The last week of our great
Alaskan RV Road trip took us way up north, including Fairbanks, Alaska's second
largest city. We met up with Larry's cousin Ray and Carol Barnhardt, who made
Fairbanks their home for 40+ years. In addition to parking our RV at their home,
we had a chance to catch up and take their advice on things to do and see.
This included an excursion to the Arctic Circle, where we were awed by the sight
of the Aurora Borealis, which has been checked off our Bucket List!
Ray, now retired from the
University of Alaska, spent his 40+ career creating and nurturing a program to teach
native Alaskan "how to teach" using their traditional ways. His daughter, now head
of the department,
and Carol are carrying on his legacy.
Prudhoe Bay, in the Arctic Ocean, is home to the largest
oil field in North America. To get the oil from the north slopes, the
Trans-Alaskan pipeline (largest in the world) was built, stretching eight
hundred miles to the
southern and ice-free seaport of Valdez.
Alaska is also home to the largest
waterfowl refuge in the world. Ray and Carol took us to one refuge, where
these Sand Hill Cranes were prepping for their trip down south.
This museum told the story of
the internment of Aleut Native Alaskan, along with Japanese ancestors living on
the Aleutian Islands during World War II. After the war, they found their homes in
ruins - a sad story.
From the front of the museum, we
could see the Alaskan Mountain Range off in the distance. The
mountains of Denali National Park are a part of this range.
Alaska's famed 1,000-mile Iditarod
Dog Race is displayed throughout Alaska. Susan Butcher, a native of
Massachusetts, moved to Alaska at age 20 to race dogs and took first place in
four races.
This picture was taken from the
Chena River Boat, as Susan Butcher's husband demonstrated dogs pulling an
ATV (with no drive train) around the track by their home. Susan died of leukemia
at age 51.
The riverboat stopped at the Chena
Native Village, where we got a glimpse of native life before European settlers
came to Alaska. It was awesome to see the intricacies of the furs used to
make their outer wear.
This was the 900 passenger
paddlewheel riverboat we rode on the Chena River through downtown Fairbanks.
It was once used to carry supplies to Alaska, before trains and aircraft
came along.
In another museum, we learned more
about the Arctic Circle, which is an imaginary line that runs through eight
countries. In the summers, these lands see 24 hours of day light and in winter,
nearly no daylight.
The gold rush of 1898, brought
thousands to Alaska to pan for gold. While some still pan, others use
enormous equipment like this truck to move tons of earth to find ounces of
gold.
Fairbanks sits on the confluence of
several rivers and with fast snow runoff, the city has suffered over fifteen major
floods. This marker shows the high-water mark of the worst flood that occurred
in 1967.
One place that totally blew our
minds was the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. It has nearly 100 pre-WW II
autos that are in impeccable condition.
Seven of these cars cannot be found
anywhere else in the world. Another thing that made this museum so unique, were
the women's fashions of the time.
Fairbanks, like most communities,
holds onto their heritage through the display of old homes, buildings, equipment, and
apparel from the "good ole days." We loved this log cabin.
In addition to the Alcan Highway, we
experienced the Dalton Highway, which was built in the 1970 to move equipment to
construct and maintain the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline.
We took a 20-passenger bus nearly 200 miles
from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle. The road is mostly dirt and gravel,
largely because of the permafrost it sits on.
We crossed this 2,297' bridge and the
only one to span the mighty Yukon River in Alaska. The Yukon is the third
largest river in North America.
All along the highway, we could
see the Trans-Alaskan pipeline elevated above the permafrost Tundra.
Once we arrived at the Arctic Circle,
we were given a certificate. They say that only two percent of Alaskan
tourists make it this far north. Glorine jumped for joy!
At the Arctic Circle, most of the
passengers went back to Fairbanks, while three of us went on to Coldfoot.
Here we checked into this hotel/man camp, for tourists, truckers, and oil
workers.
At midnight, our tour guide picked
us up at our hotel and drove us to Wiseman, about fifteen miles north, where we waited until 1:30 am to
witness the Northern Lights, up front and personal.
The natural light show started off
very slow and faint, but eventually increased in size and color across the
southern skies. If you are patient, you
can see the slow movement of these lights on the video clip below.
We stood out in the cold watching
this awesome spectacle for nearly two hours. We would still be there if it would
not have disappeared.
Coldfoot, (pop
of 268), is where the BLM, National Parks and US Fish and Wildlife share the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center. It is an award-winning center with exhibits
and information of their vast holdings.
We knew Alaska is the largest state
in the US, but were surprised to learn that 65 percent is owned by federal
agencies, 24.5 percent is owned by state government and 10 percent is owned by
Native Alaskan Corporations, leaving the remainder as private property.
As we flew back to Fairbanks,
Glorine caught this cool rainbow, which looks like it is coming out of the
wing.
Here is the mighty Yukon, which the
pilot said has a water basin larger than the state of Texas.
The Fairbanks airport is a sprawl
of aircraft. Alaska has sixteen times as many aircraft per capita than anywhere
else in the US.
After saying our farewells to Ray and
Carol, we drove to the Chena Hot Springs and stopped to watch this moose having
lunch in this pond.
Chena Hot Springs, 60 miles east
of Fairbanks, was first used in the early 1900 to relieve the bumps and
bruise of gold miners. Today, it home to tourists.
The geothermal water rises to the
surface at about 165 degrees, where cool water is added before it is added to
the springs at about 105 degrees.
We could not resist the lure of
the North Pole, which is a town south of Fairbanks. Santa Claus Haus is
where we shopped until we found the right gifts for the kids.
We got all the gifts in one large
bag. From here, we started our return trip through Canada, back to the lower
forty-eight through Washington, Oregon, and California. WHAT A GREAT
TRIP!!!
