Mother/Daughter Weekend in Denali

This weekend mom and I took the Alaska Railroad train trip up to Denali. It is something that we both have always wanted to do and she wanted to do it before leaving for St. Louis. It was such a great weekend. The train was incredibly comfy and there were only about 6 people total in the car we were in so it was very laid back. The train conductor, Steve, was incredibly nice to us as well and had so many great stories to share with us. On the way up we got to see lots of wildlife too. Mom saw a moose shortly after we left and then we both got to see a black bear, several beavers and trumpeter swans. On the way back mom missed seeing all 4 black bears (I only got to see one of the 4), but I guess that's what you get when you chance using the restroom! The scenery was absolutely spectacular. We even got to see Denali some on the way back. That is the interesting thing about the mountain, in the summertime it can sometimes be harder to see because there tends to be more cloud coverage. We did get lucky though and did get some pictures of it.

When we got to Denali, 8 hours after leaving Anchorage, we were both ready to get into our hotel room and rest some even though the train ride was pretty relaxing. However, when we got off the train and met the hotel escort, we found out that they did not have us listed as needing a wheelchair accommodating room. We boarded the bus to the hotel and were assured by the staff that we would have a room by the time we got to the hotel. As you can guess, they were wrong as well. We had to finally have the manager come out and work things out. It took us nearly 3 hours from the time we got off the train till we could get into our room. The good thing that came out of it though was that we got free dinner provided by the hotel while we waited for our room to become available. The room was nearly down at the other end of the resort, only accessible by you guessed it....another bus! I was so tired of buses by the time we got to our room! Luckily my morning sickness hasn't set in yet and I was able to cover up the pregnancy during the whole trip. It was incredibly difficult though. Mom kept offering me Dr. Pepper and I am sure she wondered why I kept turning it down. I also tried eating as healthy as possible and stashing saltine crackers when I could.

Now, if you are asking yourself why I didn't spill the beans or how I was able to keep the secret for the whole entire trip, it wasn't and I nearly did. I really wanted both my parents to find out at the same time though plus also make sure that we were progressing well in the pregnancy for a bit longer and get some more questions answered before breaking the news. It has been incredibly hard now telling the whole world our good news but I know it is for the best right now.