Making a new friend at Jeff King’s Husky Homestead this morning near Denali National Park. King is a four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion and has his kennel near the park.

I will be driving “The Great One” this summer. Our coach company names our buses after mountains.

Regardless of what some Outsiders think and attempt to impose on us, we Alaskans will forever call The Mountain “Denali.”

I have wanted to drive this motor coach since seeing its cool name. All of our Premier coaches are named after Alaska or western Canada mountains. Today I got my chance. I was feeling groovy.

Ljubljana, Slovenia, is so darn storybook cute that you can’t help but have a visually stimulating encounter around every street corner. Slovenia’s capital city has 285,000 residents and is the educational, economic, arts and cultural hub for the small nation - about the size of Massachusetts.

Crusing the Julian Alps in Slovenia along the Soca River valley near Bovec and over Vrsic Pass (5,300 feet) to Lake Bled. I could almost hear Heidi yodeling in the valleys below.

I’m a sucker for crumbling century’s-old buildings and narrow passageways. Rovinj, Croatia, did not disappoint. This may be Croatia, but it sure feels a lot like Italy.

Strolling around Dubrovnik, Croatia, today. Some interesting history, wonderful city pride and preservation efforts, friendly locals, clean, moderate weather, new Mediterranean dishes for me and English spoken throughout. All make this a very pleasant visit.

Spectacular northern lights in Chatanika, Alaska, with my Trafalgar tour group last night.

Hanging out with Shirley, owner of the Chatanika Lodge and Bar, the coolest roadhouse I’ve been to in Alaska. It’s authentic Alaska. Shirley has operated the bar for 45 years, 43 of those with her husband Ron who passed away about 2 years ago.