Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Getting around Alaska without a car on the Park Connection Bus

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Jay Flaming • Episode 114

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Jennie Flaming:

Jennie, welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska, travel and life in Alaska, before we start the show, we'd like to take a moment to thank our Patreon subscribers for making this podcast possible. You can join them at the link in the show notes. Thank you so much for your support and for listening. My guest today is Renee ranch. Renee is with Alaska tour and travel and the park connection, which is what we're going to talk about in this episode. Renee is from Colorado, but has lived in Alaska for nine years. She spent her first summer in Denali, working seasonally, and then moved to Anchorage after that, working with Alaska, touring travel when she's not working, most likely you're going to find her out on an adventure with her dog Brooks, trying to get outside as much as possible for hikes, enjoying a trail in Anchorage or at a dog park. And if she's able to get away for a few days, then she loves to camp and explore pretty much anywhere in Alaska. And also she really loves to sit around a fire with friends and a good cold beverage, Renea. Welcome to Alaska, uncovered. Thank you for being here.

Renea:

Thank you for having me, this is a new and fun experience, so I appreciate it. Yeah, it's

Jennie Flaming:

wonderful having you. This is such an important topic, because, as you know, people get really frustrated sometimes when they're trying to figure out how to get around Alaska, especially if they're trying to do that without a car. So for those of you listening, what we're going to talk about today is the park connection bus service to different places in Alaska, which is something you really need to know about, especially if you want to avoid those very expensive car rentals while you're in Alaska. So Renee, before we dive into that. Can you, I know we talked about it a little in the intro, but can you tell everybody a little bit more about how you first got to Alaska with that seasonal job in Denali?

Renea:

Yeah, it's actually a pretty funny and wild story. I think everyone has somewhat of a unique way that they got here, but Yes, mine is also one for the books there. So yeah, I came up with my grandpa, who had decided at 80 years old he was going to follow his dream and move up here. So I was like, Yeah, I'll do a road trip for sure. So we left Colorado and we popped our way up here. I don't know if you're familiar with Beverly Hillbillies. It's kind of like we kind of looked like that traveling Canada. Oh, yeah. But anyways, we got here honestly, right? When I came into Alaska, I kind of fell in love, like, immediately, it was kind of very strange feeling. I'm like, wow, this is where am I? Yeah. Long story short, I had a friend that lived up in Denali. She was also on her own kind of unique journey. And she's like, Hey, come on up and see me. It's been a long time, so I went up there and fell of the place even more. And in between all of that, my grandpa decided it wasn't for him, it wasn't going to work out. So he turned his truck around and started headed home. I'm like, wow, um, what? I'm in Denali. He's like, Yeah, you're in good hands. You'll be fine. I'll pay you back for your plane ticket when you make it home. Okay. Anyways, I stayed a few extra days, and I actually got offered a job while I was up there, and kind of all came together. I'm like, I don't think I'm going back. I called my parents. I'm like, Uh, hey, so I'm gonna stay. They're like, what? Oh, yep, I'm gonna stay. So anyways, I ended up staying through the summer and just falling in love with Alaska more and more. And, you know, meeting so many great people. And at the end of it, it was kind of like, I want to try to stay the winter and see what happens. So a couple of us did, and the rest is kind of history. And it left sense. My parents were not impressed, but they've finally accepted it. Yeah. That's,

Jennie Flaming:

it's a toughy for I remember it was the same when I moved to Alaska. They're like, really,

Renea:

yeah, it's like, also, can you send me a couple pairs of pants? I only brought, like, two, right?

Jennie Flaming:

I need more stuff. Oh, that's so awesome. What a great story. So, so we've got you here today, Renea, to talk about Park connection. And that is Park as a national park connection. It's what we're saying there. I'll put the link to it in the show notes, of course. But Renea, could you tell us? Well, first of all, since we're both familiar with this type of vehicle before we get into like, what Park connection is. Tell everybody what the difference is between a bus and a motor coach,

Renea:

a bus and a motor coach, okay, um, yeah, valid question. I would say a bus is more what you picture as a school bus or a motor coach. They're what we call Deluxe, which basically just a bigger vehicle sits up higher. 52 passengers is what we are. 52 seats is what we have. Restroom in the back. And I think the biggest difference you'll see is those large picture windows. Yeah, they really make a difference. They're not like the old school school bus type that you picture, yes, yes. That's the general idea. Yeah, yeah.

