Denali to Fairbanks

Pics and more to come

Denali to Fairbanks

July 29th

We were later than we had hoped leaving the RV park this morning as we had to contact two banks because last night Art had managed to get locked out of their on-line services! The first one was because it wasn't an account we use much and he had forgotten the answer to the “secret question”! This morning he remembered! Too late. The other one he was most puzzled as the password hadn't been changed in a while (oops!) then this morning he discovered that the “caps lock” was on!!!!! Oh well, at least we finally got around to changing the password. Now all we have to do is remember it!!

Having made sure that the credit cards had been paid on time, the pensions had been deposited and that there were still sufficient funds in the bank accounts for our immediate needs we set off more or less carefree.

As usual, leaving a place brings an improvement in the weather and soon Art was thinking about sun glasses. Much of the road was in fairly poor condition due to frost heaves though in other places there was brand new asphalt and in others sand and gravel where the road was being rebuilt. As we slowed for the first construction stop we heard a scraping noise that was definitely related to our speed. Art got out to check tire, wheel and brake temperatures with the infra red gun and found all normal. At the first pull out we stopped and Gillian got out to listen as Art drove slowly forward. She discovered that the right rear wheel cover was loose and rubbing on the wheel. Art was able to remove the two nuts that secured it with his fingers—they had backed off at least 3 full turns! Rather than dig out the wheel wrench to tighten them properly he simply removed the cover and put it in the back of the tow car! Deal with it later.

A bit further along at the next construction delay, while waiting for the pilot car, we decided that as it was close to lunch time we would see if we had time for a quick bite. To save time we opened a tin of turkey and mixed veg which we had been hauling around since Mexico and made a couple of sandwiches and opened a can of pop each. As we were cutting them in halves Gillian spotted the south bound pilot car and traffic approaching. We quickly put the sandwiches in plastic bags and the rest of the stuff in the sink and got moving. A little late but no one behind seemed to mind! The main problem was that we had shut off the engine while waiting and the Cummins takes a little longer to start—the ECM (engine control module) has to check everything out before the “WAIT TO START” light goes out!

Moving on we entered Fairbanks in the early afternoon and decided to do some sight seeing and shopping before finding a place for the night.

Fairbanks

Our first stop was the Museum of the North located on the campus of the University of Alaska. This well recommended museum covers ancient to modern history, natural history and paleontology, gold mining to World War Two in an interesting interconnected display.

The two that made the most impression were the comparative skulls of two whales ( forget which type!--possibly Right and Blue whales-- will try to research and confirm) and "Blue Babe", the taxidermists result of a 36,000 year old Steppe Bison Mummy. The name of course came from the famous tall tale of Paul Bunyon's Babe the Blue Ox. The colour is a result of iron in the soil reacting with the tissue. This is the only mummified remains of a Steppe Bison in the world.

After the museum it was time for shopping, fuel and planning the next few days. While Gillian began the shopping at Safeway Art got on the phone to inquire about a couple of touristy tours-- a riverboat tour where we could travel down the river on a sternwheeler, visit a native village, see a sled dog exhibition etc etc etc—and also a train trip through a permafrost tunnel to a gold mining operation with a chance to try our hand at gold panning. Trying to workout a schedule (the train trip wasn't available Saturday mornings) without checking with Gillian about what to do with the dogs during these excursions, Art decided that he would phone back to make reservations later.

Returning from the shopping we pulled around the corner to the Safeway Gas station. Out grocery purchase entitled us to a 10 cent per gallon fuel discount! At 42 gallons, it was worth waiting for the receipt!

From here it was only very short drive (less than a kilometer) to Chena River Wayside State Recreation Area campground. Imagine. A State Park in the middle of town!

As soon as we found a site and parked Art took the cell phone and called the ticket office for the tours. Closed!!! We hoped that we would be able to make arrangements in the morning. We (He!) should have called before we fueled up!

The park promised wireless but we couldn't connect from our site. We spoke to the campground hosts later and they said we could move tomorrow if we wished, units around the corner were able to connect. Should have tested first!

Once we were all settled in Art began working on the blog using the word processor and entering the pertinent photo numbers in the appropriate places so that when we can connect it will be a bit quicker to complete. While he was thus occupied muttering to himself Gillian quietly got on with dinner. It didn't take a lot of convincing for Art to close up the lap top, pour a couple of glasses of wine and pay attention to his pork chops with applesauce, potatoes, carrots and bok-choy. But then he was faced with the dishes. Still, a Good Trade!

The evening remained pleasant with the weather cooperating at least somewhat—no rain and a little warmer than before. The daylight continues to wreak havoc with our internal clocks. At 11:30 pm outside is still bright. While walking the dogs before bed we met one of the neighbours out with her 9 year old daughter trying to get her ready to sleep!

Once Art had his morning cup of tea on the go he phoned for the tours. He was able to book what we wanted, the Eldorado Gold Mine tour this afternoon and tomorrow morning the Riverboat tour. All the information we have read about these tours say that they are expensive but worth the price. Hope we find lots of gold during the gold panning part of the mine tour—you get to keep what you find!

After breakfast we went looking for the Tourist Information office and a barber for Art. He hadn't had a haircut since just before we left home; he was starting to feel like it was the 70's again! We tried the GPS: Nearest barber was called Jackson's Barber Shop—sounded promising. No longer there, now a beauty shop, too busy. Next door another—Lunch time and also unable to change the $100.00 bill, the smallest we had. Next one was several kilometers away so off we went. Spotted a bank on a corner, stopped, dashed in for change and carried on following the GPS directions which took us right to the door. . . of an abandoned building! Since we were now only 8 blocks from the Visitor's Center we went there first and asked about a barber. The young lady knew of several close by and recommended one 3 blocks from the last place we tried! Art set off and returned nicely shorn!