Alaska/Canada 2017 - 3: Land of the Midnight Sun: Nenana & Fairbanks

      The morning of July 4, we bade farewell to our peaceful Susitna River campsite and drove a few miles north to Trapper Creek for breakfast. Though it had just opened for the day, the restaurant had only enough sourdough batter for one order of pancakes, bacon was added to our order, and my coffee was forgotten. It made me wonder if it takes some practice getting used to tourists again after eight months without them. 

The Chulita, Talkeetna, & Susitna Rivers converge at Talkeetna. We camped on the Susitna nearby.

    With us and the gas tank full—we follow the admonition to never pass up a gas station in Alaska—we continued north. Not far up the road, Doug caught sight of a moose munching on the bank, our first wildlife in the wild sighting—he ignored us, and sadly I didn't get my phone out in time. Note to self: keep phone ready! 

July 4-5: Leaving our boondock spot on the Susitna River. Nenana. Fairbanks.

    We stopped at Denali National Park Visitors Center to orient ourselves to the park, in preparation for our Teklanika Campground reservation for July 12. 

Entrance to Denali NP.

    As we left the visitors center, the rain came down in buckets, but by the time we pulled into Nenana RV Park and Campground a couple of hours later, not only had the rain stopped, but it was hot and humid! My brother-in-law is from Alaska, and he and my sister visit often. She always says if you want to be warmer in Alaska, head toward Fairbanks.

Family-owend Nenana RV Park & Campground. Note the miniature golf greens surrounding the office.

    We were warmly greeted by several members of the family who own the campground. After laundry and showers—with the nice touch of a terrycloth bath mat for each guest—we celebrated the Fourth with hotdogs and beans. I did not succumb to the temptation to play a round of miniature golf on the very mini course.
    Later, we visited with folks from Massachusetts and toured their Roadtrek 190. I’d been thinking I’d like a van that I can stand up in all the time, like our late MRV (from which we downsized to the Traverse, aka McGee) but as soon as I stepped into the 190, I knew it wasn’t for me. It's very narrow and cramped inside. I talked Doug into popping the top of McGee even in the rain so I can always stand up while we're camped.

Roadtrek 190 folks from Massachusetts travel in.

No se-um screens I made for windows & doors were definitely welcome on our trip.

    I worked on a blog at our picnic table until I thought I should probably try to sleep. To my surprise, although the sun was still above the horizon, it was 11:30 PM! 

11:30 PM, and the sun shines brightly near the horizon.

    Breakfast is often our meal out on the road, so we walked to the nearby Roughwoods Cafe in Nenana the next morning. It did not disappoint. 

Plus it was an education. It is Nenana Ice Classic central for the town fundraiser drawing held each year. Participants must write on their ticket the date and time they think the ice will break up on the Tenana River that runs through town. 

Alaska Railway engine passing Nenana Ice Classic official clock building.

1917 Nenana Ice Classic Poster.

The original Ice Classic was in 1906, when 6 people bet on the break-up date. The prize was "a couple of rounds at the trading post bar."

1995 Nenana Ice Classic Poster, showing original 1917 poster.

Then the idea was forgotten until 1917. The winnings that year were $801. In 2017, the ice broke on May 1 at noon, and 42 winners shared a jackpot of $267,444. 

    How is break-up date and time determined? When the ice freezes, a tripod is placed 300 feet from the banks of the river. It's connected by a rope that runs up to the tower and down to the official clocking in the building next door. 

When the ice breaks and moves, taking the tripod with it, the rope is pulled and stops the clock. Like others from around Alaska and the world, we bought tickets. Since this is an updated version of the post, we can say that we did not win in either 2017 or 2022.
    Another delightful feature of Nenana is the Free Book Exchange. The small building just up the street from the Roughwoods Cafe is actually a library. Books are borrowed and returned on the honor system, with book donations always welcome.

    The Nenana Railroad Station was built in 1923 in anticipation of President Harding's visit to drive in the final spike of the Alaska Railroad.

