Fairbanks and the Alaskan Interior

We spent four days in Fairbanks exploring from Fort Wainwright Army military base located near downtown.  We'd arrived Sunday after leaving Chicken, Alaska and continuing up the Alaska highway.  We reached the end of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction, 1,422 miles.

milesone at the end of the Alaska Highway

It was a rainy day and we checked into Ft Wainwright for our stay, enjoyed grocery shopping and the commissary and snagged treats at the food court.

Monday we woke up to sunshine and breezy weather.  We went to the Visitors Center which had some fantastic exhibits about living in Alaska in the cold - Arizona should have something like that for the heat! We then explored Pioneer Park that had a museum with lots and lots of early Alaska artifacts.

Linotype printing press

fur (wolf, lynx) parka

After that we went to the BLM, Department of Natural Resource and Fish and Game trying to find out where you could prospect - talk about bureaucracies !  The Fish and Game Department was helpful and had some pelts of various wild animals as well as stuffed versions of the large species found in the state.  The size of a moose, musk ox and bison are terrifying!


We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Creamer's Field Waterfowl Preserve and Nature Trails for a stroll through a boreal forest and wetlands.  We saw some of the sandhill cranes that winter over in Wilcox, Arizona.

Sandhill cranes in Fairbanks

iris in fields around preserve

boreal forest at preserve

Tuesday we went to the Ice Theatre downtown.  Fairbanks hosts the World Ice Carving Competition every March and this converted movie theatre has a short film and several of the sculptures on exhibit.  The MC is one of the sculptors and he’s won multiple 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th place prizes over the years.  It was a neat presentation where we got to walk among the sculptures in 20 degree coolers.

prospector ice sculpture

We went on from there to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.  There were lots of exhibits arranged by region with animals, native cultural items and history.  It was interesting but we both agreed the museums are getting repetitive.  It’s not that old a place, it wasn’t even a state when we were born!

First Nation weaving

table with elk legs

antler art piece

Today, Wednesday,  we moved to an electric hookup (yeah!) and I baked and cooked while Mike went to play golf.  I’m stocking up for the next leg of our trip.  

When he returned, we went to Chena Hot Springs for a long soak and then a Jacuzzi spell before heading over to the NORTH POLE!  Not the real one, but the town of North Pole, 13 miles outside of Fairbanks.  After damaging our wallets, we had a Mexican food fix and prepared to move on tomorrow. 

We’ll be three nights in Denali National Park and I don’t know what the reception will be like so I’ll catch up when we can.  It's 10:30 pm as I'm sitting here next to the screen door with bright light casting long shadows.