More on the Alaskan journey...

This cute guy was my Alaskan boyfriend. I liked his britches.
One of the tour buses for Denali Park. Mom is walking back to our room to retrieve some things. Our room's window is right behind the bus. -Also, I think that if you didn't know it, this pic looks like it could have been taken forty years ago. Kind of shows how time has stood still in the great outdoors.
Mystic scene of Denali. This was taken from the bus window at the end of our tour. The fog had settled for the last couple hours of the journey.  Kind of a bugger not to see far, but also kind of foreboding. 
Pop gone fishin'. Just practicing casting here. 
The great fisherman's catch for the day. He was mighty perty!
The weirdest area of our journey. Random abandoned igloo stop. Perfect scene for a terrible horror flick. I'm thinking Saw X meets Urban Legend Redux. 
Ma, Pop and Alton in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness. Could not get over how beautiful the sky was. The perfect cerulean blue behind marshmallow clouds. Trees in every direction. And family close by. Honestly, there is nothing closer to perfection.
Hang glider enjoying the great weather. I was quite jealous of his juxtaposition!  Though, my place on the mountain was just as scenic, and perhaps a tad safer :)
One of the many beautiful flowers around our lodge. Couldn't stop myself from being the classic fool~ trying to capture the beauty of nature with a lens!
What is this monster? No, not Nessy's sister but perhaps a long lost relative. Was one of the many whales we saw on our AMAZING cruise!
The trains a changin'. Ma and Pa are on the one in the background. Alton and I played catch up with them for a while. Then I got on board a couple of stops down the road. Quite a neat experience, even if a bit pricey. 
Adventurers! Louis and Clark here are on the look out for wildlife. Just one of our many stops along to and from Denali National Park. 
Sunset on the last night. Another perfect sky for another perfect day.
Taken on the train ride. Amazingly turned out! Was going a tad fast for my poor camera, but this one stuck. I think it's another one that's historically passable.
What more to say other than perfection? I love nature (if you couldn't tell) and could not stop myself from yearning to stay and take in everything!  I think I shall have to go back someday, for I know of no other place with such untouched, pristine beauty. I was only there for a week, and quite quickly realized how amazing a place Alaska was, how much it has to offer.  It's mountain streams, beautiful flowers, ineffable scenery and the like is just its facade. It's just the backdrop for the mind to grow from. Like the simple friend you never tire of, Alaska welcomes the traveler with open arms and says "Here I am, enjoy life with me."  With a greeting such as that, it's difficult for any soul to say no, even the wild ones, the crazies and the heathens.  Anyone can enjoy themselves in Alaska if they only let go of stress first. Only if they open their arms as wide as the mountain's girth does the traveler truly take in his journey and thereby be taken in by the journey itself.  That is what Alaska offers, and that is why I loved it so.  

Alaska is also the last muse of writers like Emerson, London and Tolstoy, men I admire and feel kin to.  I couldn't help myself from dreaming of my own little cabin on the lake, away from all that is busy, with my own little desk and picture window overlooking the panorama. In a way, mocking my idols, but also finding innovation in their favorite muse. There I could write my stories about lands that never existed and of people I've met or dreamt up. I could dream about the loves that have changed little in the way of history, yet ones that were momentous all the same.  I could then take walks along the shore and think up plots and characters.  Reading my favorite books and baking chocolate chip cookies when I'm bored. Yikes, I'm such a romantic. But Alaska brings that out in people, or at least me. It's odd but I felt more at home there than anywhere I have ever travelled. I hope to someday have that cabin, but for now my memories and hopes of return will suffice.  Though I feel certain in saying that you may visit me at my cabin. Just send me a note through the post. :)