Fairbanks Fun

Spending the night in Wasilla was a good decision. We were well rested and ready to make the final drive back to Fairbanks.

The landscape changes as you leave Anchorage behind. The tall mountains on the horizon become smaller and smaller, and soon you find yourself driving on relatively flat terrain (or slightly rolling hills). And then the Alaska Range appears on the horizon, and grows larger as you get closer. This is one of my favorite stretches of road on the Parks Highway.

There are a couple of stoplights in Denali Village - a collection of hotels and shops located just outside Denali National park. These lights appeared within the last few years and are the only traffic signals (besides railroad crossings) between Fairbanks and Anchorage. It's a resort area now, and I personally feel like it doesn't 'belong' on this stretch of highway. But tourism is big business for Alaska, and Mt McKinley and the park certainly brings a lot of visitors to the state.

We listened to several more CDs and the drive passed fairly quickly. Before we knew it, we were entering Fairbanks. I drove down Airport Way, pointing out various landmarks and talking about some of the reasons I prefer living in 'small' Fairbanks as opposed to 'large' Anchorage. Dee found it amusing that many Alaskans say that Fairbanks is flat. To someone who lives in Anchorage, Fairbanks is indeed flat - despite it's rolling hills. But to someone who lives in Philadelphia, and who only sees buildings going off for as far as the eye can see, Fairbanks is far from flat. It's all a matter of perspective!

Steve was thrilled to see us safe and sound. I don't know why he worries about me when I travel, but I'm not complaining. Dee had the opportunity to do some laundry, and we had a wonderful dinner of beer battered halibut before turning in for the night.

On Thursday (July 6th), I made reservations for Dee and I to visit El Dorado Gold Mine and to take a ride on the Riverboat Discovery. It was my first time partaking of these 'tourist' attractions, and I really enjoyed myself too. Both trips were entertaining and informative, and Dee learned a lot more about gold mining, mushing, and Native Alaskan customs.

The El Dorado Gold Mine ($29.95/adult) tour begins with a ride on a small gauge train that takes you through a permafrost tunnel where you see bedrock and prehistoric bones. The train moves past a miner's cabin and some additional mining equipment and at each stop a short presentation is given. When you get off the train at the mining camp, you learn about panning and watch a sluice box in action. A mining couple - very outgoing with a terrific sense of humor - explains present day placer mining methods. The fun starts when they hand you a bag of dirt and you sit at a sluice box, pan in hand, looking for your own gold. Dee and I each found $9 worth. You can have your gold put into a necklace charm or key chain if you want (additional cost).

The Riverboat Discovery ($46.95/adult) is a three-and-a half hour cruise. From the site: "You will see a bush plane taking off from a "bush" style runway, meet four time Iditarod winner Susan Butcher, witness the "wedding of the rivers," and gain insight into the ancient Athabascan Indian culture. Alaskan Native guides who have worked and lived in Alaska will take you on a personalized tour of the Chena Indian Village." Unfortunately, Susan Butcher is battling a rare form of Leukemia in a hospital in WA, but you do get to meet her assistants and see some of her dogs pull an ATV (summer training).

Fiddler on El Dorado Train	El Dorado Gold Mining Camp	Demonstrating panning	Gold pieces found in dirt
Dee Panning for Gold	Hunters Cabin and Cache	Fishwheel	Pretty flowers
Newest pups in training	Excited dogs ready to run!	Athabascan Fur Parka	Riverboat Discovery

Friday, we had reservations to ride the shuttle to Wonder Lake in Denali National Park. That shuttle ride is the next to the longest, and we needed to be at the park by 10:45am. It's about a 2 hour drive to the park, but with road repairs on the Parks Highway, we wanted to make sure we got there with time to spare. We left the house at 7am, made a stop at Sunrise Bagels (great drive through stand with excellent bagels and bagel sandwiches), and were on our way. I decided to take my car because it gets such good gas mileage.

We were the first ones on the bus, and all took window seats (the bus wasn't full, so it was OK to spread out). The trip took 11 hours roundtrip, but what an adventure! Our bus driver, Mona, was very personable and answered all of our questions as we made our way deeper into the park than I had ever been before. Now I REALLY have to enter the Denali Park Road Lottery for a chance to drive my car all the way in! (They have this lottery every year and winners get to drive their personal vehicle all the way to Kantishna on one weekend in September) The views were amazing! I wish we could have stopped a zillion times to take photographs, but the buses only stop at scheduled rest stops. Nevertheless, the drive was marvelous and we saw a lot of wildlife. Unfortunately, the mountain wasn't out.

The highlight of the trip was coming upon a sow and her cub, sitting on her haunches on a hillside, while he nursed. We watched them for more than 20 minutes, as he made his way from teat to teat to get his fill of milk. What a once in a lifetime experience!

Into Denali	The road high on the ridge	Polychrome area	Dall Sheep
Denali Panorama		Denali Toklat Rest Stop
Wonder Lake	Dee, Steve, Me - Wonder Lake	Wonder Lake	Red Fox on the Prowl
Listening for prey	Sharp eyesight	Grazing Grizzly	Toklat Rest Stop
Toklat Rest Stop		Toklat Rest Stop
Cloud covered range	Me and my LOVE!	Steve Toklat	There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story. ~ Linda Hogan ~
			Cow moose and twins

On Saturday (Dee's last day in town), I took her down to the Santa Claus House in North Pole to have her picture taken with Santa. She enjoyed browsing the store and looking at all the really neat Christmas ornaments. She loved all the letters to Santa which are hanging throughout the store too. Before heading back to Fairbanks, we made sure to say hello to the reindeer who live on the premises.

I then took her to Pioneer Park to look at some of the old log buildings that have been relocated here. We browsed a few shops and enjoyed the sunshine before coming home and relaxing in preparation for her return flight to Philadelphia.

While Dee napped, I printed out photographs for the Alaska photo album she bought while in town. I sent her home with 30 photographs so she'd have something to share with everyone while waiting for her film to be developed.

Fortunately, the return trip went as smooth as possible with no delays. She was very worried about that after her experience flying out here. I'm so glad!

It was so wonderful to have her visiting! We had a fabulous time sightseeing together. We really covered a lot of miles in the week she was here. She got to see and experience more than some people ever get to. If Denali had been out, it would have been an absolutely perfect trip. Then again, not many people get to see a bear nursing her cub either - so I don't think it could have been any more perfect!

I hope that next time, my brother will come back with her. I know he would have enjoyed the adventure.