 but we don't. Not much in the way of pictures today but we we snapped a few which I will enclose. Because 85% of Alaska is permafrost there is no water absorption down into the ground. Whatever rain falls of snow melts has to run off into the many rivers crisscrossing Alaska. It seemed like we crossed a major river every couple of miles. Once again not many sightings of wildlife. Life, in general, is very sparse in Alaska. Anchorage is the largest city with a population of 300,000. The next largest city is Fairbanks with a population of 35,000 which tells you how few people are up here. Most of all the other towns are less than ten thousand and there aren't too many of them. Well, this wraps up our little Alaska venture so no more blogging till the next trip.

Inside the Dome Car

The Dome Car We Rode In

Typical River Valley

Another River

Guess What? A Mountain