Sep 13, 2014 | family |
This was our longest day that we had – up early to board the train and didn’t finish the day and get to our next hotel until almost 11 pm at night. Another busy day so this one will be in more than one post too. We woke early to go board the Wilderness Express train. We took the train from Fairbanks to Denali. But it goes further than that too. It is a double decker train and the top is a dome so you can see out. The lower level was a restaurant – since we left early in the morning we ate breakfast on the train. The trains are privately owned but pulled by the Alaska Railroad. Each train car eats about 80 people on the upper level – we only had our group of 34 so there was plenty of room – and if we wanted everyone could even have their own window seat. The restaurant level seats 36 people – so that worked out that we could all eat together too!
Breakfast included Reindeer Sausage – which we were a bit unsure about but it was good. Also Blueberry Pancakes and birch syrup. Plus a bar upstairs for fancy coffee drinks and your morning alcohol. I opted for some yummy hot chocolate during the trip. And there was a host guide that talked and shared information with us along the trip.
The views were amazing. Since our car was the caboose I was able to go outside on the back of the train. It was great for taking photos. I spent much of my time out there watching Alaska go by. We traveled through the forests, past lakes, along the mountains, along the river, over bridges and through some really small towns.
That’s the whole train – I was standing outside on the back while we went around the curve so I could get the whole train. The last two cars are Wilderness Express cars.
I didn’t want to drop my cell phone – but I was able to get a selfie on the back of the caboose!
We found rafters out on the river. I bet they were cold.
Almost to our destination at Denali. The train station was right across the street from the park visitors center.
We arrived in Denali and all tell you about the rest of the days adventures in another post.
i would highly recommend this train ride. If we ever get to go again I’ll try to schedule us on a different section of the route.
Enjoy your weekend.
Sep 12, 2014 | Big Shot, Birthday |
I created this fun surprise box using the new Stampin’ Up! Hamburger Box die. I used the Sea Street Designer Paper and coordinating stamp set. So it’s a summer themed box – perfect for say Red Lobster lovers…
This is the closed box tied with some ribbon and a little lobster tag on the top. Just slide the ribbon off to open the box and see the surprise inside.
I strung a piece of Baker’s Twine from the lid to the base and thread little banner pieces on it punched from the Sea Street Designer Paper. They are like little nautical flags. Here is another view
Put something fun inside your surprise box and give to someone you love!
The Hamburger Box is a bit awkward to assemble as the instructions indicate on the die. Each of the little corners is supposed to get folded in toward the inside of the box. i found it much easier – to snip one side of the corner and glue the piece to the inside of the box. I’ll try to get some photos of that to show you the difference. It was just much easier to assemble and I think it made for a more stable box.
Thanks for stopping in.
Sep 11, 2014 | family |
To finish up our first full day in Alaska we left the Riverboat and got on our tour bus. There were 34 people in our group. We drove out to see the Alaska Pipeline or the Alyeska Pipeline. Greg was tall enough to touch the pipe – me not so much. The things that go through the pipe are called pigs – they help improve the flow of oil through the pipeline.
This photo shows what the pig looks like inside the pipe. On the far left of the photo is an old retired pig – it was a scraper pig that they used when they first open the pipeline. Now they use the other one to help smooth the oil as it flows through.
We got back on our bus – her name was Sable. I thought it was odd to name the bus – but then you go somewhere and you see a whole line of buses and they all look the same and then you are glad that you know the name of your bus.
We headed to downtown Fairbanks for lunch and then a visit to the Cultural & Visitors Center. We found a BBQ restaurant – the northern most southern BBQ – it was good!
And then we ended our evening at a Salmon Bake. The weather was nice while we were in the city and at the Salmon Bake we even sat outside to eat dinner.
A busy day for us. And that was just the first day!
Sep 10, 2014 | Birthday, Gift Box Punch Board |
The new Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalog which went live on August 28th has a brand new Gift Box Punch Board. One day I played around with it and made every size listed on the board – there are 15 different ones –
Then I decided to play around with it to create a little project for my August team meeting and I wanted to do the closure a little different. I used the Sea Street Designer Series Paper for these.
One one side I folded the flaps outward and then stapled them to the inside folds using our new Stampin’ Up! Stapler! Also in the Holiday Catalog – I’ve been using it a lot already.
The other two flaps were pulled up, hole punched, and ribbon pulled through. It could be like a hanger – you could make smaller boxes and they could be little tree ornaments or hang them on a garland for a countdown to Halloween or Christmas – fill them with something fun.
I decorated these boxes with the stamps from the Amazing Birthday stamp set. Check back tomorrow I hope to have another Alaska post and another stamping post. See you then.
Breakfast included Reindeer Sausage – which we were a bit unsure about but it was good. Also Blueberry Pancakes and birch syrup. Plus a bar upstairs for fancy coffee drinks and your morning alcohol. I opted for some yummy hot chocolate during the trip. And there was a host guide that talked and shared information with us along the trip.
That’s the whole train – I was standing outside on the back while we went around the curve so I could get the whole train. The last two cars are Wilderness Express cars.
I didn’t want to drop my cell phone – but I was able to get a selfie on the back of the caboose!
We found rafters out on the river. I bet they were cold.
Almost to our destination at Denali. The train station was right across the street from the park visitors center.
We arrived in Denali and all tell you about the rest of the days adventures in another post.
