Fairbanks, Alaska

Sam's Club parking lot turned out to be more than a 'one night stand' for us. We stayed there four nights before moving to Chena Cove Campground on Ft. Wainwright.

Bob and I walked to all the shopping areas around Sam's Club geocaching for several days. It was all about the steps. As you can see from our geocache totals, we still need a few more to get to 5000 finds.  We did spot a travel bug on a car at the farmer's market on Saturday morning.

 While we were at Sam's, Bob and I remembered that Creamer's Refuge had walking trails and a few geocaches that we had not found. It was only about  a mile and a half from Sam's. It turned out to be a good place to walk except after a rain when it turned to mud. Connie even went with us one day.

 We enjoyed walking the area, but were disappointed that the Audubon Bird Center was no longer a part of Creamer's. Apartments near Creamer's took over the building and are using it as a gym.

 While we were still at Sam's, I had a crown fall off a back molar. Bright and early Monday morning, I called a dentist and was able to go in and have it repaired. If you are ever in Fairbanks and need dental work, I highly recommend Dr. Helmbrecht. The office staff and Dr. Helmbrecht were friendly and helpful in getting me back together again!

On Wednesday, we moved to Chena Cove on Ft. Wainwright. It is a nice campground, without  hook-ups, next to Chena River. When we first arrived on Ft. Wainwright, we dumped our tanks and filled with fresh water. We would hunker down at Chena Cove until time to head for Denali National Park August 3rd.

 Our campsite had a picnic table and if the trees had been trimmed, we would have had a view of the river behind our rig. For those of you who are wondering, we have been without hook-ups since our stop at White Horse, Yukon Territory over 75 days ago. And, yes, we are still below our budget of $75 a day.

One not so sunny day, we took a trip to North Pole, Alaska. We looked through Santa Claus House, but it wasn't much fun as there were not one, but two tour buses full of tourists doing the same thing! We left Santa Claus House and after much searching, found the Information Center on the other side of the highway. It had a replica of the pole that was flown over THE North Pole. The actual pole is near the post office.

 The information center is located in a log cabin that has a sod roof. With all the rain they have been having, the roof needs to be mowed!

 Another less than perfect weather day we went to the Alaska Museum at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. It is an interesting museum and a must see if you are in the area. Bob and I shared the outhouse on display in the museum.

One morning while walking around the campground, Bob spotted this osprey watching the cove. We have seen him several times since the original sighting, but have no idea where his nest is located.

Another of our  excursions while in Fairbanks was a ride on Riverboat Discovery. It takes you down the Chena River to the Tanana River. Once again, the tour buses dictated our ride! We took our trip on Discovery II as the tour buses filled the larger boat, Discovery III.

 First stop on the cruise was a float plane taking off and landing next to the riverboat.

 A little further along the river we made a stop at Susan Butcher's house. Her husband, David Monson, introduced us to their dogs and we watched as he was pulled around the perimeter of his property by the sled dogs. Susan Butcher won the Iditarod four times before being stricken with cancer. She lost her battle in 2006.

 One of my favorite parts of the trip to Discovery Village is seeing the young ladies model the handmade furs. This fur, if available for purchase would exceed $15,000!

  It was interesting to see how the salmon was scored before it was hung to dry.

  As always, we enjoyed our tour of Discovery Village.

As we were cruising down the river, we saw Chena Pump Restaurant. It looked like a good place to spend the rest of the afternoon. We had drinks and an appetizer, then went back to rigs for pizza and game night!

 Our next big trip was to Arctic Circle. Larry's Jeep looked pretty good at the start of the trip.

 The Dalton Highway would change that before the day was done.

 We found an overlook in The Milepost that wasn't marked along the highway. It gave us a fantastic view of the pipeline and fireweed. Yes, the fireweed is in full bloom. We are keeping a close eye on its progress.

 Along the way, we stopped to watch this bear amble down the highway. He didn't seem to be concerned that a huge truck could come around the corner and wipe him out!

 Another view of the pipeline was this zig-zag portion. It was built this way on hills to help with expansion and contraction during weather changes.

 One of our last stops before reaching Arctic Circle was Finger Tors Rest Area. The tors are granite outcroppings that occur in this area.

 Finally, we made it to Arctic Circle. Bob and I looked for the geocache located here, but it had been muggled! Alas, two visits to Arctic Circle and on both visits we were prevented from claiming this cache!

 On our way back to Fairbanks, we got behind a water truck that was wetting the road for a grader. Larry's Jeep was not looking so good any more.

 Our last stop on our trip was Hot Spot Cafe made famous from the show "Ice Road Truckers." It is an interesting place, but stay away from the bathrooms!

We are having a great time in Fairbanks. I'll continue our adventures in my next post.