Jennie Flaming:

I love it. That's something that so everyone listening, I'm sure by now you unless this is the first episode you're listening to, you know that I work as a tour director in Alaska in the summer, and I spend a lot of time on motor coaches, and so this is always a fun thing to talk about with. Like, guests on tour is like, if they some some people, I don't do this, but some people have, like, like, a swearing jar where you have to put in money if you call the motor coach a bus. Cracks me up. Yeah, it's really funny. I don't do that, but we do joke about it. You know that? Like, no, no, we have a bathroom and very fancy seat and great windows. So and I love when people are like, kind of questioning what service they're on. They're like, Ah, don't want to, I don't want to take this bus. That's just not who I am. Blah, blah, blah. And then our motor coach pulls up on the curb and they're like, Wow, this is beautiful. Like, yeah, cute, right? Yeah, yeah. I also feel like people can get a lot more excited about busses and motor coaches once they kind of understand what the cost is to some of the other alternatives, you know, like, especially if you're going to Denali and you're going to have a very expensive rental car, and then you're just going to park it there For a few days, you know that is a particularly kind of painful financial experience. Anyway. Thank you for indulging me with that, because I oh yeah, that's fun to talk about. Alright, so let's talk about Park connection. Tell everybody what it is and where you can go with it.

Renea:

Alright, um Yeah, we are locally owned company here in Anchorage. We have two departures a day, pretty much from each location. So Anchorage, Seward, Talkeetna and Denali. So depending on where you're at, we have a couple different departure times for you to get, you know, to point a point B, and then beyond that, we really cater to the cruise passengers as well, whether you're coming into Whittier or Seward. That's kind of a big one for us. Yeah. And I think one of the unique things you might hear or see on our schedules, called the park to park. So really, what that means is we can connect two of the national parks in one day. So we have one route a day, connecting sewer to Denali, you know, Kenai, few words, National Park to Denali, National Park, and then vice versa. So that's really and the bus is the really only way you can do that. It makes for a long day, but it does help logistics, and you can still hop on a train later. But yeah, we just run through mid May to mid September, and yeah, proud of our service. Yeah, I

Jennie Flaming:

know, and it's awesome. I have, I've written, you know, as you know, I've ridden the park connection, many, many times, you know, when it was, like, my day off, or, you know, I was going somewhere, and it's, it's a fantastic service. I want to just mention to you something you. Said, but I want to make sure everyone caught it, which is that you can go on Park connection from between Denali and Seward in one day, which you can't do on the railroad. You have to on the railroad. You have to the railroad is awesome, but you can't do that in one day. You have to stay overnight in Anchorage in between. And then the other thing I can tell you, just from again, doing that drive many times a summer, it's a very long day if you're driving. And so it can be really nice to just like, kick back and listen to music and or read a book and, like, let someone else kind of manage it. And like, look out the window. So just absolutely plug for kind of the uniqueness of that. I know something that's new for 2025 is the route that goes between Whittier and Seward. Can you talk about that a little bit and why that exists and when it runs that kind of stuff, yeah,

Renea:

so we're excited for this. It's new as of this year, 2025 and it kind of just came into play for us when it was kind of rumored that some of the cruise ships may move to Whittier versus Seward as far as the report goes, our game plan kind of being, we've already had a bunch of people booking, you know, ending their trip in Seward thinking, you know, they're gonna end in Seward, take a cruise to Kenai Fjords National Park and then hop on their seven day cruise. So we wanted to have a game plan for a lot of our guests that are were already travel planning. You know, if that announcement came out, yep, that we could kind of seamlessly put back their, you know, put their vacation back together, for lack of better words, but say, hey, not a big deal. We have a connection from Stuart de Whittier um and you know, that's been a transportation I think that's kind of been missing in the industry for a while, is that Whittier to Seward, especially, the bigger the industry is getting, the demand is there. So, yeah, you can go either from Whittier to Seward. Us. We'll leave in the morning. When your cruise ship arrives in Whittier, will take you from Whittier to Seward, where you can then extend your land travel. If you want to, you know instantly, go to Kenai Fjords National Park and continue traveling. Or you're in Seward and you need to connect to Whittier because you've already done a little bit of a land package prior to your ship. Yeah? Bus will then turn around and go back through the tunnel to Whittier. So, yeah, um, I think it's going to be awesome. It's going to be exciting to see how the logistics play out, but it's going to help people tremendously. And I think

Jennie Flaming:

it will definitely, or for a lot of opportunity for people like I totally agree.

