Denali Denali Denali

Hi all! We spent the last 10 days at this beautiful park

Our site was wooded and very shaded, very private. We had about an acre to ourselves! We were across the "street" from the bathrooms, which helped alleviate some of the pressure on our tanks, since we had no electricity or water for that amount of time. We also had a special creature, a resident moose!

She's an older lady with a baby. She liked to hunker down around site 106 (we were at site 100) and at a spot by the creek. But what campground boasts this kind of wonderment?! This happened for 5 days in a row! Great stuff!

When you come to Denali, be prepared to pay to see the wildlife (unless you stay in our loop--Caribou Loop at Riley Creek campground with the resident moose--tee hee hee!). The park road goes 30 miles to Savage Creek, and then you would have to take a bus to go further. They do this for 2 reasons:  1, to preserve the wildlife. 2, the roads are really narrow and do not allow for traffic jams or pull-offs for passing, like in other national parks. Your bus ride can cost you (for wildlife viewing) anywhere from free (a shuttle bus a mile or two around) to $225 pp (for an interpretive, 12-hour round trip). We decided to do the cheap-o, $64 pp 12-hour RT non-interpretive bus ride. But Omar, our nice driver, took pity on our downtrodden faces and gave us a narrated tour for free. 😉 Yay, Team Omar!

The park has lots of flora and fauna, and many people come to see the main 5 mammals: moose, caribou, wolf, grizzly bear, and Dall sheep. Our key word for Omar was STOP. He would stop the bus so we could see the wildlife because, well, he was driving. We were able to see 3 of the 5, plus 2 neat birds. Unfortuately, we missed the grizzly and the wolf. But hey, they can't all be A+ days! We did manage to be part of the Elite 30%---those that actually see Denali. She shone in wondrous splendor that day.

So, without further ado, I give you, Denali

First peek; hint, she's the one all in white

A little closer

Made you look! These are some beautiful colors on the way

This is a model of Denali and its surrounding mountain friends

taken at the Eilsen Visitor Center

same view (for real) at 10AM from outside at Eilsen

4PM from outside Eilsen

the road we drove

And, as you can see, the end of the road

Why did the moose cross the road??

That bird? It's a golden eagle

Willow Ptarmigan---Alaska's state bird (he's the brown patch on the left)

This is the Dall sheep. He was too far away to see well. We had to use binoculars.

Caribou; a family above and a lone ranger

On the way back, as if to make up for the missing bear, we were greeted with this lovely sight:

The name of the creek is Unicorn Creek

It was a fabulous day to go see Denali and wildlife. I am glad that we went. It was relaxing to listen to nature, hear the rain at night, see beautiful rainbows, and a resident moose. Not to mention the mountain view every morning. I hope you all get to visit one day. Until then,

 😉

Fairbanks....Heart of Gold

Hi all....welcome to Fairbanks, city with a heart of gold!

It's actually called "Heart of Gold" city. Gold was found here around 1902, and then she grew up, literelly. There are a lot of things to do here in Fairbanks. We stayed at a nice park about 10 miles out of Fairbanks proper. The downtown is quaint and has a lot of good eateries. There are a lot of Asian-inspired places here. Of course, Russia is only 50 miles away! (not from here, though). So let's re-cap some things we did here.
DAY ONE:  took a ride on the Riverboat Discovery.

It is a sternwheeler paddleboat that goes up and down the Chena River. It weighs 23,000 tons and only needs 39 inches of draft. The boat runs 4 months a year; in the interior of Alaska, the summers are short. The river has a complete freeze by Halloween. About 1 in 7 people in Alaska have one of these:

Yup! They are licensed pilots. Gotta have a way to get around in remote places. Behind him is the original Discovery (we were on Discovery III). It only carried 26 passengers. A husband and wife came up with the idea to show people the wonders of the river, and a trade (tourist, that is) was born.

There are many Alaska First Nations here, but the predominant one in the interior is Athabascan. They learned to use the land and every bit of the animals they hunted to survive up here. They had moose, caribou, bear, fox, timber wolf, beaver, and ermine. They used the pelts for warmth, the meat for food, and their skins for clothing. They also used their sinews for binding. Trees, like birch, were made into canoes. And of course, salmon runs. The salmon would come up the river. King salmon were eaten by the people. Chum salmon were given to the dogs.

This guy posed for a picture

Fish wheel:  it spins in the water, trapping the fish in the net. Voila! Dinner!

Learned about mushing at this place; his wife, Susan Butcher, won 4 Iditerods; she died in 2006 of leukemia. She wrote a book, Granite, about her favorite dog. The dogs above descended
from Granite.

