Tom's Journal - Fairbanks, Days 21 - 26
Alaska - The Last Frontier
Hey, it says
so on their license plates!
We are now in Alaska where men are men and women are women. The desolation wilderness where survival is dependent on your instincts, cunning, and basic skills. This is no place for sissies! Wow, I need a latte and a trip to Sam's Club.
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We arrived in Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaska Highway on Saturday, June 27 after a day of rough roads (the only ones we have encountered so far on the trip). We spent two nights in Delta Junction before heading on to Fairbanks, the unofficial end of the Alaska Highway, where we are spending five nights.
Since we left Folsom, CA June 8th, we have had great weather. It has been like Camelot, it has rained sometimes hard over night and a few times while we have been driving but it has never rained while setting up or tearing down camp and never when we have wanted to be outside sightseeing. The days have been mild or warm. In Fairbanks, its been back to shorts as the daytime highs have been upper 70's and low 80's and calm; the locals have been complaining about the heat. Also, a sign said that daylight was 21 hours and 36 minutes. It never gets completely dark.
Day 22 (Sunday, June 28)
After celebrating our magnificent feat of surviving the Alaska Highway into the wee hours of 9:00 PM Saturday, we arose Sunday for church at the First Baptist Church of Delta Junction. We enjoyed the service but did not have the opportunity to speak with people as we had in other towns. We spent Sunday afternoon seeing the few sites: the visitor center with Mile Post 1422, Sullivan’s Roadhouse next door built in 1910, and artifacts from the original construction of the Highway.
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| The Unofficial Alaskan Bird, the Mosquito | |
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Day 22 (Monday, June 29)
I just washed the truck and trailer before leaving home! Well, it got dirty. After breaking camp, I spent an hour and a half washing the truck and trailer so that it could get rained on on our way to Fairbanks. We had another pretty but cloudy drive as we headed to Fairbanks for five nights and a bunch of sightseeing and catching up.
We had a great view of the Alaskan Pipeline as it crossed a river.
Day 23-26 (Monday-Friday, June 30 - July 3)
A lot to see and do in Fairbanks as we enjoyed our sightseeing outings, including:
We visited the North Pole, Alaska where Becky tried to convince Santa that she was good and what she wanted for Christmas.
Pioneer Park: an historical park where we took a train ride around the park, saw SS (Steamship) Nenana, a gold rush town, and the Alaska Salmon Bake.
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We took a great three hour ride on the Riverboat Discovery III with a stop for a float plane demonstration taking off and landing on the river with a radio conversation with the pilot. We viewed various houses along the shore with waves from many of the residents. We stopped by Susan Butcher (four time winner of the Iditarod) & husband David Monson's house (Susan passed away in 2006 from leukemia) and Trail Breaker Kennels where David talked to us via radio from shore and gave a great demonstration of a dog sled run pulling an ATV (with engine removed). And then a stop at a native fish camp where we disembarked for three 10-minute demonstrations and 30 minutes of free time to explore the camp. We picked up a copy of Susan and David's book "Granite" (Susan's lead dog) and had it signed by David who magically appeared at the camp.
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| Floatplane Demonstration | A Passing Swamp Boat |
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| These dudes were FAST! | On their way back. They're loving it! |
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| Traditional Native Fish Camp | Alaskan Huskies |
Since the wild animals remained on strike, we had to look for alternatives. We visited the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) which is part of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The animals there are indentured and not allowed to join in on the strike. We took a 45 minute walk with a guide (actually less than 10 minutes with a couple of long stops) and saw and learned about Muskox, Caribou, and Reindeer.
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| Young Muskox | Mother Muskox | Caribou |
We spent an afternoon at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. There were lots of displays of art about Alaska and by Alaskans and a lot of artifacts of the area and animal displays.
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| Alaskan RV |
HEY! What
happened to the front of our canoe? |
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 Lunch time! |
| Alaskan Outhouse |