Day 2 - Sep 1, 2000 Last updated: 9/1/00 10:00pm AKDT
Obviously that was a stuffed bear. He was inside a gift shop at Alaskaland. Things that I forgot to mention yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, 71 F and sunny. After dinner we stopped at Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream. Today the weather was mostly rainy and about 54 F. It stopped raining for a while during our hike, but as you’ll see, we had come prepared with waterproof coats and pants.
This morning we had a hearty breakfast at the northern most Denny’s in the world. I had reindeer sausage, tasted like sausage. For the youngsters reading this who might not be familiar with reindeer sausage, reindeer sausage gets its name because it is made by Santa’s reindeer during the summer. They’ve got nothing else to do while Santa and the elves are making toys all year, so they cook.
After breakfast, we went to see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline, which opened in 1977, goes from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez (Prince William Sound). It takes 6.2 days for oil to travel the entire distance. The oil temperature at the start is 116 F, and cools to 82 F when it reaches the end of the line. The walls of the pipe are about 1/2 inch thick. It was built to withstand large earthquakes and extreme temperature changes. The structure it is on will allow the pipeline to move as necessary.
I can’t believe how close they let you get to it. Here’s a picture of me touching it. Didn’t feel warm.
Next it was a drive down Chena Hot Springs Road to the Angel Rocks Trail. We went on a two hour hike into the middle of nowhere USA. Here’s Denise in action. The peak in the background was at the highest elevation, which is hard to really tell from the picture, but we had quite a hill to climb. The guidebook called it “strenuous”.
In the pictures below, we are at about 1335 ft elevation (according to the GPS unit). The peak is a bit closer but still at about 1750 ft. There was a magnificent view overlooking a branch of the Chena River and a valley full of trees. The fall leaves are beginning to show their colors. We did not get over to the peak shown below but we did climb up to another peak which was at the same (highest) elevation.
On the road back we saw some wildlife. Here’s Ms. Moose wading in a shallow pond. I can’t believe I spotted this guy. If the pictures look fuzzy, it’s because he was a bit off the road. We were driving at about 45 mph, I looked over as we passed the pond because one of our guidebooks says to watch for moose. I noticed something that was an odd color and threw the car into reverse (the road was empty – remember nowhere USA).
Lunch was at about the only place serving food on the way home. A dumpy little general store/restaurant called Tacks’. We had hamburgers. Think Prime beef (My relatives will know this one, for the rest of you, think really bad food). They say things are bigger here in Alaska, the only thing big at this place was the price. If you’re up this way ever, pack a lunch.
One thing we did notice on our drive. There were some houses as we got a little closer to Fairbanks, and it seemed to either be a contest, or a status symbol to have as many junked cars on your front lawn as possible.
Last stop was the University of Alaska Museum. Here is some art which was cool. The rest of the place looked like a museum.
Dinner was at Pasta Bella (Italian) in downtown Fairbanks. I thought parking in downtown Chicago was rough. There’s plenty of parking in Fairbanks, you just can’t use it. Everything seemed to be private lots. Dinner was very good and reasonably priced.
We’re still hoping to see the Aurora, but today it’s too cloudy with the rain. Yesterday we couldn’t take it anymore and went to sleep. Maybe tomorrow.