Tok to Fairbanks (27 May)

Today's trip was uneventful, 330 km on a fast road (65 mph). We were alone on the road for the first 2/3 so we could travel quickly. The only animal we saw was a rabbit.

We crossed a wide frozen river.



Another river revealed the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline.


 Eventually the countryside changed and there were even a few meadows - no stock though.  As we approached Fairbanks we saw this surprising sign:

  We drove in to find Santa's house.


We entered and Santa was indeed inside but there were no elves. Perhaps they'd gone to the pub.


Fairbanks is 64੦50'37"N, as far north as we go on this trip. However it is also only about 130 meters altitude and we are sitting in 17०C at 5.30 with a mere 5 hours of daylight ahead of us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

Image
Our big adventure started with a flight from Auckland to Las Vegas. We are staying in Sam's Town Hotel and Casino. Its marvelous. So kitsch. There are 2,600+ one-arm bandits, roulette and other tables,  betting on sports across 60 screens showing everything - horse racing, dogs, NBA, etc. There's a bowling alley, multiplex cinema, shows, a pool, conference rooms, oodles of restaurants including a 24 hour McDs. The atrium has real trees and other plants, running water through an impressive 3 story waterfall, and fake but animated animals - bear, mountain lion, woodpecker, squirrel, eagle, deer, etc. Its as close as some of the people here will get to nature. It's easy to be appalled but we're enjoying seeing Trump's America; it's great - again 😁. Tomorrow we take a shuttle and check out the strip. We don't pick up the motorhome until May 3.
Read more

Las Vegas to Beatty via Death Valley

Image
We set off at 8.00 this morning, taking about an hour to clear the traffic lights and traffic but we were soon in desert. The first picture shows us at a morning tea stop.  In true western style, there was also a horse at this stop although it arrived in a truck. We eventually arrived at the visitor centre at Furnace Creek in Death valley. As the photo shows, it was 103degrees Fahrenheit (39.5C). It's a fascinating area with a strong recent history of mining for gold and other minerals (we visited an abandoned borax mine). It has also been full of characters and stories, some of which are believable. This was a wagon used to pull out borax with a 20 mule team. We visited Rhyolite, an old abandoned ghost town (there are even sculptures of ghosts) where gold was found in 1904, a town established in 1905 and had between 5,000 and 8,000 residents in 1908 before the mines went bust. The population had dropped to 14 in 1920. Death Valley is stunning. The land form...
Read more

Motorhome

Image
On Thursday we went to collect our motorhome. It's made in America and very different from the more commonly seen European styles in New Zealand. The decor, floor plan, finish and style are quite different. We have an island bed (yippee) and there is also a slideout. That is, when we park we can push part of one side out about 50 cm giving us more space. Actually, "we" don't push it out; we just press a button and it happens. After collecting the motorhome and getting told how to manage it we went to Walmart for some groceries and then to Arizona Charlies where we stayed overnight. There are five motorhomes in our group with the operators in one that they own and an Australian couple and two other New Zealand couples as well as us.    
Read more