The Meandering Melanders

We took a walking tour of Fairbanks. This statue is dedicated to the Native people and is called The First Family.

These signs give an indication of how far Fairbanks is from everywhere else.

The Chena River which passes thru downtown Fairbanks. This point on the river is where The Yukon Quest dogsled race starts or ends each year. This is a one thousand mile race between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and Fairbanks.

The first Catholic Church.

The Native corporation headquarters. These corporations (there are several in Alaska) and Native owned and operated and represent groups of Native Alaskans. The corporations and business entities which make contracts for services such as security, construction work, and other such services between the white community and the Natives. They also assure that the Natives and their villages receive the services to which they are entitled from the government.

One of the banks which is in the building which was the hospital in olden times.

There are several old homes. “Old” in Fairbanks is turn of the century and early 1900’s.

Note the fence made of old skis.

An old cabin. Still inhabited.

The first highrise building in Alaska, 13 stories.

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, with some 22 plus hours of daylight, the other hours being dusk and dawn, thus never even approaching dark. There were lots of booths, entertainmenet, and poeple.

Around 11:30 pm.

Pioneer Park is a popular place for the local people. It contains lots of historical items and buildings. Many of the cabins from downtown were relcoated to this park.

A native woolfish.

A collection of nurses caps which was of interest to Carole. She wore caps of the Army Nurse Corps and the other cap is from the Philadelphia General Hospital where she did her psych training.

A snow machine, built for an arctic expedition..

An old steamshovel which ended up in the mines of Alaska after service in such places as Panama Canal and Hawaii.

They offered, and we ate, a tradional meal called a “salmon bake”. It featured all you can eat king salmon, prime rib, and halibut and cod. Food excellent; prices at $31 each a bit high!!

A rather unique, for some of us, road sign.

This is the Alaska Pipeline.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, has a large animal research center. Musk-oxs are animals which date back to prehistoric days and which are still around. The population has dropped off significantly due to preditors and man.

There are other animals at the center but the musk-oxen are by far the most interesting.

Now, and finally, we are on our way out of Fairbanks and heading towards Healy and Denali National Park. On the way South we passed many beautiful mountains.

In Healy, located just outside the Delanl National Park, we met up with good friends Jack and Rita Stout, who had set up reservations for Denali and with whom we spent a fair amount of time. They were great friends and guides, having lived in Alaska for 52 years. We camped along a river for a couple of nights prior to entering the park.

While at Healy, we took a tour of the Usibelli Coal Company mine; the only functioning coal mine in Alaska.

This is a model of the dragline they use to clear the overburden (dirt etc. on top of the coal layers).

They had a lot of not so small equipment.

This is the dragline.

Our next installment will be of Denali National Park. As we will be moving on tomorrow, it may be a while before we have good internet access again.

In our travels with Jack and Rita after leaving Denali and after leaving Anchorage, Jack had a very tragic accident from which is slowly recovering in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Achorage. As he was backing an ATV off of the rack on his truck, the ATC flipped over (front over rear) and pinned him underneath with the ATV landing on top of him. He broke several ribs and punctured a lung with the second lung failing after he was in the hospital. A week later he is just starting to breath on his own (without respirator) and he remains in critical condition. Each day he makes more progress. Pray for him and for a complete recovery.