Nenana Station has housed the Alaska Railroad Museum.

Interesting simple church in Nenana.

    From Nenana it was a 60-mile hop to Fairbanks. We stopped first at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), a beautiful campus of white buildings set on the hills above town.

Museum of the North, one of many unique buildings at University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Museum of the North.

    The main exhibit covers the history, geology, flora, fauna, and culture of each of Alaska’s five main regions: Far North, Interior, Southwest, Southcentral, and Southeast.

Alaskan Native girls used knives to draw pictures in the snow or mud as they told stores.

Native Alaskan balls made of dyed sealskin.

    The Eskimo masks from various tribes are fascinating. Spirit masks are used to appeal to the spirit of prey. Secular masks are used to celebrate and to tease. Attachments to masks accentuated a dancer's movements.

    The wood sea bird mask, used for trade, was especially appealing. It was acceptable to Christian missionaries who arrived in the 1830s and forbade images of humans.

Seabird mask.

Native Alaskan kayak.

Fish trap.

Skeleton of Native Alaskan kayak.

    After the museum, I strolled through Georgeson Botanical Garden, also on the UAF campus, while Doug relaxed in the shade. Hard to believe we were seeking shade when a couple of days ago we were in fleeces, beanies, and gloves! 

    The growing season is short in Alaska, but sunlight is plentiful and plants thrive.

Cabbage.

California poppies. These were blooming mid-summer, whereas ours bloom in spring.

I would love to have raised beds like these.

Peonies reminded me of my mom's peonies that lined our driveway in Pennsylvania.

I love the color & Rococo-like design of the globe mallow.

Peonies are so lush in their myriad petals.

Bridge in Asian section of botanical gardens.

Weather station across from botanical gardens.

    The parking lot at the botanical gardens is typical of parking throughout Alaska: electric outlets are provided for cars to plug in to to keep the engine from freezing.

Typical electric outlet for cars to plug in to.

Cars in Alaska all have a plug for electric outlets to keep engines from freezing.

    Later that afternoon, we set up camp at Chena River State Park along the Chena River in the middle of Fairbanks. Sadly, we discovered on our 2022 trip that the park no longer has camping. 

Camped along the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.

    On a hunch he’d be busy on his birthday the next day (he was), I called my younger son to wish him a happy birthday. We chatted at length, as I walked around the campground and he walked his dog and did some chores. How did we ever get anything done or stay in touch pre-cell phone? 

    We were camped cross from a VW Westy and next to a Safari Condo, similar to McGee. Doug and the VW Westy owner talked long into the "night." A cover on the windshield and blackout curtains keep the van quite dark, though we rarely close all the curtains—the scenery is always too beautiful outside!

VW Westy across from us at Chena River State Park in Fairbanks. 

    In northern Alaska in summer, one could do everything 24/7 for 70 days and accomplish all kinds of things, though one might become a bit wonky. It never gets darker than "civil twilight," the amount of light necessary for a pilot to detect objects on the ground. As we’ve come north from Bellingham, WA, the hours of darkness have decreased steadily from 7 to 0. All of Alaska (except St. Lawrence Island and the Aleutian Islands—they’re on Hawaii-Aleutian time) is in one time zone, one hour behind Pacific Time, and observes daylight savings. 

11:30 PM in the campground. It's basically broad daylight. 

    There’s an occasional effort to eliminate daylight savings, which seems redundant in the north, but Southeast Alaska always protests that they actually do have 6 hours of darkness in summer and benefit commercially from the time change.
    What do folks really do at night? Depends on one's interests. Some garden, some hike. My brother-in-law David, who grew up in Palmer, talks of playing baseball long into the night, and the semi-pro Fairbanks Goldpanners Midnight Sun Baseball Game begins at 10:30 PM annually on the summer solstice, meaning it ends well after midnight.

    Coming up: The Dalton Highway, Chena Hot Springs, and North Pole.