What better way to spend the 4th of July than going to a parade?
We parked at the visitor’s center and talked to the woman working there for a while. She moved to North Pole from Georgia three years ago! It is amazing how many people from Georgia we have met. One of the driver’s in the parade saw our Georgia hats and hollered “Go Dawgs!” as he went by.
North Pole Visitor’s CenterWeather report for the 4th of JulyWaiting for the parade
The parade was small and fun.
The start of the paradeA Ranger in the parade!A beautiful day for a paradeThe farm bureau had a goat and other animals in the paradeHere comes Santa!Of course Santa will be in the North Pole 4th of July ParadeIt wouldn’t be a parade without a fire truck
It was a great way to celebrate the 4th of July. We grilled hamburgers for dinner and visited with our friends Ted and Ruth Ann after their trip up to Deadhorse and Coldfoot.
If you are paying attention and wonder what happened on Day 49 yesterday, the answer is laundry and getting the work on the truck finished.
To get up close and personal with the Alaska Pipeline we stopped at a park on our way to tour the Gold Dredge 8.
At a section of the pipeline in FairbanksI can’t reach!
The tour started with a train ride with demonstrations of gold mining techniques and a stop to learn about the dredge before we got off the train to pan for gold. We got to keep our gold!
Gold Dredge 8We got off the train here to pan for goldThere was old equipment from the mining days Another large group panning for goldHenry struck gold!Henry’s gold. He got $12 worth, I only got $9.
As we were leaving the tour we stopped at a section of the pipeline to learn a few facts about it.
We passed under the pipeline as we finished the tour. You can see where it goes up the hill in the distance.A cross section of the pipeline showing cleaners called pigs Inside the pipe
If you are a fan of the show Ice Road Truckers you have heard of the Dalton Highway. If not, the Dalton Highway is the road the truckers take to get to the industrial camp at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. The road begins 84 miles north of Fairbanks and ends 414 miles later in Deadhorse on Prudoe Bay. The road was originally called the Haul Road because all of the supplies for Prudhoe Bay were hauled by truck to get there. The Arctic Circle is about at about milepost 115 on the Dalton Highway.
The highway is mostly dirt and gravel with some paved sections. The road follows the Alaska pipeline and was built because of the pipeline. The scenery changes as you go along from birch and spruce forest to tundra. Purple wildflowers bloomed in many of the fields.
Our first view of the Alaska Pipeline from the highwayThis Arctic Circle Trading Post is a long way from the Arctic CircleWe traveled as far as Coldfoot on the Dalton HighwayRoad construction for several miles on the Dalton HighwayBehind a motorcycle on the Dalton Highway As we crossed the Yukon River Bridge we could see the pipelineThe goalpost like bars are called Headache Bars to keep tall vehicles from having access to the pipelineFinger Rock
The Bureau of Land Managment manages a small campground and picnic area at the Arctic Circle. When we arrived two young women from the visitor’s center in Coldfoot were set up under a tent with mosquito netting. After having our pictures made, we received a certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle! We ate lunch there and decided to continue on to the Visitor’s Center at Coldfoot, another 60 miles north.
Signpost at the Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway, AlaskaThe Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway in AlaskaDalton Highway, AlaskaThe farthest north we traveled was the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot, Alaska
The visitor’s center had a lot of interesting displays including a display showing the location of the Arctic Circle all around the world. At the Arctic Circle we were farther north than Moscow, Helsinki, and Stockholm. For both of us we were farther north than we had ever been in our lives.
By the time we finished at the visitor’s center we had been gone from our campground for 7 1/2 hours and had to drive all the way back. With so many miles to go, we only stopped a couple of times on the way home.
A moose sighting on the way backA good look at the Alaska pipeline as it goes undergroundView from the highway
It started raining on a dirt portion of the road when we were almost at the end of the Dalton Highway. Henry said driving on the wet dirt road was the worst driving he has had to do this whole trip. When we got back to Fairbanks, we had to stop for road construction at 9:00 at night. Fourteen hours after leaving the campground, we arrived home and collapsed into our chairs. A long day but well worth it.
What better way to spend a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday afternoon than to take a tour on the Riverboat Discovery.
We took a tour down the Chena River on the Riverboat DiscoveryWe watched bush pilot take off from the waterFloat Plane in AlaskaThe paddle
Our first stop was at the kennels of late Iditarod Champion, Susan Butcher, for a sled dog demonstration. Susan won the Iditarod sled race four times and passed away from leukemia in 2006.
Susan Butcher’s Trail Breaker KennelsThe puppies are learning to go over the logsThe dogs are anxious to runAnd they’re off!Coming back from their run
The boat docked at an Athabascan Indian Village where two native tour guides showed us what life was like in the village.
Reindeer came out to greet us as we approached the villageWe spent some time at an Athabascan Indian VillageOur tour guides in the village were great. Imagine modeling that fur in 80 degree weather!Up close with the reindeerFur PeltsOne of the Alaskan Husky sled dogsMush!Henry with a Grizzly Bear skin
The original Riverboat Discovery
The same family has been operating cruises on the river for many years. We passed by the original Riverboat.
Ted and Ruth Ann, our friends from Michigan who we were with in Haines, arrived at our RV Park yesterday. They left Haines after we did and traveled a different route to get here. It was good to visit with them again this morning.
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 HouseBeth at the Santa Claus HouseSanta Claus House, North Pole, AlaskaBeth with SantaFeeding the reindeerSanta greets you outside the Santa Claus HouseWelcome to North PoleThe 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.
