Sunday, 7/14/19 travel Top of the World Highway to Chicken, AK
To get on the Top of the World Highway you have to cross a river on a free ferry. That was an adventure. Rick drove the motor home and Elaine drove the car on and off the ferry. On the other side of the river we connected the car and went on our way. The ferry rid only took 5-7 minutes. Maybe they should build a bridge but that is a lot of money for just summertime use.
The highway was paved for a bit……but mostly dirt. We had to go through Customs at the U.S. Border.
If figures that on the U.S. side the dirt road got worse. Hairpin turns, no guardrails, soft shoulders weaving through the mountains. Quite exciting. The bumpiest ride we have ever had. Sometimes there were stretches where we only went 10 MPH. It took us almost 4 hours to go 108 miles. The motor home almost shook apart. Dirt and dust is thick on the car and motor home but we arrived safely in Chicken, Alaska. Year round population is 7 people. The campground has a restaurant and gift shop with everything you need.
Monday, 7/15/19
It was a short distance from Chicken to Tok, AK. Much better roads. It was only 78 miles so we had a late start from Chicken.
A stop for ice cream along the way at a store that had interesting display of animals.
Tok was a little bit more like civilization. They had a grocery store and a good restaurant.
If you filled up with gas at the RV park gas station you got a free car/RV wash. This isn’t like the car wash at home that we are used to using. It is simply a power wash nozzle, no walls, no roof. You should have seen the line up. It was a group RV/car wash!
Tuesday, 7/16/19
Early morning to the North Pole. This North Pole is a town just south of Fairbanks. We made it to the end of the Alaska Highway. You can see they have big mosquitoes!
We all got settled at the campground in time to board the campground bus to a Salmon Bake and then a show at the Grand Palace Theater. The show told us the story of Fairbanks beginnings.
Wednesday, 7/17/19 Fairbanks
The bus took us to the Discovery Riverboat for a ride on the Chena River. It was an old paddle boat. A demo of airplane landing and taking off in the water next to us was interesting. 1 in 7 people have a pilot license.
We had a brief presentation at a dog sled complex. The dogs couldn’t wait to run.
Next stop on the riverboat was at a native Alaska village. At the village we had several presentations explaining housing, hunting and survival in Alaska in the early days. We also saw some reindeer.
Thursday, 7/18/19
This morning included another bus ride to Gold Dredge #8. There we boarded a small train and rode past the dredge. The process for finding gold was described. It is a lot of work!
The train stopped for us to pan for gold. This time we didn’t have to get in the creek! They gave each person a bag of dirt and we sat at a table and panned for gold. Then they weigh the gold chips that you find. Together we had $36 of gold. We bought the pendant to put the gold in. It is a great souvenir for Elaine to wear.
As we returned to the bus the guide explained the how the Alaska pipeline works.
The bus then took us to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. It is a private collection of antique autos and vintage fashions. The dresses were beautiful.
Friday, 7/19/19 Free day in North Pole/Fairbanks
We took the motor home to garage for an oil change then we went to Santa Claus Lane to see Santa’s reindeer and gift shop.
Saturday, 7/20/19 Drive to Nenana Canyon
Nenana Canyon is the Denali Park Commercial Area. It was around 130 miles. The roads weren’t too bad. You had to always be on the lookout for frost heaves. They could get really bumpy.
Again we were in a campground where parking was close. We had to unhook the car at a turnout before we got to the village. There was no way we could get in to the campground without unhooking the car first!
Dinner that night was at a restaurant called Prospector’s. The pizza was delicious.
Street is a boardwalk with shops along the side.
Sunday, 7/21/19 Denali National Park
Up early and on way to Denali Bus Station for a 7:30 AM bus. We took the bus to the Eielson Visitor Center that is 66 miles inside the park. It was a long drive. We arrived at the Visitor Center around 11:30. Along the way we saw moose, caribou and grizzly bear. Spectacular views. It was a clear, sunny day. We were lucky because the bus driver told us that they had not been able to see the top of Denali Mountain for the past 2 weeks. Only 30% of park visitors get to see the top of the mountain and we saw it!
We got back to the bus depot around 3:30 P.M. We decided to drive to Healy, AK to the 49th State Brewing Company. Very interesting décor and very good food.
Rick & Elaine's Alaska Caravan 