September 15, 2012
Fairbanks is Alaska's Second Largest City. Population: 32,036
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| AK Pipeline |
Not only did gold place Fairbanks on the map, but also during the WWII oil was found in Fairbanks. This was called ‘black gold’. Since 1968 and the discovery of oil on the North Slope, thousands of people moved north to work on the 800-mile pipeline being constructed. It stretches from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.
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| largest gold nugget found |
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| Chena River |
Today, mining and oil production continue to be the major contributors to Fairbanks economy. Over 16 million barrels of oil have been pumped since 1977 and over 8 million ounces of gold have been extracted since 1902. The largest gold nugget unearthed in AK was in 1998. It weighed 294.1 troy ounces, which equals 20lbs.
Today was Saturday and the week went quick. Bright and early we met up with a group of people at the main lodge. We ate breakfast for the last time in the beautiful Denali Lodge and then hopped on a bus in order head to Fairbanks.
Fairbanks was our last stop on our land tour and we were eager to see the sights. We could not wait to see the Northern Lights. Typically the skies light up at night during the winter months, but we were lucky because this, and next year, the sun is over active. For now, they are visible almost all year long.
The Aurora Boreas occurs because the sun has bursts everyday, all day. This year and next year, the sunspots are, and will remain, tremendously energetic. As the sun explodes it interacts with the earth’s magnetic field. The particles from the sun become charged. The sun fuses hydrogen into helium. It spurts these protons and electrons into space. Because of the solar wind the plasma is blown towards the north and south magnetic poles. As the particles collide with gas atoms, they emit stunning, dancing light. Contingent on the type of gas it mixes with, would hinge on on the color of light.
The reason why they appear to dance across the sky is because they stay in the track of the solar winds.
The Southern Lights emulate the Northern Lights, but not many people ever witness the Southern Lights. There is an app you can upload, for free, its called; Aurora Forecast. It is interesting to see how dynamic the night sky can be.
Okay, so back to Fairbanks. It was a 3-hour bus ride from Denali to Fairbanks. Our driver was hysterically funny. She would make jokes and tell us lies about certain spots we would pass. Afterward when everyone was gasping, oohing and ahhhing…she would chuckle and say she was only kidding. She was great! She had us all going for a while. She obviously loves her job and it showed.
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| Pioneer Park |
Sometime around noon we were dropped off for a period of 2 hours. Our hotel was not ready so we all went our own way and meandered around downtown. We ate local cuisine and attempted to visit an ice museum however it was the end of the season and closed. The surplus blocks of ice were sitting on the streets liquefying.
We did get to go to a history museum, and poke around Pioneer Park. Inside Pioneer Park there is an antler arch. It is made of a hundred moose and caribou antlers. They gathered these antlers from villages all over the northern Tanana-Yukon River County. Tanana people have a long history of independence, art and culture in the Fairbanks community.
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| Susan Butcher's house |
After checking into the hotel we were once more on our own. We decided to try an indigenous tourist trap. It was an all you can eat seafood place. Alaskan Salmon Bake. It was a buffet of all you can consume. Every kind of seafood you can envision. Plate after plate of Alaskan King Crab Legs. All I can say is – I unquestionably got my monies worth.
The following day we took a paddle riverboat cruise along the Tanana and Chena Rivers. Along the ride we watched a bush pilot take off and land on the river. We watched a sled dog demonstration of the famous Iditarod champion Susan Butcher. Susan was the first woman to win the race.
We also stopped by an Old Chena Indian Village. The tour is narrated and very captivating. We walked along a path that was lined with the Trans Alaskan pipeline. We also stopped, and leapt aboard a replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad. The train ride took us through an old gold mining dredge. After the train ride tour we were able to pan for gold. We were given little pouches of sand and shown how to clean it out in a certain shaped pan, using water. We found a total of $19.25 of pure gold. It looks a lot easier than it actually is. You can wash away a lot of profit if you’re not patient.
