August 6, Wasilla to Fairbanks

August 6  Whew!  We made it to Fairbanks.  We were on the road at 7:30 and had smooth driving nearly to the turnoff to Denali NP.  However, from there on it was drive 10 miles and then stop for any amount of time waiting for the pilot car to escort us through the construction areas. Peggy and I are estimating that we sat waiting about 45 minutes total for all the flaggers to let us go on with the pilot car in all of the construction areas.  Ugh!

We passed Denali NP but as many come to expect, Mt. McKinley was cloud shrouded.  North of the park entrance we were in new territory despite the construction.  Once out of the Alaska Range mountains we were in the midst of boreal forests and muskeg.  This must be what is also referred to as taiga as it was hard to tell what was forests and what was swamp as they both seemed to be blended much of the time.

We drove across the Tanana River which drains much of the central Alaskan area around Fairbanks.  This river runs in a westerly direction and eventually empties into the renowned Yukon River of gold mining fame.

As we neared Fairbanks the highway climbed up into some low mountains which provided a good look from above at these taigas.  Far off to the west we could just make out some of the mountains making up the Alaska Range.  It was good to have them behind us for now as that's where the highway was torn up for repair.

We are now at the River's Edge RV Park in Fairbanks having arrived around 3:00. The campground seems pretty good as we have Internet and cable tv!  We are located on the Chena River in Fairbanks, the same river that tomorrow we'll be taking a riverboat cruise on.

Peggy was nice and fixed a meal indoors so that I didn't have to grill.  I think she realized I was a little beat from the drive.  After we ate we walked to the campground office to find out where we catch the shuttle provided to take us to tomorrow's boat tour.  But we found out they charge $4 per person, so we will drive the 2 miles to the boat landing. We also walked the grounds to the river.

And, the Fairbanks airport is very active!  We've had fighter jets, helicopters, cargo and passenger planes flying overhead at what seems a low level based on the noise they generate.

We are excited to be in Fairbanks!  Tomorrow the river boat tour, Thursday we go to the Arctic Circle which is about 200 miles north on the Dalton Hwy, and Friday we take a train ride out to an old gold dredge for a tour.  We will have a busy, fun 3 days here.  Saturday we make the drive back to Wasilla.

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