Hello! I’ve been a little slow getting updates out, sorry! We spent almost a week in the Fairbanks area, staying in North Pole, Alaska (just outside Fairbanks) and then another campground just north of Fairbanks. We did some tourist things, like visiting the Santa Claus House in North Pole, a museum on campus at University of Alaska Fairbanks and a river boat cruise. We also got a good hike in at Angel Rocks trail, in the Chena State Recreation area, about 1 hour from Fairbanks. Today we are in Cantwell, Alaska, near Denali National Park. I’ll do a separate update for this area soon.
The Santa Claus House was fun – Christmas galore! We went twice – the first day, we had a Facetime call scheduled with the grandkids, Greyson and Connor that fell during the time we were there. The 4 hour time difference makes it harder to connect back home at a time that works for the kids. I showed them the inside of the Santa Claus store, including Santa’s empty chair. Santa was not in, but it was fun to show them the Christmas things. We went back the next day to pick up a few more gifts, and Santa was in! When he finished with the kids on his lap, I was taking his picture when he asked me how I was – we started talking, and I told him about my Facetime call yesterday with the grandkids, showing his empty chair. He said, “that won’t do…let’s give them a real hello!”. A store helper came over and took a video of Santa talking to me and saying hello to Greyson and Connor. He also let them know he double checked his list, and they are both on the good list!!! I was able to send the video to Steph who reports it was a big hit.
We spent an afternoon at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, visiting the Museum of the North which was really nice, a lot of history of the area, native life, animals, etc. We found a nice food truck for lunch nearby and also a farmers market for some yummy almond cake and rhubarb jam. There were a lot of food vendors that seemed to be of eastern european decent, and the almond cake was from one lady that reminded me of a Russian grandma. It was kind of like a tart, kind of like a dense one layer cake….and very good. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of it!
On another day, we went on a riverboat tour down the Chena river, a significant river that runs through Fairbanks. It was a warm and sunny day (which has been a rare thing for us so far). The tour was extremely well done. The narrator on the boat was excellent. The boat took us by the sled dog kennels and home of one of the famous Iditarod race champions, Susan Butcher. Susan died a few years ago from cancer, but her daughter and husband still run the kennels and her daughter will race for the first time next year. Susan won the race 4 times with her lead dog named Granite. There was quite a story behind Granite and Susan and the challenges they overcame. The boat stopped by the kennels and we saw a training session with the sled dogs, it was fun to watch them work – they love to pull!
The boat then stopped at a living museum that demonstrated native life and how they survived on the land for centuries. A “fish camp” was set up to recreate how native Alaskans caught and preserved salmon (by using a smoke house) each summer for winter food supply. We also saw native Alaskan clothing and household tools used for everyday life. We really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot.
Gerry had his own special outings too! We were able to get out and do these things while Gerry was at doggy day care. First he went to Chelseas Pet Resort – really nice place and perfect for a day of fun. He also got his very first bath while there. Then he went to visit Travis and Jenna at their house. We met Travis at a Petco store while buying dog food in Fairbanks. He was really nice, and after talking to us for a while offered to have Gerry come visit him and his 2 dogs at his house on his day off. We said yes and Gerry had a great time – they had 2 lab mix dogs, a nice house with about 1 acre and a big fenced in area for the dogs. Another super nice person we have met on our trip.
We got in 1 hike while in the Fairbanks area (I know, we are getting lazy….have to pick up the pace a bit!). We drove to the Chena State Recreation area and hiked Angel Rocks trail. It was just under 4 miles, and a very nice hike. There were a lot of people on the trail, it was a Saturday and a lot of locals were there in addition to tourists like us. So no animal spottings, but we had a great lunch on the trail and enjoyed the outing. So did Gerry – he’s becoming a good trail dog.
Some pictures below, and more also at this link:
https://1drv.ms/a/s!Ap-2lg-EnL0pj1vOmy5bClPTdk6S
