The last morning, people started to go their different ways. Once again, luggage was handled without needing us to participate other than to confirm our bags were loaded onto the bus (because we’re suspicious like that!). Travel to the airport on the noon shuttle to catch our 2ish flight, which was the start of a very long journey – Anchorage to Seattle to Detroit to Charlotte. A total of 16 hours from start to home. We hadn’t flown anything other than American in years, with Charlotte being a hub for them. This trip, though, we learned that you can’t hardly get there from here so we were on Delta and were pleasantly surprised. It felt like the staff was friendlier, the food was definitely better and overall things seemed to go more smoothly than on American. Anchorage and Detroit (surprisingly!) had extremely nice airports – well lit, clean, and even at odd hours there were services available. Landing in Charlotte, and for the first time in years coming in...
Our last day and we are up and out of the room by 7:00. Again, the tour company gets major credit for handling luggage. There are no elevators in any of these places, we were always on the 2nd floor, but all you had to do was put your luggage outside the door by the appointed hour and it magically re-appeared in your room when you arrived in the afternoon. The train was fun. Our group was all in a single car which was roomier and more comfortable than the bus. It’s just like you see in the travel brochures, with a glass top so you have amazing views as you travel to Anchorage. The other advantages were that there was a “cruise director” – Sterling was his name – who had a great sense of humor and was excellent in pointing out things of interest during the journey (including 2 bear and 4 moose over the course of the trip). Meals – lunch and dinner – were done on the lower level and we were seated at a table with a delightful couple who were originally from N...