Montana Creek Campground--Day 2--Exploring Talkeetna

 With our friends leaving for home, we had Day 2 to ourselves. We've been looking to try the famous Talkeetna Roadhouse since last year, and so we headed there for lunch. (It was so good, it deserves its very own separate blog post, so standby).

After a scrumptious meal, we strolled down to B street and headed down to the Talkeetna Ranger Station.

This is the station that climbers who wish to attempt a Mt. McKinley/Denali summit must check into for registration and orientation briefings. We picked up two sets of Junior Ranger packets for the girls (Mister D politely declined one on the basis of being too cool for the stuff), one for Talkeetna which awards a large patch, and another for Denali National Park which awards a gold badge. 

We watched a short ten-minute film about climbing Denali and explored the lobby.

The walls were lined with autographed flags that have all summited the mountain. Of course, the fam zoned in on the "Cancer Survivors" flag.

 A stroll in Talkeetna wouldn't be complete without a short stop at the river(s).

On the way, we had to snap a pic of the family beaner next to this cute sign. Note the matching hats!

This spot is at the confluence of three rivers: the Chulitna, Susitna, and Talkeetna. The water was swift, unlike the time we were rafting here last year.

After dinner at the campground, the kids had some playtime with the others.

 Enjoyed some s'mores.

And goofed off until way past bedtime.

Another day of camping in the books.