Renea:

Yeah, we can. We can get from Whittier to Seward and then, boom, yeah, I start now, yeah. So yeah.

Jennie Flaming:

And you know, of course, you can drive between these places if you have a rental car. But like, if you're getting off or on, this is something I think is super important. So if you're taking a cruise, and you're going to into or out of Whittier or Seward, and you're listening to this, you need to know that you can't pick up or return a rental car in either Whittier or Seward. I mean, I'm sure there's some way to do it, if you, like, pay 1000s and 1000s of dollars, but like, you need transportation to get between the anchorage airport and the cruise ship. And whether you book that through something like Park connection or another tour company or the cruise ship, it doesn't really matter. But I've had lots of clients who are like, Oh, well, I'm just gonna rent a car there, or I'm going to get an Uber. And so I just want to really emphasize that you need a plan if you're going into or out of one of those ports that involves a bus, van, train, something. Yeah,

Renea:

exactly. And we're still going to, you know, have our same, like I mentioned earlier, like our same cruise transfers that just go strictly sewer to Anchorage, or weaker to Anchorage, to get those travelers who are just trying to fly home, that's still going to exist. But this is really like that connection to, you know, connect two towns and make more things possible. But yeah, it is very expensive to try to get in between those destinations, however you cut it. So Park connection, so I think, I think it'll be awesome.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, I do too. And there's also the whole thing with the Whittier tunnel, which, like, that's also something that, then, if you book, uh. A transfer or a tour, or, you know, if you book transportation through anybody other than yourself, then you don't have to worry about the like timing of the tunnel and getting there in time and all that nonsense. So, yeah, yeah. Cool. Okay. Anything else you want to say about Park connection, specifically for people going to or from cruises.

Renea:

Um, I can't think of anything. I do want to say it is kind of incredible. I don't know if that's the right word. How many people end up at their at their destination and think they're in Anchorage, yeah, doing a little bit of research or knowing like, Hey, I'm not in Anchorage. I am anywhere from three hours to two hours away, and then knowing what kind of transportation opportunities there are. So that's a big one. But no, I don't think so cool. You know, just knowing that if you're in Seward Whittier, we're gonna only have that one departure time it's morning, that maybe we can get you through the tunnel and have opportunity elsewhere. Seward, we're still gonna have a couple different departures a day. So if you get off the cruise ship in Seward and you still want to do an activity or something, we do have time for you to do that and then get you back to Anchorage in the evening, or both destinations connect to Talkeetna and Denali same day too. Yeah. Great way to extend your your your land travel right off the cruise ship.

Jennie Flaming:

Yep, absolutely, yep. Do you? I don't think you do, but I just want to check I don't believe you offer any like stops. I mean, you take rest stops, of course, but there aren't like tour stops as part of the the trip between Anchorage and the cruise ship docks, correct, um,

Renea:

correct for, yeah, we're going to be pretty much a direct transfer, yep, Whittier to Anchorage. Sometimes we have to play that where we'll stop for a little bit, just for the logistics of the tunnel, yes, um, but that's just really logistics. But, yeah. Now if you're going northbound, you know, further than Anchorage, then there's always going to be a stop in Anchorage for about an hour and a half for lunch. But yeah, beyond that, it's just direct transfer.

Jennie Flaming:

Great. Okay, so let's go back to Denali for a minute. Renea, so, um, you know one of, obviously the super popular routes for Park connection. One of them is like cruise ship transfers, which we've been talking about, which is an awesome service. But Denali is another really fantastic one, um, kind of that, that that anchorage tell kitna, Denali route. And so for those of you who are planning a trip on your own on land in Alaska to go to Denali. This is a really great option to avoid dealing with a rental car, right? So Renee, can we go back to that for a minute, as far as, like independent travelers, and maybe they did do a cruise and and this is before after, or maybe they're just in Alaska on their own. What type of traveler, in your opinion, is kind of the best fit to take the park connection service, say, rather than a rental car?

