Our Denali time was amazing. The pictures are only a start. 
We read in The Milepost yesterday that we should see elk and bison. We saw the skat for each but no further signs. Today we started by meeting two lady moose, then later we came across this bull. A less clear photo than the one I've posted shows one of the ladies hiding behind a tree. Something about a moose -- a single tree just doesn't make her invisible!
Most people take the White Pass & Yukon train when they visit Skagway; Maynard preferred to chase it. Then we continued up, briefly into BC, and then to the Yukon. At Whitehorse we drove west towards Alaska and ended the day in Tok. Much of the roadbed is on permafrost, so the road keeps caving in. The ride resembled a very old wooden rollercoaster in bad condition. We were surprised at how difficult it was to get a motel room -- the locals tell me simply that it's summer.
We stopped along an island to drop off some kayakers. A local didn't approve of our arrival. He made his dissatisfaction clear as he slowly moved through berry bushes and towards another beach. We dropped off the kayakers anyway -- though they immediately readied themselves to clear away from that island fast.
We arrived in Juneau late morning and headed up to the Mendenhall Glacier. Strangely shaped icebergs float below the glacier. Cruise ships dock alongside the renovated historic district where everyone is selling something, from zillions of gem shops to Juneau Gelato. We sat outside and smashed a Dungeness crab for lunch. Then we drove up to the ruins of a gold mine. Our small ferry to Glacier Bay was harder to find than the platform for Harry Potter's train; however, once located, we watched a family of bald eagles who owned a tree above the ferry slip and chatted with fellow travelers.
The twisting route 3 took us west through BC today, then from Vancouver we headed north on the Sea to Sky Highway. We picnicked along the straits where divers explore wrecks which have been conveniently dropped in the water for that purpose. Then, we were stunned by the beauty of the glaciers up through and beyond the Whistler area. The sights were so spectacular that a motorcyclist ran off the road into a muddy ditch; we joined a group of helpers who eventually dragged him and cycle out. Here is the third bear we saw today; we were then immediately slowed by a school bus. So exotic, so mundane. We're spending the night in Lilliout (sp?).
Today we traveled winding roads through mountain passes in southern BC. The sharpness of the slopes was astounding. A cheery lady at a supermarket in Creston recognized CT only as the home of the Hartford Whalers. She wore a Calgary Flames pin. Other clerks razzed her for not letting go to the hockey season.
So, we drove around and are now happily ensconced in the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, MT.
Drove through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is an up close view of the badlands: mushroom-sculptured rocks, veins of coal contrasting to ochre and grey veins, strange formations.
Minneapolis-St.Paul is huge, and it seems as if the huge farms of green fields will go on forever. The farmsteads consist of a copse of trees above which a silo towers. They seem medieval.
The Illinois RR museum in Union turned out to be tons of fun. There are hundreds to engines and other sorts of rolling stock. 
Last night Brett & Molly Vianney hosted a heartwarming farewell party that included almost all the members of the English department, their spouses, and their babies. So nice!
