Day 2 starts like every other day with a hearty breakfast. It often includes Reindeer Sausage. I need a good breakfast because we are off to take an Air Taxi to Denali.

No matter how amazing I thought this would be it truly exceeded all expectations. I really do not have words to describe this experience. There is something about these vistas, all that wide open space. So moving to experience this. I did not know that the mountain is only out 1 in 3 days. So for us to get 3 days of cloudless blue sky is very special.

I got to be part of this very special group of friends, having this very special experience. L. to R. John, Erica, Mike, Rae & Ralph. (Thank you Mike!)

All videos shot by John Ganahl.

Really interesting to see these blue glacier ice pools. We were no where near these and this was shot from the plane. You can read more about them here.

This spectacular day ended with my favorite meal of the trip. Maple Glazed Salmon with Scallop Stuffed Shrimp.

Complete happiness overload.

Just got back from our best vacation ever. This was in great part to our kind host, who lives there, and who organized everything. And I mean everything. He met our every need before we even knew we had them. (And no, I am not sharing him with you. So don't ask.)

Day 1 starts with John and I and our good friends and neighbors heading out at 4:40AM for an early flight out of Madison which continued on to Minneapolis and landed in Anchorage.

It is nearly impossible to take a bad photo. Pretty much point and shoot.

We were met by Mike who whisked us off to lunch near the airport at The Flying Machine. I had a very nice seafood salad. And then back in the car and on to Talkeetna, AK.

If you want to take photos of your food, and who doesn't, use this app InstaFoodPro. You get it through iTunes. The app recognizes where you are and adds the copy. You get to choose the layout. Sometimes it does have a problem with location and I have no idea why. For the most part it works well.

Our long day ended at the very nice Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Behind this fireplace is a row of rocking chairs where you can take in the view inside or outside on the deck.

Early to bed. Right now it does not get dark there. I could not wait to experience this. At 1:30AM I woke up and decided to wander around to see what it looked like. And this is what Denali looked like. I was almost completely alone in that silence soaking in that vista.

Tomorrow... landing on Denali...