Renea:

That's a really good question. It might sound a little bit cliche, but I think it's almost good for basically anyone, yeah, not quite everyone. You know, if you really want to be independent and rent a car, get into off the beat path, there is probably not for you, but I think it's great for first time travelers. Yeah, you know, if you, if you're flying into Anchorage and you want to do a whatever, however many days on land. This is a great way to get from place to place. And I think what the park connection does very well is pair with the Alaska railroad, yep, or the rail belt in that sense. So being able to use that combination of train and bus is beautiful way to experience the state.

Jennie Flaming:

I agree with that. Can you talk a little bit more about how that would work for someone who's like, Okay, I want to do both. I'm trying to figure this out. Like, what are some thoughts that you have about good ways to put the train and the park connection together.

Renea:

Well, I'd have to touch on our company Alaska tour and travel. Yeah, go for it too. That's actually who own and operates Park connection. So that is what we do. We're a travel planning service, and there is a lot of logistics. And I think. We get a lot of phone calls from people frustrated and confused by the timing of train and the timing of bus and where do I go. So we kind of help take the stressor out of that. But I like to say, you know, for example, take the train down to flying to Anchorage, take the train down to Seward, who spend a couple days. Then we can get the bus from Seward to tell kitna where now you're up north, you've went coastal, now your interior. And then from there, you can go to kitna, to Denali by the motor coach. And then kind of end one of your, like, the last parts of your trip, taking that train, Denali to Anchorage. So essentially, you have two trains, two busses that follows one of our most popular packages, and people love it. And, yeah, it's unique. Because I think the big difference, one of the biggest differences, is what people are going to see on the bus and the train. They don't necessarily follow one another. At times they do, but you're really going to see different things. So, you know, it's like you are doing some backtracking, but you won't even realize you are

Jennie Flaming:

totally, yeah,

Renea:

yeah. So we, I mean, we're happy to help you with that, that's what, yeah. So, yeah, yeah.

Jennie Flaming:

I'm sure you have this experience the same as I do. When clients contact me, they've often gotten super frustrated trying to figure out these logistics and like, you know, how come I can't do this with this or whatever? And so, yeah, it's super helpful to have that person who can be like, let's figure out what you're trying to do and figure out how to make it happen so totally.

Renea:

And then, you know, then you run into sell outs. It's like when someone actually figures out that it something might be sold out. And we can have your back and say, But wait, there's another option here, yep. So we're kind of here to help wherever we can. Yeah, yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

yeah. The other thing too, for folks listening is you could also, so even though Park connection doesn't go to Fairbanks, the train does. So you can also do like that whole one way trip, all the way, you know, in or out of Fairbanks, by putting those together, which is also kind of a cool way to do it. Yeah,

Renea:

yeah, for sure, start south and north or vice versa, yeah, yeah. I mean, the opportunities are endless. It's crazy.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, it's that's really true, and I am just going to echo what you said about the backtracking part. So as a person who spends many, many days on both the Parks Highway and the Seward highway and the Alaska railroad, like it is really true that there are places where the train and the road are close together or cross each other, but it is a pretty different experience. I think, you know, if you're on the road versus the train, so, you know, you don't have to worry too much about, like, Oh, you're not going to get bored looking at the scenery in Alaska, though, that like, isn't possible, but Right? You know, even if it was, you'd still see a lot of variety with that. Yeah,

Renea:

absolutely. I'm always like, Okay, well, that's one of the most scenic highways, and in the most scenic train. So, right? You can't lose Alaska. No,

Jennie Flaming:

