States – Page 63 – Wandering Dawgs

Day 45: A visit with Santa Claus

July 1, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Restaurants, Tourist AttractionsTagged Diners Drive Ins and Dives, North Pole, reindeer, Santa Claus House2 Comments

Day 45: Saturday, June 29, 2013

My reward for cleaning all the dirt and dust from the camper was to go see Santa Claus and North Pole, Alaska.

Reindeer at the Santa Claus House

Beth at the Santa Claus House

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Beth with Santa

Feeding the reindeer

Santa greets you outside the Santa Claus House

Welcome to North Pole

The North Pole

Country Cafe, our second Diners, Drive Ins and Dives stop

Lunch at another restaurant from Diners, Dive Ins and Dives was next. Henry had a Bulgogi sandwich at the Country Cafe. It was like a Korean version of a Philly Cheese Steak.

Day 44: Taking care of business

July 1, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, RestaurantsTagged Diners Drive Ins and Dives, Elf's Den, North Pole

Day 44: Friday, June 28, 2013

Today was a much needed shopping and work day for both of us. With a list that filled up an entire page in my notebook, we set out to find a new latch for the screen door, a new door handle for the bathroom door, and groceries. Two RV supply stores and a home improvement store later, we had the latch and door handle. A Walmart in Fairbanks had everything else we needed.

After unloading the truck back at the RV park, Henry took the truck to get the oil changed, a front end alignment, and have the ABS system checked out. It started beeping during our trip across the Top of the Road Highway and has been beeping off and on ever since. I did laundry.

Our reward for all our hard work? A visit to one of the restaurants featured in a Christmas special on Food Network’s Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. I studied the descriptions of all six restaurants Guy Fieri visited and we decided to try the Elf’s Den which is located in North Pole. The menu sounded perfect – pizza, pasta and calzones are their specialty.

Guy Fieri’s poster greets you as you enter the restaurant

Our first stop on our Diners, Drive Ins and Dives tour was a hit – a huge Elf’s Special Calzone.

Elf’s Special Calzone

The parking lot is on the side of the building and we entered through the lounge area. We thought the restaurant must fit into the Dives category when we stepped down into a dark pool room. We were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice dining room with table cloths and the waitresses in black and white uniforms. We discovered the restaurant entrance when we left.

We had decided to split the Elf’s Special Calzone. Before we ordered, Henry asked the waitress what Guy Fieri had tried. That was what he chose so we knew it must be good. And it was delicious. And huge, too. We ate what we could and took the rest home.

Day 43: Going to North Pole

June 30, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, RV ParksTagged Alaska Pipeline, Birch Lake, Fireweed, North Pole, Reindeer Sausage2 Comments

Day 43: Thursday, June 27, 2013. Tok, Alaska to North Pole, Alaska. Riverview RV Park Site 123. 200 miles traveled.

Despite the smoke from forest fires covering the road for much of the day, it was a good driving day on paved, mostly flat roads all day.

We saw smoke from forest fires most of the day

Spectacular views when the smoke cleared

Fireweed

One of the bridges we crossed

We went shopping for Reindeer Sausage

We had our first view of the Alaska Pipeline at the Tanana River.

Our first view of the Alaska Pipeline

Henry and Blondie at the Alaska Pipeline

A nice rest area along the shore of Birch Lake was a perfect place to stop for lunch.

Yellow Pond Lily at Birch Lake

Wild Iris on the shore of Birch Lake

Yellow Pond Lilies on Birch Lake

Twenty-six miles south of Fairbanks the highway passes through Eielson Air Force Base. Signs posted announce no stopping and no photography. Seeing the runway beside the highway took me back to my childhood growing up as an Air Force brat.

I apologize for three posts at once. I am almost up to date!

Day 42: Back on Paved Roads

June 30, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, RV ParksTagged Chicken Alaska

Day 42: Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Chicken, Alaska to Tok, Alaska. Tok RV Village, Site 709. 78 miles traveled.

A few more images of Chicken before we continue on our journey.

There is a Chickenstock Music Festival coming up in Chicken

There’s even a taxi in Chicken

Downtown Chicken

The signposts show other towns named after chickens. Who knew there were so many?

We passed through areas of burned trees from forest fires — We saw evidence of forest fires

Our journey continued on the Taylor highway. After a few miles we finally were back on pavement! We hit a few more spots with gravel before we turned back onto the Alaska Highway to Tok. In many places we could see evidence of forest fires.

After arriving in Tok we spent over an hour giving the truck and RV a much needed wash before setting up in our campsite. We were so happy to have grass and trees between the campsites!

Day 41: On Top of the World

June 30, 2013June 22, 2015Posted in Alaska, RV ParksTagged Downtown Chicken, ferry, Poker Creek, Top of the World Highway, Yukon River

Day 41: June 25, 2013. Dawson City, Yukon to Chicken, Alaska on Top of the World Highway. Chicken Gold Camp Site 5. 108 miles traveled in about 7 hours.

To get to Alaska from Dawson City, the shortest route is to travel across The Top of the World Highway on mostly gravel road with few guard rails and spectacular views.

Our journey began as we got in line for the ferry about 8:00. We watched the ferry make several trips across the river before it was our turn to board about 9:00.

The free George Black Ferry crosses the Yukon River from Dawson City to Top of the World Highway.

On board the ferry

Crossing the river to The Top of the World Highway

Once we exited the ferry in West Dawson, we were on our way on the Top of the World Highway. It was originally called the Ridge Road because it was built on top of the ridge.

On the Top of the World Highway – mostly gravel all day

Spectacular views from the Top of the World highway

An interesting rock formation along the road

Traveling above the tree line on the Top of the World Highway in Yukon Territory, Canada

We were excited when we came to a paved section of road!

View on the Top of the World Highway

Views like this made it worth the hard drive

At an overlook on the Top of the World

Can you see the road?

We crossed back into the United States at Poker Creek, the northernmost border crossing by land in North America

Poker Creek Alaska

Overlook at the Welcome to Alaska Sign

Back in Alaska!

After that, the road was even worse than before! There is construction work on the American side. The road is very narrow in places and has very soft shoulders and no guardrails. After about 8 miles we turned onto the Taylor Highway which was the scariest part of the trip. Soft shoulders, narrow, and straight drop offs. The view of the valley below was supposed to be beautiful but I had to keep looking straight ahead!

We arrived in Chicken, Alaska and got the last electric site there. There are only three places in Chicken – Downtown Chicken, The Town of Chicken, and Chicken Gold Camp where we stayed. You can walk from one place to another. Each one has a campground, store, and restaurant. There’s a post office down the road a short distance. The mail plane only comes twice a week.