Julie was keeping the journal day-to-day, so it's told from her perspective. Pictures from this part of the trip can be found in the gallery.
Ken and I spent much of the day packing, since the week had been so busy that we hadn't done anything earlier. Mark and Marilyn hung out at our house in the meantime. They went for a walk while it was 90 degrees, so they were pretty hot when they returned. We left for the airport about 2:30pm, and Ken dropped us off. Marilyn, Mark, and I dropped off luggage, went through security, and met Ken at French Meadow Cafe for dinner. I felt bad for the woman in the security line with a boot and crutches, using a wheelchair, who had to walk through the millimeter wave scanner. We had plenty of time to get to the gate. Since I have Silver Elite status on Delta, I could get all of us into the exit row. During the flight, we all watched movies. I tried to sleep but it was really cold on the plane. I could kind of scrunch up into a lounging position in the exit row. The trip was a little bumpy but generally uneventful.
The Fairbanks airport was interesting. There are less than 10 gates, and they had a pond next to the runway for floatplanes. We later learned that Fairbanks and Anchorage both have asphalt, gravel, and seaplane runways — since the bush planes' tires tend to stick to a an asphalt runway. It was easy to pick up the rental car which was next to the baggage claim. Ken said he smelled pine trees the moment we left the airport building. It was an easy drive to the Minnie Street Inn. The place was empty, and they upgraded Ken & I to the room next to Marilyn & Mark so we all got a private bathroom. We went to Bobby's Downtown (Greek) restaurant for a late dinner about 9pm. I had a cheese plate (with "standard" cheese) but the Greek wine was good. We crashed about 10:30pm.
We all woke up about 4am. Ken and I were awake for a while but slept until about 7:30am. We went to a nearby diner for breakfast, which felt a lot like Papa's Cafe at home. Since it was going to rain all day, we focused our time on more indoor attractions.
We went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. It was a gem of a museum — it didn't seem that big, but we spent almost 4 hours there. They had some cool exhibits about the Native American and white settler history, the Japanese-Americans during WWII (all adult males who were at least half Japanese were forced into settlement camps), and natural history including a mummified Alaska steppe bison. We also saw a good movie about the auroras, which we wouldn't see on this trip due to the eternal sunlight. After the museum, we got a small late lunch of soup and chili.
We spent some time at Pioneer Park, especially at the Pioneer Air Museum. It was one of those small uncohesive museums which is clearly a labor of love. One of my favorite exhibits was about a flight crash caused by a series of human errors — not getting weather updates, an uncertified copilot, and plotting magnetic deviation instead of true (in an area with 29 degrees deviation) on an out-of-date map. Two of the six on the plane died, and the others were rescued a month later. Not exactly what they bargained for. Several other Pioneer Park museums were closed on dinner break, so we left and tried to visit the Ice Museum.
We arrived about 5:15pm at the Ice Museum to find it empty. We eventually figured out that the next tour was 6pm. I expected it to be really cheesy but it was better than I expected. Fairbanks hosts the World Ice Art Championships each March, and the museum features a movie about the competition and a number of sculptures from recent competitions. The highlight was an ice sledding hill which was built into the refrigerated back section of the theater-turned-museum. Ken, Mark, and I had a blast with it. Everyone else was done before us!
Then, we had dinner at Lavelle's Bistro, because the first two restaurants we tried were closed. The food was good although it should be for $30 an entree We quickly learned that this is the going price for a decent dinner in Alaska. We all enjoyed the mystery red wine. Finally, we went back to the hotel to wind down for the day. We learned that our rooms hadn't been cleaned (not a big deal) but the brand new maid told her boss that she had knocked on the door and we didn't need anything. We went to Safeway to buy breakfast food for the next couple days.
I had an auspicious start to the morning by burning leftover pita bread in the microwave. I wanted to heat it for 10 seconds but there was no 10 second option, and then I forgot about it. Oops. Mark & Marilyn were gracious about me stinking up their room. We left about 9am for the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center They also had good exhibits. We laughed at the Coleman campstoves and lanterns which looked remarkably similar to the near-antique ones we own. We also talked to a docent who suggested some drives for later in the day. We then walked a bit where we found a moms group exercising in cold rain & also an antler arch.
Next, we went to Creamer's Field. We walked in the marsh area where we saw sandhill cranes, ducks, and other birds, plus lots of mosquitoes. The lake is seasonal — as the permafrost melts, the water soaks into the ground. It started raining again when we were there.
Next, we went to the Cookie Jar restaurant for lunch & had good food. We then decided to get out of town and drove to Chena Hot Springs Resort. The road, especially, the first third, was really bumpy due to the permafrost heaving. It rained off & on all afternoon. We stopped by several creeks, saw the resort, and Mark spotted a moose by the road. The resort's power is geothermal from the hot springs & is the coolest geothermal power in the world. The area of the resort near the geothermal plant includes a huge "collection" of old, rusting equipment like tractors, which Ken liked a lot. The resort also farms vegetables, caribou and chickens, and in the caribou area we watched a baby nurse while its mother walked around the pen trying to get away from it.
On the way back, we saw the Alaska oil pipeline. It's above ground when the ground is too unstable to bury it. They have a sophisticated cooling system for the permafrost, where "refrigerator" poles containing liquid ammonia stick up out of the ground to keep the permafrost below air temperature. We went to Bahn Thai restaurant for dinner. The B&B said it was excellent, and they weren't kidding. Best meal so far.
Ken & I returned the rental car to the airport then took a cab home. Then packing and relaxing before our 7am cab to the train station.