Fairbanks, Alaska

June 24,  Pulled out of the campground and went across the road to the Great Alaskan Bowl Company, where they make all kind of bowls out of wood, they make different spoons and other kitchen tools out of cherry which they bring the wood in from Pennsylvania.  We then went and parked the trailer at WalMart and went to the Ford dealer to see about getting the oil changed, a 4 hr wait time, so we left, I called when we got back to see about going on Discovery Boat tour for 2:00.  We where to arrive by 1:30 for our tickets, which we did, went into the shops, and went into the freezer at 30 below to see how long you could stay in, didn’t feel too bad but when you came out it really felt hot in the room.  We got on the boat, which was full because of tour busses.  What a great ride, flat bottom boat in only about 3 1/2 foot of water.  We experienced a real Alaskan Bush Pilot in action as he took off from the river, saw the two largest tributaries to the mighty Yukon River, visited the home and kennels of the late Iditarod Champion, Susan Butcher and saw her champion sled dogs in action.  Learned about the area’s Native cultures and subsistence lifestyles from Native Alaskan guides, and experienced frontier living first hand with a guided walking tour of an Athabascan Indian village.    We had meant a couple from Wisconsin at Chicken and they where on the boat tour, we stood and talked a while and then they came and camped at WalMart, too, we went and sat and talked for a while with them before retiring for the night around 11 pm.

Fairbanks, Alaska

June 23,  Let the state campground around 9:30 in the rain, called about River’s Edge Campground about a site for the night, she told us to come about noon.  Before arriving, we drove to 2 Safeway stores to see about the coupon book, first one was sold out, the second one I had called before arriving, they told me they had one, I asked if they could hold it for me, we arrived and bought the last one to be had in the area.  Arrived at the campground, got a site for 1 night, set up, ate lunch, found a Ford dealer locally to see about getting oil changed.  On the way back we where driving through town and came upon a Solstice Celebration or Midnight Sun Festival downtown, held annually on the Sunday closest to solstice from noon to midnight.  The Midnight Sun Festival is Alaska’s largest single-day event drawing up to 30,000 sun-worshippers.  We then came back to Pioneer Park to ask about some tours in town and about the Alaska Salmon Bake, they gave us a coupon for $4.00 off ticket, so we went to the Salmon Bake for dinner, Ken says it wasn’t worth the money, it was all you can eat, ate too much, of course.

Tok, Alaska

June 20,  We had pulled out of the town of Chicken around 9:15.  Drove for about 2 1/2 hours, until we got to Tok, Alaska.  Fueled up and got a free car/truck wash, it took us 2 hours to wash truck and trailer with a pressure washer, still looks pretty dirty.  Went to Sourdough Campground, got set up, went got some groceries and then to Fast Eddies for dinner.  Did some laundry and then watched and played throw the sourdough pancake into a bucket, you get two tries, one for practice and the other for good, if you make it you get a free breakfast, we didn’t win.

June 21,  We went for breakfast at the campground restaurant, great sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage, while doing laundry.  Went into town and visited the gift shops, didn’t buy anything, went back to camp and relaxed.  I went to cafe for the wi-if so I could work on the blog, got it all up to date and send it out.  Ate dinner in trailer and then walked over to watch pancake toss, Ken got the pancake in the bucket, so he gets a free breakfast tomorrow morning.

June 22,  Went up and ate the sourdough pancakes, that Ken won a free breakfast, I got reindeer sausage and Ken got bacon.  After eating we went back hooked up, dumped and pulled out of the campground at 10 am.  We drove 180 miles, stopped in Delta Junction, which is the official end of the Alaska Highway, at the information center to take some pictures, we stopped again at the North Pole information center to ask about the coupon book.  Went to Safeway and asked, they said they are out, will check again at Fairbanks.  We did go over and visit Santa Claus House, which was established in 1952, and is home of the Original Letter from Santa.  A great gift shop, actually saw Santa and Mrs getting their pictures taken with some people, also saw a huge Christmas Tree decorated with bows and the world’s largest Santa, standing 42 ft. tall.  Went back to Chen’s Lakes Recreation Area and stayed at River Park Campground outside Fairbanks at Mile 4.9 for the night.

Chicken, Alaska

June 18,  Visited the three buildings in town, gift shops, cafe’, and they have a liquor store which we didn’t visit.  They have fuel at two different places, but they say if you can make it to Tok, which is 80 miles away, get it there it’s cheaper.  Chicken has a population of 23 in summer and 7 in winter, there is nothing to do here but pan for gold and check out the old dredges.  The town has no water source, it is trucked in, or electricity, everything is run on generators and no cell service.  They do have a post office, with delivery every Tuesday and Friday, I took some pieces of mail to send, just because, I read somewhere that if you want your mail delivered here you must mail it 10 days prior to wanting it.  Chicken also has an airport, which they say is busy.  At the campground you can pan for gold, Ken decided to try his hand and did find some small pieces.

June 19,  Ken decided we needed to stay another day in Chicken, he wanted to pan some more for gold.  He panned for gold from 11:30 - 3:30 got quite a bit of flakes and one nugget that wouldn’t fit up the tube to the squirt bottle.  We just sat around until we went to bed about 10:30 in the light.

June 17, We pulled out of the campground and onto the free ferry to cross the Yukon River about 10 am.  We had traveled the Top of the World Highway from Dawson City, Yukon to Chicken, Alaska stopping at the border crossing.  The road was wet and rough, couldn’t travel very fast, it took us 5 hours to travel 107 miles, with a stop for some lunch at a turnout.  We arrived in Chicken about 3 pm, we lost an hour when we hit the border, so we are 4 hours behind the east coast.  We decided to stop at one of the three campgrounds in town, Chicken Gold Camp & Outpost.

Dawson City, Alaska

June 16,  Went out for lunch, had breakfast burrito with hash brown, bacon, green onions, eggs and cheese, very good.  Went and visited the information Centre walked along waterfront in the rain.  Watched the ferry going back and forth, walked up and saw Tony Beets’ tugboat, he is on Gold Rush, has a dredge and has just moved another dredge down the Yukon River.  Ate dinner, tuna melts, and stood and talked to our neighbors from Saskatchewan until 8 pm and then went downtown to Diamond Tooth Gerties, a bar, casino and where they put on shows with can can girls at 8:30, 10 & 12 every night, we sat and watched all three shows and watched people play poker between shows, nice evening out.

June 15, We got up a little late this morning, 8:30, had breakfast, went to get haircuts to a total of $65.00 for both of us.  We then went to the water front where they had vendors set up, walked around didn’t buy anything, nothing too interesting.  We then fueled the truck and drove out to see Dredge #4, about 7.8 miles from town, drove back toward town and drove the Midnight Dome Road to a view overlooking Dawson City and the Yukon River and Klondike River, great view.  We came back to town, walked around into some stores, back to camp, made dinner and sat and talked to our neighbors.  Sun is still shining it is 10:40 and won’t be behind the mountain until after 11 pm.