Long, Long Days in Fairbanks

Sunday, June 14, 2009 – It’s our first day in Fairbanks and it seems that everything is closed. We thought we might go to Gold Dredge #8 but it is closed for the season for renovations; Ester Gold Camp is closed permanently; Museum of the North is closed on Sundays. We considered driving to Prudhoe Bay until we found out it is well over 450 miles on all gravel roads and then you have to pay to take a tour if you want to actually get to the Arctic Ocean. Furthermore, since September 11 most of the area is restricted so you don’t really get to see much. You can fly to Prudhoe Bay and back at the bargain price of $989 per person which is definitely not in our budget so all things considered we decided we didn’t need to see it that bad and shelved that plan. Instead we drove downtown and found that most everything was closed except for the Visitor’s Center. We stopped in there and they suggested Pioneer Park which happens to be only a short distance from our campground. We went to Pioneer Park and walked through an assortment of restored and relocated historic buildings, a Gold Rush Museum, and an Aircraft Museum. The admission to the park is free but since most of the buildings and exhibits seem to be in varying stages of disrepair it might serve them well to charge a small admission fee and put the money toward renovations and upkeep. As we were driving back from downtown we noticed a restaurant called the Bakery. It had lots of cars in the lot so we thought it must be one of two things either it was the only place in town that is open or the food must be good. We stopped in and fortunately found it to be the latter and we had a good breakfast. Bill and Pam stayed behind in Tok one additional day to wait for their mail and they are meeting us here in Fairbanks this afternoon. Since they will most likely be tired from driving all day we decided to make a spaghetti dinner for all of us. We stopped at Fred Meyer for a few groceries and then went back home for the rest of the evening.

Monday, June 15, 2009 – We got up early this morning and called for reservations for the El Dorado Gold Mine and the Riverboat Discovery. Before we left home both Pam and I ordered the Alaska Tour Saver Book and we had half price coupons for both of these attractions. We arrived at the El Dorado Gold Mine along with numerous tour buses full of visitors and were loaded onto open cars on a narrow gauge train. The train moved through a permafrost tunnel and past several stations showing various methods of gold mining including dredging, sluicing, and panning. At the end we were herded into a large area that resembled a cafeteria but instead of tables there were troughs of water, benches and gold pans. On the way in each person was handed a small canvas bag of pay dirt so you could try your hand at panning for gold. Between the two of us we got 8 grains of gold worth about $24. The operation is very commercial and touristy, but the gold panning was fun and since we used our Tour Saver coupons the price wasn’t too bad. On the way back to the campground after the Gold Mine experience we stopped at a turnout where you can view a small section of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. We had a little bite of lunch at home and then immediately headed to the Riverboat Discovery dock. We boarded the boat at 2:00 PM along with even more buses full of tourists. As we cruised along the Chena River there were several activities to watch. The first was the take-off and landing of a bush plane on the river. A little further on the boat stopped in front of the home and kennels of Susan Butcher, four time winner of the Iditarod. It was interesting seeing the huskies and hearing about how they are trained. Since it is summer the dogs are hitched to a modified tractor instead of a sled. It was especially fun to see how excited the dogs got when they were hitched up, they could not wait to run. Continuing down the river, the boat docked alongside a recreated Athabascan village. We saw reindeer which are domesticated caribou, hunter and trapper cabins, a food cache, and the fish camp where salmon is caught, dried, and smoked. Like the Gold Mine, the river boat is commercial and touristy but it was very enjoyable and educational. When we left we went to the Pump House Restaurant which is built on the site of the Chena Pump House used to pump water from the river up to Chena Ridge to be used for the dredging of Cripple Creek. The restaurant came highly recommended in the Frommer’s Alaska Guide and it did not disappoint. Bill and I both had Chicken Diablo which was a chicken breast topped with king crab, artichokes, mushrooms, and a delicious sauce. All four of us thoroughly enjoyed our meals.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 – After doing some clean-up and maintenance on the RVs we left to go to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska. The museum displays were very good and it was quite educational. There were two movie presentations, one on the Aurora Borealis and the other on winters in Alaska. One particularly unique display is called the “Great Outhouse Experience.” The artist built a large replica of an outhouse and filled it with an assortment of objects and mementos. On the way back to camp we stopped at the Howling Dog Saloon in the nearby town of Fox, AK. The walls are covered with dollar bills with messages written on them and there is an assortment of women’s bras hanging from rafters and lights. According to what I read about the place it is a local favorite frequented by a diverse crowd ranging from college students to bikers, to glacier scientists. It is an interesting place and probably really wild and fun on the weekends. We returned to Pioneer Park and had dinner at the Alaska Salmon Bake. The food was good enough but not worth the price in my opinion. As has been our habit in the evenings Bill and I took a walk around the campground. We went out at 10:30 PM and had to use our sunglasses. We passed a young boy with rod in hand heading to the river to go fishing and there were three kayaks of people rowing down the river. It is about 5 days until the summer solstice which is cause for great celebration in Alaska after seven long, cold, and dark months of winter. As the summer solstice approaches each day gets about 7 minutes longer and currently there are approximately 22 hours of daylight every day. It is pretty neat but thank goodness for black out shades or we would never get any sleep.