We started out the day by taking the shuttle from the lodge to Denali National Park. We got off at Horseshoe Lake Trail and spent a couple hours wandering the lake. Sruthi and the kids saw a giant moose pass right in front of them!
We also saw lots of adorable little squirrels peeling pine nuts.
The kids had a lot of fun together on the trail singing, “Going on a Bear Hunt” and variations of “Baby Shark”
Then we ate lunch at the grill near the visitor center. Then we wandered over to the visitor center to get our stamps, watch part of a movie about park sled dogs, and check out the exhibits.
After that it was time to head back. Soren sadly threw up on the bus, but after that he felt much better.
We then caught the bus to Fairbanks. The driver was a BYU student from Provo, and he took us to a stop in Naneena where we got some souvenirs and ice cream. The air by that point had turned incredibly smoky from all of the Alaskan wildfires. Fairbanks was pretty smoky too.
In Fairbanks we went to a local theater and watched a film about the art of ice sculpting, after which we got to check out their ice sculptures and watch an artist sculpt some ice.
Then we walked to the antler arch and a Thai restaurant, ate a warm dinner and headed back to the hotel.