Tok to Fairbanks

We started our day off with sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage at the campground café. They were good. It seemed to take a long time to get rolling and we didn’t pull out until 10:45 a.m. It was nice and sunny, and got up to 27 C by the time we stopped for the night in Fairbanks at 7:30 p.m. What a difference good weather makes!

We crossed lots of rivers and saw plenty of lakes and trees today. There were mountains in the distance, too. The Alaska range was most magnificent.

Despite the warm temperatures, there was still ice and snow on the Robertson River when we crossed it (probably because it is fed by the nearby Robertson Glacier). Still, it was a surprise to see.

At Delta Junction, we reached the end of the Alaska highway that started in Dawson Creek, B.C. From Delta Junction we will be on the Richardson highway which was the first highway in the state. It was originally a trail between Valdez on the coast and Fairbanks, then a wagon road and upgraded to automobile standards in the 1920's. Here’s a picture of me pointing to the official marker post for the end of the Alaska Highway.

They had a few other photo spots at the Delta Junction Visitor centre; giant mosquitoes, and a ‘pig’ that is used to clean and check oil pipelines from the inside.

We haven't been bothered by mosquitoes other than the one night at the Moose Creek Campground. Actually they are worse at home!

We paralleled the trans-Alaska pipeline part of the way today. When we crossed the Tanana River, the pipeline crossed the river too - right beside us.

Just before we got to Fairbanks, we took advantage of the opportunity to stop at Santa Claus House at North Pole, Alaska. That was fun! It’s Christmas all year round in North Pole. The store sold every imaginable Christmas doodad. Santa was there, too, and I got to sit on his knee. He suggested good places to eat and stay in Fairbanks.

The highway was fine today, although there were frost heaves in some sections. After posting pictures the last few days of terrible roads, I’ll show you what a good section of the highway in Alaska looks like:

We saw three moose grazing near the highway. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture.

We bought groceries and had supper at North Pole before driving the last 15 miles into Fairbanks. There is going to be lots to do in Fairbanks. We bought an Alaska Tour Saver coupon book which is full of ‘buy one get one free coupons’. It is good for three things we plan to do here and lots more attractions around the state.