you really, you really can't. That is so true. Okay, um, we're going to take a short break, and when we come back, we're going to talk a bit more about Park connection, places you can go, and some other logistics and things about Anchorage. Hi, everyone. I hope you're enjoying the show. So far, I wanted to break in and tell you that Alaska tour and travel and park connection are offering a 5% discount to listeners of the podcast, and you need the code Alaska uncovered to get that. If you go to the show notes, you can follow the link there, and it's too long to just say here, so you'll have to follow the link. Another thing I wanted to tell you is that after we recorded this episode, I worked with Alaska tour and travel to build out some itineraries. And as you know, I also sell itineraries in my online shop. But the cool thing about these ones is that you can book everything right there online, and you can customize it if you want to. So if you are looking for a shortcut to hours and hours and hours of planning and doing one of and you don't want to do one of my consults, which are also awesome. This is a great way to get a curated itinerary by me. So the link is, again, too long to read, but it's in the show notes along with the links that are always there. So I just wanted to let you know about that, and now we're gonna head back to the show you. Okay, we're back with Renea Ranch from Park connection and Alaska tour and travel. And today we're talking about ways to get around Alaska by bus, which is what the park connection is. And we've talked about going to Denali. We've talked about doing a longer land trip in Alaska. We've talked about getting back and forth to the cruise terminal, and we've talked about, how do you pair the train with the bus? So lots of fun stuff. Okay, so Renea, let's talk about a few logistics. So when it comes to things, you've talked a bit about the schedule, and of course, you know maybe you'll be listening to this podcast in a future year, the schedule might be different, but I've got the link to the schedule and to book it in the show notes, so you can go over there to see the details of the schedule, but I'd love to know a little more about booking Renee. So how far ahead are different routes booking up? When do people need to make sure they have this button down? What's your advice about that, and is it different for the different routes that you do?

Renea:

Yeah, good question. It's definitely different for each route, I think. And also just depends. We're going to touch back on that cruise passenger aspect. If you're catching the cruise I would book as soon as possible. You know, regardless, those do sell out. Yeah, so you know, even if it's a couple months prior, that should be plenty plenty of time ahead, but the sooner, the better. You know, going to Denali talk, it's very we do have sell out days, but you're going to see a little bit less. But again, I'm always going to say probably at least a month or two months ahead. Yeah, I do think one of the cool things if you have the flexibility, you know, everyone travels differently, but if you do have the flexibility, there's a lot of times we can get people on same day. Do I recommend that? Not particularly you're a fly by the seat your pants kind of traveler, um, but, you know, I think plenty of giving yourself plenty of time, and we're going to be flexible, you know, moving you around if you need or canceling whatever. We're just going to try to make that aspect easy for you. But yeah, yeah. I guess there's a few different ways to book with us, if that's what you're asking, too. So we have three different websites. Alaska coach.com is the primary one, just for just the motor coach. So that's just kind of a straightforward one. We also have Alaska train.com this is a great website to book all the train services within the state of Alaska, as well as the motor coach. So if you do know, you just need a few trains and a few busses, and you know how to piece that together yourself. Great. That's the best website for that. And then lastly, our kind of grand poo po of websites is Alaska tour and travel. And that's where you can book a whole vacation package, which includes, is going to include the motor coach, the train, hotels, day tours, things like that. So it really just depends on what you need. As the consumer, we we've got you either way. So,

Jennie Flaming:

yes, awesome. Love it. Um, now, okay, I want you to tell me if this is true or not, but I'm pretty sure that you cannot just show up at the time the both boat or the boat. What am I talking about? The bus is supposed to leave and, like, pay the driver if there is space available. Am I wrong about that? Or is that true?

Renea:

Oh, you actually can. Oh,

Jennie Flaming:

wow, that's awesome idea. No, that's the

Renea:

fly by the seat of pants. Okay, people, yeah, we do that a lot. I like I said, I don't necessarily recommend it, yeah, but it's definitely, you know, especially if you just need sewer to Anchorage in the evening or, you know, those kind of small transportations that aren't going to, like, logistically break or make your vacation. Um, yeah, you compare driver, um. Of exact cash or awesome, or the bus driver will hand one of our managers on duty of their phone, and yes, you can take payment right then and there. That's awesome.

Jennie Flaming:

I didn't know that you did that. That's so Wow. That is even, even more generous, right?

Unknown:

Yeah, exactly. And it, it can, it can be a huge thing for people too. So

Jennie Flaming:

yeah, especially those folks that do show up in Seward without a plan, if there's space. So don't count on that. Make a plan. Yeah,

Unknown:

for sure. And we understand plan is plan changes. You know, something might happen, and you kind of have to stop what you're doing, get back or get to a certain location, and with those two departures a day, we can hopefully get you there, you know, very last minute. So yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

love it that. See, I always learn things, even what I think I know doing this podcast, it's one of my favorite things about it, besides connecting with people. So love it. Okay, um, anything else I was going to ask about that? Oh, okay, so on the trip to, let's say Denali or Seward. How long now, if people who've listened to other episodes and are regular listeners of this podcast know that I always say you've gotta keep an very open mind about schedules and how long things take. But in general, how long do you expect the drive to take up to telketa and Danielle and down to Seward, and then how often does the coach stop along the way?