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| mining dredge |
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| Salmon drying out |
Once back on the riverboat and getting back to the marina we entered into a 40 BELOW experience. They offer an opportunity to anyone interested, a chamber that is self enclosed and the temperature is at least 40 below zero Celsius, or more. Tommy and I went in. He wanted out immediately. I had on silk long johns and could have stayed in there for a much longer period. It is completely free but of course they will sell you pictures that are taken of you while in there. Yes, we purchased one, like every other tourist that entered.
We had dinner early that night because the day was extensive and it was cold. We were spent, and the getting back to the hotel room was very appreciated.
The subsequent morning our time with Princess Cruises was over. We were now on our own. YAY!!!! We replaced hotels. We got a suite and rented a car. We headed north with no real strategies except for a couple of things we pre planned for ourselves.
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| panning for gold |
We first went to Chena Hot Springs Resort. The resort has 80 rooms and activities galore. We participated in the Hot Springs, which was amazing. The water is geothermal and completely relaxes every muscle in your body as if you just came from a masseuse. They say it has ‘healing’ powers.
After the hot springs we progressed across the resort to the Aurora Ice Museum. There is a minimal charge for the Ice Museum and our tour consisted of only 4 other people along with us. Our guide offered us parkers and gloves because inside the giant igloo the temperature remains steady at 20 degrees. Its temperature is controlled by – get this- geothermal water. I cannot explain it to its true form, but it has a two-stage ammonia absorption refrigeration system. They offer geothermal tours with better explanations of the way it works, but we did not have time to experience it.
The sculptor of the entire museum is Steve Brice. He is a Certified Master Ice Carver and 15 time World Champion. He lives local with his wife and 3 children. The sculptors inside are amazing. He has different color lights in the sculptures and they are just beautiful.
There is an ice bar and ice glasses. If so desired, you can have an Apple Martini in an ice carved glass. Very, very cool! (No pun intended).
Once again we had a full day and around 10pm we headed back to the suite.
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| CRAZY place! |
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| random bar along the road |
The next morning we woke up and decided to cut our trip short. We were schedule to stay another 2 weeks but the season was over and restaurants and entertainment were becoming sparse. Not to mention, the prices of everything is outstandly inflated. Most things are flown in, as they are in Hawaii. It just didn’t make sense to stay any longer. We changed our flights to come home early but still had another full day to explore.
We asked the locals where we should go, and headed back north along the highway until we found something interesting. We found a really good restaurant for dinner. It was called the Turtle Club.
(Here’s and example of how expensive AK really is.) Tommy and I split a meal. Surf and turf. He ate the ribeye, I ate the crab legs. The chef actually split the baked potato and we both had salad. The bill with one glass of wine each - $89.00 before tip! The fun part was we ended up sitting next to these 2 guys who were from Ft. Lauderdale.
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| This is the $89 meal! |
We struck up a conversation and ended up having a blast with them. We laughed so much that the manager came over and asked if we would like our tables combined. We declined, but did meet up with them again after dinner at a local bar called Howling Dog Saloon. The 4 of us were the only ones in the establishment and as soon as we left they closed.
The next morning we packed up, dropped the rental car off and taxied over to the airport. It was bittersweet leaving but we had a wonderful, full experience, and we were ready to get back to warm weather.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pictures. (Double click for enlargement).
Not only did gold place Fairbanks on the map, but also during the WWII oil was found in Fairbanks. This was called ‘black gold’. Since 1968 and the discovery of oil on the North Slope, thousands of people moved north to work on the 800-mile pipeline being constructed. It stretches from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.
Today was Saturday and the week went quick. Bright and early we met up with a group of people at the main lodge. We ate breakfast for the last time in the beautiful Denali Lodge and then hopped on a bus in order head to Fairbanks. 
