We skipped breakfast this morning knowing we were going to the the Talkeetna Roadhouse…it did not disappoint!  Rudy (reindeer sausage) in a blanket, wraps, pastys, quiche – all delish!  And the frosty (cinnamon roll), nutty (sticky bun with nuts) and razzy (raspberry filled) were perfect to cap off the meal  So good we grabbed a few for the following morning.  Walked down to the confluence of the 3 rivers – Chulitna, Susitna and Talkeetna - before walking into town to check out the local shops.  We stopped at the Salmon center where they had a few tanks of baby salmon and other fish, learned that a landlocked sockeye is called a kokanee!  We met the “unofficial” mayor of Talkeetna roaming the streets:  A popular rumor states Stubbs was elected in 1997 following a successful write-in campaign by voters who opposed the human candidates. However, according to NPR, the cat could not have been elected as a write-in candidate because "The tiny town has no real mayor, so there was no election. Stubbs' position is honorary as the town is only a historical district".  Stubbs died on July 21, 2017, at the age of 20 years and 3 months.  This picture is of the "newly designated mayor" (according to locals).

Stopped at the NPS Denali ranger  station which is the official starting point for those hiking Denali (Talkeetna is also the closest point to Denali Mountain).  This year 1189 attempted to summit and 58% actually completed the summit.  The average time to get to the top is 3 weeks.  We watched a movie that is a virtual climb.  Basically you start with 100 pounds of gear that you have to either backpack or carry on a sled up the mountain and lose a little at each base camp.  Stopped at Denali Brewing Company to try some beer and then the birch syrup factory.

Made our way to Byers Lake/Campground in Denali State Park and arrived early enough for a stroll along the lake and some fishing before we had our dinner.  This was our first night eating dinner around 7:30, our previous nights dinner had been around 9:30!  After a round of Scattergories we got everyone to bed knowing we are going to have a really early morning on Thursday!