Unknown:

Okay, yeah, so Anchorage to Seward, or vice versa, that's going to be about three hours. Yep, you know we say two and a half three hours, and that's going to be a direct transfer. Okay, so that sounds like a bit, but it is such a beautiful Highway. It really quite quick.

Jennie Flaming:

It's incredible. It's so pretty. Yeah, it's amazing. And there's a restroom on the coach, just a reminder. So, yeah, yep,

Unknown:

um, and then Anchorage to Denali, or Denali to Anchorage, um, quite a bit longer of a distance, but I would say plan for about six hours. Yep, we do break that up. So tell kitna is a town that's pretty much right in the middle of those locations. So we'll swing in and pick people up there and drop them off. Or, you know, if you're just Anchorage to denial, you'll continue on. But we do take a 30 minute, roughly 30 minutes stop in Talkeetna, the talket in Alaskan Lodge. Yeah, so people can get out, stretch their legs, grab a cup of coffee, and that is one of the best areas to view. Denali in the Alaskan range. So absolutely, yes, it's a great little pit stop, and then we continue on so and then in Denali, just so everyone knows too, we do pick up at pretty much all the major hotels, so drop off and pick up are provided there in Denali. Yep.

Jennie Flaming:

And one thing, this is a little outside the scope of what we're talking about in this episode, but we have several other episodes about Denali, including January of 2024, we had an episode about visiting Denali on your own, which is what we're talking about here. Make sure that if you, if you're booking this transportation by itself, so if you're going, if you're booking it as a package. You don't need to worry about this. But if you're just booking the transportation, make sure that you're booking a hotel that is served by the bus and that has a shuttle to the park. Yeah, really important for sure. Yeah, yeah, cool. Don't book some random like verbo that's 20 miles away and then think you're gonna take an Uber like that doesn't work. So, yeah, exactly, really important thing, wonderful, okay, um, so Renee, um, I would love to know what your personal favorite place is to go that is served by the park connection.

Unknown:

Oh, I mean, Denali is always going to have a special place in my heart. Yeah, I kind of started, but I think I've noticed myself. I've been really drawn more to the coastal side of Alaska lately. Yeah, so I'm gonna have to say Seward, that drive will never get old, never and I just love the coastal towns of Alaska. Yeah, there's so much to do there. Not only that, I you know, you can go down and spend a couple days or whatever, but it can also be done as a day trip, yeah? So you need to just get out of Anchorage for the day and do a hike or catch a cruise. Or whatever. I mean, it's, it's that, that's it for sure. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

Seward is pretty amazing. And the Seward highway is, I think, I think it's the most beautiful highway in North America that I've been on. That's my opinion. I

Unknown:

would agree. I mean that, and we, we're having this discussion with some friends. It's like we were all in a debate. I'm like, Man, the Glen highway too. Yeah, that's the half the bean path, one that people forget about, yeah?

Jennie Flaming:

Or the Richardson Highway Friday is also amazing. Yeah, yeah,

Unknown:

same, same conversation. It's like everyone kind of has their own favorite and it's like, Wait, do any of them suck? I don't think so. No, you

Jennie Flaming:

know. I know this is a slight tangent, but the only road in Alaska that I personally think is super boring is the McCarthy road from Chetna into McCarthy. Interesting. It's, like, it's, it's like, narrow and gravel and super remote and there's no services and extremely slow, yep, but, like, it's not that interesting of a drive. It's, in my opinion,

Unknown:

that's funny. I have not been out there, but the general idea of it, yeah, it's not for everyone. Yeah, and there's

Jennie Flaming:

no, you're in a forest, so that you know, forests are great, but like, you can't, you're like, in between black spruce trees for like, three hours, and you can't really see anything. Yeah, most of the streams, other than trees, and I love trees, but, like, also, I don't know it's yeah. All right, cool. So Renee, anything else you want to talk about related to part, connection, or any of that before we move into our to the last couple of wrap up questions for you?

Unknown:

I, I um, I, I don't think so. Okay, I do want to touch me. You know, we do have the capability of servicing ADA guests.

Jennie Flaming:

Thank you for talking. Yeah. Can you talk about that a little more?