DAY TWO:  visited LARS:  Large Animal Research Station. Learn about Reindeer and Muskox. This is part of the University of Alaska/Fairbanks campus. Students come here to learn about the animals. They are harnessed early and learn to work with humans. The muskox come from a group from Greenland that were shipped over to Alaska. The reindeer come from a line from Siberia. Nice to trace your lineage that far, eh? 😊

They harvest the undercoat of the muskox, called quivit (pronounced "kiveeit"). They weave it, spin it, and hand dye it; then they sell it to you for $120/200 yds. I love you, LH and mom, but even I won't buy one for me. Apparently, it keeps you warm in -20*F below. Who knew?

From this

To this

DAY THREE:  Pioneer Park. This is a walker's paradise. Wide streets, dog walker's haven (NS--you and Dunkin would LOVE it!). They took a lot of the cabins that were on the streets of Fairbanks and turned them in to shops along the paved road area. Along the way is old gold mining equipment, too. So you get to meet crafters/vendors. There are plaques on the outside of the houses to tell you who used to live there, what is was used for, etc. Just a neat place to take a walk through history. We were there about 30 minutes. Oh, by the way, it's FREE!!!

DAY FOUR:  Morris Thompson Cultural And Visitors Center. This place is jam-packed with wonderful things about Alaska and Fairbanks/Interior of Alaska in general. And not one penny comes from tax-payer money. It is all funded by donations! There were many movies to watch. We got to see one about Alaska in general and one about the northern lights (they only happen between August and March). There was also a wonderful exhibit where you walk through the four seasons of interior Alaska. They also had some great outdoor critters you are likely to meet, like this guy:

He doesn't look happy that I took his picture.

I think I might have gotten too close to this one!

Fish camp; little critter is greedy!

This was a great map I could read; not sure if you can zoom in, but it shows all the First Nations and where they all inhabit in the state of Alaska.

Outside of each of the entrances to the center (I think there are 6) are mosaics like this one. How beautiful! They copy some type of motif.

This is one type of artwork I am leaving to the experts and not trying on my own!
They are all seed beads.

DAY FIVE: 

The name says it all! It is a museum that showcases AMERICAN automobiles from 1898 to the late 1930s and the vintage clothing that went with them. It really was a hoot! There was even a section of cars that were in Alaska during that time. They even had electric automobiles, so this concept is not new. I was quite impressed. And they told us that all of them ran well, except for 3. Not bad at all. Here are some of the gems.

A motorized "surry with the fringe on top" (a motorized cab with fringe)

 

1909 Cadillac

1917 Pierce Arrow

What you'd wear in the Pierce

1936 Packard----a touring automobile

Looking stylish as you ride in your Packard

DAY 6: University of Alaska/Museum of the North. This is housed at the actual college campus. 

It had a lot of interesting exhibits, including this neat one here:

First ever Polar Dinosaur---pretty cool, literally!

My favorite part about this museum lay in the back, the Alaska section. You start at the beginning of Alaska, with its First Nations/Eskimos and Tlingits, and walk to the end, World War II to present. It was really spectacular! I am reading this book

And it seems like the entire exhibit followed this book! It was fantastic! I was able to follow along and understand it! It was great to see some of the stories in the book come to life in the exhibit. For example, one of the characters in the early part of the book has to get sent to the Pribilof Islands (also known as the Seal Islands) as punishment for wrongdoing. Consider it being sent off to prison camp. Here is what he would see at the islands

And the background in the picture is basically all they would see for miles. It was extremely cold and windy, since they were surrounded by water, and storms were frequent. But, if you're gonna do the crime, you gotta do the time. 😏

Eskimo gear

Walrus and seal

Polar Bear----closest I will EVER get

Also mentioned in the book was a fun activity that the Eskimo did, where they gather around and jump up and down on a framed hoop thing. If I show you a picture, I'm sure you'll remember your days in PE or Field Day this game as well. 

This was in the gift shop; notice, I just took a picture. It was WAY out of my budget to buy it.

And as a teacher I have been listening to my students each year read me the story of how animals adapt in the winter time; foxes use their tails to wrap around their heads, most animals grow a heavier coat, and birds grow feathers on their feet. Now I know that that's true. This is the ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska. In the winter, it turns white for camouflage. And yes, it truly has feathers on its feet. Wowza!😃

There are lots of things to do in Fairbanks. There is an Ice Museum, including sculptures of ice, and they play music with a light show on the sculptures. We didn't see it, as we already did a lot. There is also a Dog Mushing Museum, free, that we chose not to go to as well. North Pole, Alaska, is only 10 miles in the other direction, and it has some cool things as well, but we chose to stay and visit the many things Fairbanks does well. 

We had a really good time here and glad that we stayed the two weeks. Most people come out here and only stay 2-4 days. What a shame! This place has so much to offer. And talk to the locals. They love to share with you. I hope you get a chance to come up here. The scenery is breathtaking. The weather is absolutely wonderful, and the mosquitoes really aren't that bad.......now. 😀 Thanks for visiting Fairbanks with me. It truly is a Heart of Gold city.

 😉