Fairbanks was our last stop on our land tour and we were eager to see the sights. We could not wait to see the Northern Lights. Typically the skies light up at night during the winter months, but we were lucky because this, and next year, the sun is over active. For now, they are visible almost all year long.
The Aurora Boreas occurs because the sun has bursts everyday, all day. This year and next year, the sunspots are, and will remain, tremendously energetic. As the sun explodes it interacts with the earth’s magnetic field. The particles from the sun become charged. The sun fuses hydrogen into helium. It spurts these protons and electrons into space. Because of the solar wind the plasma is blown towards the north and south magnetic poles. As the particles collide with gas atoms, they emit stunning, dancing light. Contingent on the type of gas it mixes with, would hinge on on the color of light.
The Southern Lights emulate the Northern Lights, but not many people ever witness the Southern Lights. There is an app you can upload, for free, its called; Aurora Forecast. It is interesting to see how dynamic the night sky can be.
Sometime around noon we were dropped off for a period of 2 hours. Our hotel was not ready so we all went our own way and meandered around downtown. We ate local cuisine and attempted to visit an ice museum however it was the end of the season and closed. The surplus blocks of ice were sitting on the streets liquefying.
We did get to go to a history museum, and poke around Pioneer Park. Inside Pioneer Park there is an antler arch. It is made of a hundred moose and caribou antlers. They gathered these antlers from villages all over the northern Tanana-Yukon River County. Tanana people have a long history of independence, art and culture in the Fairbanks community.
After checking into the hotel we were once more on our own. We decided to try an indigenous tourist trap. It was an all you can eat seafood place. Alaskan Salmon Bake. It was a buffet of all you can consume. Every kind of seafood you can envision. Plate after plate of Alaskan King Crab Legs. All I can say is – I unquestionably got my monies worth.
We also stopped by an Old Chena Indian Village. The tour is narrated and very captivating. We walked along a path that was lined with the Trans Alaskan pipeline. We also stopped, and leapt aboard a replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad. The train ride took us through an old gold mining dredge. After the train ride tour we were able to pan for gold. We were given little pouches of sand and shown how to clean it out in a certain shaped pan, using water. We found a total of $19.25 of pure gold. It looks a lot easier than it actually is. You can wash away a lot of profit if you’re not patient.
We had dinner early that night because the day was extensive and it was cold. We were spent, and the getting back to the hotel room was very appreciated.
After the hot springs we progressed across the resort to the Aurora Ice Museum. There is a minimal charge for the Ice Museum and our tour consisted of only 4 other people along with us. Our guide offered us parkers and gloves because inside the giant igloo the temperature remains steady at 20 degrees. Its temperature is controlled by – get this- geothermal water. I cannot explain it to its true form, but it has a two-stage ammonia absorption refrigeration system. They offer geothermal tours with better explanations of the way it works, but we did not have time to experience it.
The sculptor of the entire museum is Steve Brice. He is a Certified Master Ice Carver and 15 time World Champion. He lives local with his wife and 3 children. The sculptors inside are amazing. He has different color lights in the sculptures and they are just beautiful.
The next morning we woke up and decided to cut our trip short. We were schedule to stay another 2 weeks but the season was over and restaurants and entertainment were becoming sparse. Not to mention, the prices of everything is outstandly inflated. Most things are flown in, as they are in Hawaii. It just didn’t make sense to stay any longer. We changed our flights to come home early but still had another full day to explore. 
We asked the locals where we should go, and headed back north along the highway until we found something interesting. We found a really good restaurant for dinner. It was called the Turtle Club.
We struck up a conversation and ended up having a blast with them. We laughed so much that the manager came over and asked if we would like our tables combined. We declined, but did meet up with them again after dinner at a local bar called Howling Dog Saloon. The 4 of us were the only ones in the establishment and as soon as we left they closed. 
The next morning we packed up, dropped the rental car off and taxied over to the airport. It was bittersweet leaving but we had a wonderful, full experience, and we were ready to get back to warm weather. 
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