Fairbanks, Alaska June 30th

We left Whitehorse Wednesday, the 27^th. It was 63º under partly cloudy skies and it started to rain within a half hour of leaving. So what’s new! The scenery was beautiful none the less and the rain kept the bugs from sticking to the windshield. As we drove we were surrounded by mountains and stopped to take pictures of the snow covered Kluane Range in the distance. The Black Spruce trees were starting to look like something out of a Dr. Spock book. They’re thin in diameter and the branches hang down towards the ground. I read that one inch of trunk could mean the tree is almost a hundred years old. Since the ground is permanently frozen the roots are very shallow which in turn stunts the growth of the tree.

As we approached Lake Kluane we saw signs warning us of road construction ahead but we had crossed other places where they were fixing the road so we didn’t give any thought that there would be any problems. Wrong! We drove for 141km of gravel, mud, remember it was raining, frost heaves, and washboard conditions. If you drove more than 20 MPH the truck and trailer wanted to do the “Watusi” all over the road!! Very scary! At times we would have to wait for a pilot car to escort us through a one lane stretch of road. I was glad when we hit solid pavement but by this time the truck and Monty were covered in a thick layer of dirt and mud.

The Alaskan border was finally in sight! The sun was shinning and the temperature was 72º! The customs agent asked us the usual questions and then asked us how we liked Skagway? It took me a minute to realize we were in their computer system and they knew when and where we had been. We had a nice chat and we were free to continue on.

A half hour into Alaska we came upon a turnout with a beautiful view of lakes & distant mountains (milepost- 1231) and decided we would stop there for the night. We’re usually the first RVers to stop at a turnout for the night but others pull in until it’s a mini campground.

Thursday, the 28^th dawned sunny and warm. It was only 66º but felt much warmer. As we were preparing to leave we had a real scare when Keeker jumped out of the trunk, pulled out of his harness and ran under the muddy truck. He was just as scared as we were and just cried and cried. He half-heartedly tried to get away from me but finally let me catch him.

With that accomplished we headed off to Tok, Alaska the next “major” town up the road. We stopped for diesel and a truck and trailer wash that we had to do ourselves. You feed quarters into a machine and it turns on either foam or a high pressure spray of water. Twelve dollars later the Monty and the truck were presentable and we could see out of the windows. We noticed that there was a campground behind the Chevron station and Jim found out we could camp for the night for free if we filled our tank. So we pulled in with the other RV nomads.

Tok has a lot of native people with alcohol problems just like the in the lower 48 and we met three of them. A man and woman wandered over to a picnic bench near by and ate lunch. They were joined by another native who walked up carrying a beer bottle in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other which was shared by all three. One by one the guys left leaving the woman sitting at the table. The next thing we know she has a seizure and falls off the bench onto the ground. We ran over to help her and get her stabilized and sitting upright. She reeked of booze! I asked her name and she said, “White people call me Marilyn.” She said her people call her “Little grandma”. Jim went into the Chevron station to get help. They all knew her and said she was harmless. We gave her cold water, because it was so hot in the sun, and that seemed to sober her up a bit. She wandered off about an hour later.

The rest of our stay was uneventful and we left for Fairbanks the next morning.

Friday morning, June 29^th. You can tell you’re in the interior of Alaska because it’s so warm. It was 69º at 9:30 AM but the sun makes it feel much warmer. On the drive up to Delta Junction we saw some wildlife again… moose. All of the moose we’ve seen so far have been females (no antler growth) and we were able to stop for some pictures.

No trip up here would be complete without a stop in North Pole, Alaska which is actually a suburb of Fairbanks. We stopped at the visitor’s center, a log cabin with grass growing on the roof. We’ve seen other privately owned log cabin homes just like it. Then we visited Santa’s house and met both Mr. and Mrs. Claus and two of their reindeer that sported brand new growth of antlers. Very impressive.

We pulled into the Riverview RV park and are surrounded by a large caravan of RVers. Neither of us would care to travel that way. We set up camp and I made reservations for a river boat tour on the Chena River for Saturday. Then we drove into Fairbanks to look around and stopped off at a restaurant on the Chena River called Pikes Landing. We had drinks and an appetizer on the patio overlooking the river. You would have thought we were in California, except for the river and trees, because everyone was dressed in shorts and even a few Hawaiian shirts!

This morning we’re off to see the sights.