Fairbanks, AK

We stayed five nights in Fairbanks, AK. Five very, very long nights.

We came here after tent camping a night at Wrangell-St. Elias, where I was sure I was going to peek out of my tent and see a bear or at least a moose. In all the excitement, I saw nothing, and got little to no sleep. I finally stayed awake at 5:30, because there was already light outside, and I was too excited to sleep.

Our previous adventure was the jarring journey of the the Alaska Highway. Our next stop was the quick, easy, cheap and convenient parking lot of Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. This was not the place for me to get any rest.

It was so very loud here; my earplugs did not work. I had ignored the reviews. I did not sleep. We could stay here for up to five nights at $12 a night with access to a fresh water spigot. My intention was for 1 night only and then for us to move on to another place. The other places just never worked out. Stuck. And very tired. It never got dark at night, just dusk; my sleep mask kept slipping off. We woke up every day to something that was broken in the RV. Every day. The Alaska Highway took a toll on our house-on-wheels.

This was not the time to cry, because we were in Alaska! There were too many things to be thankful for. I found 2 fans to fix the furnace that we could pick up later in Anchorage. If you pulled up on the door and pushed down with your other hand and jiggled it, we could still use our back bathroom door. Michael discovered what was causing our converter not to work and we ordered the piece! Since Michael is such a handy guy, he was able to fix all the other things that broke too! 

Pioneer Park itself was very rundown. They have plans on renovating it, but it still had a playground, grass and cement for the kids to play, and for that I was thankful. There was also a worker that had an American great dane and a ruffed grouse for the kids to pet. This is where I also noticed that every northern Alaska car has an electric plug hanging out of the front, which is for their engine block heater. This keeps their engine block, coolant and oil warm in the winter.

Fairbanks, AK has a population of 32,702 and it it is a major Alaskan city. We could drive to anywhere in about 10 minutes, which included a Costco, Walmart, airport and the University of Fairbanks.

We drove into the small downtown and went to the Ice Museum. It was a disappointment. The kids and I went down this ice slide a few times. There was also a boring old video and some old and broken ice sculptures on display too. It mentioned fun ice slides and great ice sculptures in the ice park in the winter; not here and now.

We also went to a just okay crepe restaurant, walked by the really muddy river and checked out the nice Visitor Center. 

At the V.C. I saw these interesting facts about the arctic ground squirrel and the chickadee...

The arctic ground squirrel has the lowest body temperature of a mammal decreasing to 27 degrees F!

I coordinated with Jesse, one of the pilots of Golden Eagle Outfitters, to take Michael and the kids to Kobuk Valley National Park and Gates of the Arctic National Park. They would get to fly over parts of both parks and touch down at both for about 20 minutes. They got a perfectly clear and sunny day for a flightseeing tour. I did not go and up to the last second wondered if I shouldn't just hop on. I was torn up inside and in the end I left. It is hard to have a fear where no one but you understands. Humility.

It was also difficult to continue the day when my mind wanted to play out plane crashes and the effects of that scenario. This fear would begin and I would start this prayer over and over again even though I did not feel it, "Lord, take away my fears and replace them with You and Your peace. AMEN" 

This is Jordan's first plane trip!

I already had some plans for the day and headed to the University of Fairbanks. Someone had told me that this was their favorite spot to see Denali. I went and found the sign and view.

I got to see Denali, and from this far away I was very, very disappointed. I continued on to the Georgeson Botanical Gardens. It was going to get renovated and there was not much to see. 

I have never see this sign in my life before.

These poppies were my favorite flowers from this garden. I found that they are called Caucasian Scarlet Poppies or Dark-Spotted Poppies. They should be called Ladybug Poppies.

There was a pregnant mom at the gardens with her 1 year old son. She got down to discipline him, and I overheard her call him Asher. I had to go back to the car and cry before continuing on my way.

When we went to Liard Hot Springs in Canada, a resident of Fairbanks said that Fairbanks is known for Thai food. He said Sam's Taste of Thai was the best. I love Thai food and stopped at this drive-thru. The husband and wife team were from Thailand. The prices for Alaska were not bad and I got a lot of food. My Pad Thai, fried rice and spring rolls were delicious!

Last, I stopped at a garden center right next door and got a few fresh green beans and a $40 quart jar of Alaskan Wildflower Honey (and that was $5 cheaper than the best price that I saw at the farmer's market.)

I had to head back to the RV and turn on the generator. Since their was so many things breaking I had to make sure the RV did not catch on fire. I was able to clean the RV.

I got a text when the plane was going to touch down and I went to pick up the rest of the family. I was so excited that they were back on the ground! Caleb ran to me to tell me about their big day. The other two were close behind trying to tell me too. The kids got headphones and could hear the pilots and control center talking on their flightseeing tour. Michael didn't get a set and so it took a few days for him to recuperate from the deafening noise.

They got to see Denali from the air. They stopped in Kobuk Valley and slid down the sand dunes. Then they flew to Gates of the Arctic and landed on a gravel bar right in a river. Caleb and Jordan smashed rocks, while Asher built a canal. They had to clean up before they left, since it was the runway.

Back in the air, they flew around the mountains seeing glaciers, icefields and cliffs. They saw a moose, a caribou and swans. They circled around the caribou with big antlers, the kids felt like the plane was flying sideways.

When they landed in Bettles, Jesse pushed the plane over to fill up the plane with gas. The kids got some ice cream and loved it. I am glad that they loved it. I am glad that I didn't go, because I would have hated it. Is this wrong? There is shame in not going along with everyone else. Humility.

Once I picked them up, we went home and watched an episode of The Chosen.

The next day, we interspersed laundry while visiting more of Fairbanks. There were a lot of military personnel doing their clothes and getting their uniforms mended. There is a base close by and we saw some military planes performing right over our heads when we drove into Fairbanks.

First, we went to the Farmer's Market. Fresh fruit and veggies are so very expensive and hard to find in Alaska; we left empty handed. We went down the street to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and saw about ten Sandhill Cranes! They remind me of turkeys. The volunteer said that in a week of two there would be about a thousand! Boy, I would love to see and hear that, but I am glad we got to see and hear some cackle/gurgle/trumpet sounds!

We stopped at Taco King for lunch, while our laundry eventually finished.

Maybe we will be able to see this later on our trip in Nebraska!

Last, we went to the Large Animal Research Center and saw 2 Musk Oxen and some caribou. The tours had ended for the day, so we sat on a bench and watched these guys eat grass and ram a big tractor tire. 

I am too tired to figure how this could have been better. If you decide come to Fairbanks, go between late August to April to see the Northern Lights, because on average you can see the lights four out of five clear nights. Dog sledding in the winter is very popular too, and I would love to try it out. However, it gets very cold here and I saw posters of people posing with -40 degree temperatures.