Today is Sunday 15th, yesterday we left Fairbanks and started driving towards Anchorage. Weather was pretty nice and the road is so far great. About 55 miles southwest of Fairbanks there lies a small town called Nenana we wanted to stop by. Early 1900's brought intense activity to the region as the gold was discovered in Fairbanks and the community was incorporated as a city in 1921. It's famous for its Nenana Ice Classic - where entrants buy a ticket and pick the date and time to the closest minute in April or May when the winter ice on the Tanana River breaks. This lottery began in 1917 when a group of surveyors working for the Alaska railroad while the time they spent waiting for the river to open and boats with supplies to reach them by forming a betting pool. Each year a large striped tripod is placed on the frozen river with a string connected to the clock. The winner is whoever comes closest to guessing when the ice beneath it will weaken to the point where it falls through to the water beneath. There's a big money a participant can win each year....seeing Nenana disappearing in rear view mirror we continue driving towards our next place we want to explore a little bit - famous Denali National Park and Preserve. Season is almost over it ends Sep 24th, so we enjoyed the resort being less occupied than, say, June through August. The season here starts in May. We spent last nigh about 1 mile before the resort having a beautiful view at the river and the mountains surrounding us. This morning we decided to pay visit to local stores/gift shops before anything else. After storming the very first one we were pretty much done shopping but there has to be a reason why they have "husband's waiting benches" around here. Then we drove to a local visitor center where we obtained pass letting us drive up to 15 miles into the park. About 9 miles into the road there's a beautiful view of Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. Taking pictures here is a must and meanwhile we enjoy watching thousands of cranes migrating south being pretty loud. The we reached our permitted 15th mile and climbed a few rocks enjoying the beauty around us. Spending a while on the rocks we drove back and finally we were gifted to see our first bear in Alaska....we kept driving to McKinley Chalet Resort where we write this blog from. It is a really beautiful place and if you want to spend good time either with your family or just to get alone time for a week or so for a reasonable budget this would be our tip....before we leave this place we will enjoy lunch from our sponsor eFoodDirect and than go towards Anchorage. Another great day in such a beautiful place called Alaska....take care everyone, we'll keep you posted!