Unknown:

Absolutely? Um, so all of our motor coaches are equipped with a handicap or a wheelchair lift. So any people that are full time wheelchair users and still want to experience Alaska, that is a great way the train also, yeah, is able to accommodate so, you know, you can still do a great itinerary and get to see Alaska.

Jennie Flaming:

Yes, I am really glad that you brought that up, because that is super important. Okay, so Renee, you live in Anchorage, and that's kind of the base for Park connection. So I would love to have you tell everybody what's your favorite restaurant in Anchorage?

Unknown:

Oh, that is such a loaded question. I know it is so much good food up here. That is one thing moving up here. I'm like, wow, they really got it going on up here with the food. Um, I would say I'm not going to be able to give you one answer, so I'm going to give you a couple. That's okay. I've always loved sushi. We got great seafood up here, so anytime I can get out and have some sushi, sushi, sushi. And sushi is my jam. But as far as, like, just a great all around restaurant. I'm gonna have to go with bears tooth, yeah, their menu has got pretty much something for everyone. Yeah, can go get a great Margarita, local, you know, local beer, wine, pizza, yes, it's, really good at all. Of course you can then go, there's not many places where you can go smash a whole pizza and have a beer while watching a movie.

Jennie Flaming:

So, yes, yeah. So can you explain for everybody how it works at Bear teeth, like the whole theater pizza versus the like, grilled restaurant, yeah,

Unknown:

yeah. So they have basically two sides of the restaurant. So the grill side is going to just be like a general style restaurant and bar and a pretty wide range of menu there, for sure. So just kind of a sit down option, where the other side is their theater hub, and they have kind of a cool concept where you literally go up in order, kind of like you were at, I don't know, like a fast food restaurant. Maybe you could compare it to where you Yeah, okay, I'll take but you're ordering, like a full pizza or a salad, or, you know, something, pretty much pizzas, but they do some other menu items, tacos and things. Like that. Then they will give you a road cone, and you go into the movie theater so you've already purchased tickets. And it can be a new movie. It can be an old movie that has an anniversary, or, like, just some great local films. Yeah. So anyways, you go in and you get your seat and put your cone up. Then you go grab a drink at the bar so you can get a beer, wine and Seltzer. I think they now offer so always have local options back there. But yeah, go grab a beverage, wait for your pizza and whatever you ordered, and then they'll come deliver it to you while this show is going on. So it's super fun,

Jennie Flaming:

that it's really fun, yeah, like,

Unknown:

I think more of that should exist. And I always, I always love to see what's playing. You know, it's so fun. And they have normal style seating or booths. So if you have a group to get together, booth is a really fun way to do it. But, yeah, yeah. Uh, year to year, always in the top, top, yes, yeah. And if

Jennie Flaming:

you're, if you've looked into anchorage food at all, and you've heard about moose is tooth pizza, like, this is the same company, but, like, a totally different kind of experience. And I'm so glad that you brought that up, Renee, because I agree it's such a it's a really wonderful place in Anchorage, yeah

Unknown:

for sure. Yeah, yeah. They know how to do it, right? Yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

for sure. Okay, well, before we wrap up, Renee, I would love to know what is one piece of advice that you have for people visiting Alaska for the first time?

Unknown:

Man, all right, I'm going to say two things. Um, maybe three. One is do a little bit of research. Um, Alaska is so large, there's so many opportunities, so just knowing a general idea of what you want to accomplish really will help yourself or whoever is helping you plan your travel beyond that, like you kind of touched on this earlier, just having some flexibility too, knowing that you're still on vacation, sometimes things change. But, you know, just having that flexibility in the concept of we're in Alaska, like, let's enjoy it no matter what. Yeah, and third, I would say, like, if budget allows splurge on one good activity, like, obviously, do the must sees or the must do's, but I would say, if you can do it, splurge on one activity like dog mushing on a glacier, or, yeah, helicoptering around a volcano. Yeah, those, those crazy, cool activities that are really unique to the state. I guess if you just do it, it's gonna be worth it for sure. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

well, that is a lot of great wisdom you just dropped there. Renea, thank you so much for sharing that, and thank you for being here today to talk about Park connection

Renea:

for sure. Thank you so much for having me. It's been fun, and hopefully this time helps future travelers in any list, yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

yeah, absolutely you.

People on this episode

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Jay Flaming

Co-host