Our Memorable Journeys

Day 17 - 9/7/2018 - North to Fairbanks

Today's Weather: High 55, Low 43, Mostly Sunny, Moderate Wind. Another nice day.

Today we moved on to Fairbanks and again drove north on the George Parks Highway. After 20 minutes of driving we passed the northern boundary of the Alaskan Range and found ourselves in the foothills and then very quickly in rolling hills and meadows. This geography is very similar to what we see in central New York. The vibrant fall colors were again on full display today making the drive to Fairbanks very enjoyable. Large very thick stands of black spruce mingled with colorful birch and smaller bushes and foliage.

Fireweed is everywhere, adding its beautiful red color.

We stopped at the tiny village of Nenana’s Visitor Center (sod-roofed log cabin) along the way to take a look at the restored Taku Chief, a relic of Interior Alaska’s steamboat days.

We visited the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, a modern and impressive facility in downtown Fairbanks with displays on the land, seasons, and people of Fairbanks, Interior Alaska and the Arctic. The outdoor gardens and landscaping were beautiful. We walked from the visitor center through the world’s “Farthest North Antler Arch” made up of over 100 caribou and moose antlers collected from all over Alaska. We walked the River Walk along the Chena River to Golden Heart Park and the World War II monument, which honors the war time contributions of both men and women. It also honors how the American and Soviets worked together to defeat the Nazis and and their allies.

Settler's cabin on its original site. Look at those those sunflowers!

River Walk along Chena River.

We made a brief stop at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, a 2,000 acre refuge on the site of the historic Creamer’s Dairy. The dairy was once the largest producer in Alaska and is on the historic registry of places.

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