In sort of an extreme measure to dodge Texas summer heat, we overcompensated and flew to Alaska for 10 days. It's a long story,
but add bonus Alaska Airline tickets, no Hawaii availability, fluid work schedules, and a dash of teenage angst, shake in a 31 foot RV...and here we are.
Because we left on the evening of the 4th, we missed the usual fireworks - and extreme fluid loss in the 3-digit temperatures - but we did get to see Seattle's fireworks from above as we started on the second leg up to Anchorage. Who knew there were so many local fireworks?
As we flew north to Anchorage, weirdly it actually grew lighter until 
it was twilight. We were headed much more north than west. So, even though we arrived at 1 AM and didn't get to sleep until 2, it felt like about 9 PM. And the airport was active, shops and restaurants open, people milling about. We didn't explore the town any, but I got a little of the feeling I experienced in Norway: It's summer, get your living done NOW! You can sleep in the winter.
Of course, even though we'd gotten catnaps on the flights, the three hour jet lag ensured we all woke up after about 4 hours of sleep at 7 AM. This worked out fine as we had a busy day full of trip
preparations: shuttling back to the airport, pickup there by the Great Alaska Holidays shuttle, check-in, intro video, paperwork, loading the RV and unpacking, hitting Best Buy for an emergency notebook AC adapter (my bad), $300 worth of groceries, bike shop rentals and fittings, then FINALLY the 4 1/2 hour drive to Denali. Good thing it never got dark!
The Denali Riverside RV campground is nothing more than a graded 
wide spot in the Parks Highway road. Not a scrap of vegetation, nothing but dirt and gravel. Its one saving grace is that you back right up to the Nenana River canyon, with the rushing, glacier-milk-colored river right below you. It's quite a contrast between looking out the front of the RV and the back.
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