Becky's Journal - June 28 - July 2
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, marks our
return to civilization – with cable television, dependable Wi-Fi, and
all the businesses we know (Starbuck’s, WalMart, Safeway, Blockbuster).
A city of 31,639 (96,888, if you count the surrounding area),
Fairbanks sits on the Chena River.
The Riverview RV Park, on the river south of town, is our
home-away-from home for the next few days.
Delta Junction – Fairbanks
Monday, June 29, 2009
With only 98 miles to travel today, we took it easy.
Tom washed the RV and trailer before we set out only to have it
pick up more dirt and grime off of wet pavements and gravel parking
spots.
About 7.5 miles north of Delta Junction on the
Richardson Highway (runs from Valdez in the south to Fairbanks in the
north), we stopped to photograph the Alyeska Pipeline crossing the
Tanana River.
Later,
we lunched at a pretty spot beside the same river, which we followed
most of the way to Fairbanks.
Mid-afternoon, ready for a stop, we got Alaska-sized
(huge) ice cream cones at the Knotty Shop, a gift/souvenir shop along
the highway. They
specialized in wood burls, but also offered a free cone with their ad in
Milepost,
the guide to the Alaska Highway and beyond.
Arriving in Fairbanks, we drove in to the information
center and drove around Fairbanks a bit.
Fairbanks:
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
First stop this morning was the North Pole – North
Pole, Alaska, that is. This
town, about 10 miles south of Fairbanks celebrates Christmas year round.
Its light poles are candy-cane striped and its streets are names
like St. Nicholas Drive and Santa Claus Lane.
Kris Kringle and his reindeer are in residence year round in – of
all things – the Santa Claus House, with souvenirs and gifts galore.
North Pole had its beginnings in 1944, when a couple homesteaded
the area. A development
company bought the homestead, subdivided it, and named it North Pole in
hopes of attracting a toy manufacturer who could advertize its products
were made at the North Pole.
When the city incorporated in 1953, it developed as a “theme city,”
“where the spirit of Christmas lives year round.”
After a quick lunch back at the trailer, we headed
over to Pioneer Park – half theme park, half historical exhibits and lots of shops.
First we rode the narrow-gauge Crooked Creek and Whiskey Island
Railroad around the park’s perimeter and then visited historical
buildings from the early 1900s and poked through gold-mining exhibits
and a sternwheeler.
Fairbanks:
Down on the river
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
This morning, we took it easy – watching gentlemen’s
quarterfinals at Wimbledon, reading and hanging out at the trailer.
Early afternoon, we had reservations on a three-hour narrated
trip up the Chena River on the Discovery, a paddlewheeler.
During this worthwhile trip, we saw a floatplane take off and
land, and stopped at the kennel of famed Iditarod champion Susan
Butcher, where we saw the dogs put through their paces and pull a
wheeled cart. (Susan died of
leukemia in 2006, but her husband and girls carry on the tradition.
For good pictures of the dogs and the “show” we saw,
see Trail Breaker
Kennels.) The last stop,
before heading home, was an Athabascan fish camp and Indian village,
where guides taught us about the early native way of life.
All along the river, we saw all manner of homes – big and small –
with to-die-for riverfront views.
This time of year, it looked tempting and inviting – with an
unseasonably warm 80 degrees today – but I can well imagine the river
frozen and icy arctic temperatures of winter.
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Fish camp at Athabascan village |
Sled dogs pull wheeled cart |
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| Big houses along the Chena River | Log cabin beside the Chena River |
Fairbanks:
Alaska 101
Thursday, July 02, 2009
We spent much of today out at the University of
Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), a campus set on a ridge overlooking town.
This morning, we visited the Robert G. White
Large Animal Research
Station (LARS), where we took a short tour to view muskoxen,
caribou, and reindeer. Most
of the animals preferred resting in the shade at the back of their
enclosures to coming out to entertain us in the Fairbanks heat, but the
guide enticed a few hardy ones out with fresh willow branches.
Muskoxen are large, bulky-looking creatures whose shaggy coats
have a particularly warm (and expensive) underfur known as Qiviut.
It is eight times warmer than wool but extremely soft.
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| Yearling Muskox Comes for Willow Leaves | Lilly Follows Her Son |
After a picnic lunch on the grounds of LARS, we headed off to UAF’s
Museum of the North where we
continued to learn about all things Alaskan.
We saw two short films – one on the aurora borealis and the other
on the Alaskan winter. Other
highlights included a nine-foot-tall brown bear, Blue Babe, a
36,000-year-old steppe bison, gorgeous photography, wildlife exhibits,
and cultural displays.
Blue Babe Hides Her Age Well
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