We’re headed for Fairbanks, Alaska today, a 205 mile trip by motor coach. As we are riding along, viewing the beautiful Mentasta mountain range, the first thing that was pointed out was the Robertson river. The Robertson river is one of many braided rivers across Alaska. It is called a braided river because it is very shallow and the water. In fact it is iced over about 8.5 months out of the year. The water that is still running will find or create another path down the river which results in braided paths all along the river as you look upon it.
Our first stop is at Rika’s Roadhouse, Delta Junction, Alaska, where we had the opportunity to purchase food like bearclaws, cinnamon rolls, pies, soups and sandwiches – what I had tasted like it was homemade! They also had a great selection of furs and gifts.
We saw the Tanana Suspension bridge that was built the take the Trans Alaskan Pipeline across the Tanana River. On this bridge, the pipeline sits on pads and is free to move left to right and expand and contract as it needs to.
We had the opportunity to see three moose along this trip.
We saw a F16 land on one of the two parallel landing strips at Eielson Air Force Base. Eielson Air Force Base is home of the 354th Fighter Wing. It is also an alternate landing site for the space shuttle. We also stopped in North Pole, Alaska and visited Santa Claus House, where you could contract to have a letter from Santa sent out around Christmas time. There was also a ‘live’ Santa and plenty of Christmas oriented gifts for purchase.
Upon our arrival in Fairbanks, we had an old fashion lunch like the miners had at the site of Gold Dredge #8. It was an excellent meal. After a tour of Dredge #8, we went to the Eldorado Gold Mine where we took a short train ride through the mine and had the chance to pan for gold. Our panning resulted in $18.00 worth of gold dust. We also had the chance to see a 19 ounce gold nugget worth about $40,000.00.
One of the most interesting things I learned about Fairbanks weather was that they had 22 straight days of -20 to -40 degrees this past winter, but it was 81 degrees while we were there. This range of temperature is common for Fairbanks. I bet you thought it was cold all the time!
Fairbanks, by way of the North Pole
Eagle, Alaska & Beyond
Today is Canada Day and we celebrated with the Canadians who were in our group.
We are on the Yukon Queen II Catamaran for a leisurely four hour trip down the Yukon River to Eagle, Alaska. We will ultimately end up in Tok, Alaska, for the night, by Motor Coach. Eagle was Alaska’s first incorporated city and it now has a population of 235 . The spring floods pretty much devastated Eagle two months ago. The unusually warm spring caused the river to thaw with the ice still in huge chunks – this is what caused the damage. This trip is the first for the season due to the damage. The people of Eagle were anxious and happy to have us visit their city. They have a mall of locally made jewelry and crafts. There was a Mock Court Trial taking place. And there was a nice Visitor’s Center that was maintained by the Park Service.
As we travel by Motor Coach beyond Eagle, we are taking the 160 mile Taylor Highway. It is a twisting, curving, mountainous, mostly one-lane gravel road with switchback upon switchback. We have to have a Pilot Vehicle ahead of us for the first 94 miles to the town of Chicken, Alaska.
3,650 feet is the highest elevation we’ll reach on this trip. This will happen twice. Our first ascent is to American Summit, 3420 feet. Fireweed, is the featured plant on this part of the journey.
Polly Summit, 3500 feet, is where we stopped for a stretch break. Unfortunately, the camera battery used up it’s charge, so I couldn’t take any pictures. Once we departed, we climbed another 1000 feet before our descent into Chicken. On one side of the Motor Coach, we had miles and miles of rolling mountains dotted with shadows from the clouds. On the other side, pine trees and blue sky with puffy of white clouds.
Upon arrival in Chicken, Alaska, the group set off to acquire blueberry, apple and cherry pies, chocolate chip cookies, chicken noodle soup and chili. All 15 residents seemed to be employed at the four businesses owned by a lady called Chicken Sue.
On the way out of Chicken, we encountered our first moose grazing on the vegetation at the bottom of a lake. After a quick stop of the motor coach, pictures were taken and we were on our way. We had a second moose sighting that was a drive by and was seen only by a few of us.
We arrived in Tok, Alaska, just in time to have dinner. I haven’t said much about our accommodations, but let me tell you a little about this Westmark property. First of all, we were greeted by the General Manager and his family. His son and the daughter of the chef welcomed us to town with a little talk. They were celebrating Independence Week and passed out tokens of appreciation to the veterans, the wives, husbands and parents of veterans and to servicemen & women. They also did something special for the guests who had birthdays. This was a different, but pleasant, welcome to the town. The property is well kept and reminded me of cabins. The buildings are no more than two stories high and are spread out across the grounds. It has a Watering Hole (bar) and a Grub House (restaurant). They also had a gift shop where you didn’t have to shell out Cadillac prices for your souvenirs. Not much else in town, but it was an enjoyable stop.
The Dawson City
We’re spending two nights in Dawson City, Yukon Territory Canada. What can I tell you about Dawson? It is the home of the Klondike Gold Rush and gold is still being mined today. The charm is that it looks the same , in most respects, as it did 1898. There is one paved road that goes through town, the rest are still dirt and gravel. In the winter, -40 to -65 degree temperatures are not uncommon. Even though there are sunset and sunrise times designated, there’s 24 hours of sunshine today and 75 degree temperature.
There’s Diamond Tooth Gertie’s, an original casino and saloon with a Can-Can Show that runs three times per day, seven days per week. Our group was set-up by our Tour Director and ended up in the front row not even thinking about what might happen. Well, I, and one other guy from Texas, ended up on stage attempting to dance the can-can with ladies in the show. For my fun and embarrassment, I got to remove the garter from the lady who was training me to dance – I still haven’t figured out if that was worth it, but I kept the garter!
Next, most of the group went to the Sourtoe Saloon where the brave and crazy down a shot of liquor, with a human toe in it (ugh!), just to get a signed certificate. A little over 26,000 people have done this over the years.
Sourdough Joe’s restaurant quickly became a favorite of many in the group. They had excellent Halibut & Chips, Split Pea and Fish Chowder Soups and an Apple Crisp Dessert with whipped cream.
There is an Information Center that you should visit as soon as you get to town. You can find out about Walking Tours given by folks dressed in the attire of that time period.
The Grand Palace is worth a visit. It has been beautifully refurbished by Parks Canada and is still utilized today for special occasions.
There is an opportunity to see a working gold mine and to visit Dredge #4, which was used to separate gold from rocks, sand and dirt.
Dawson City was a nice, peaceful place to spend two nights.
On the Road to Dawson City
Monday, June 29, 2009
Today we will be traveling 340 miles, paralleling the Yukon River, up to Dawson City on the Klondike Highway. We will go from 2305 feet of elevation down to 1050 feet. Just outside of Whitehorse, we saw a Bald Eagle perched on the mountain on one side of the motor coach and an Eagle nest in a tree on the other side.Our first stop was Breaburn Lodge where six of us enjoyed one of their world famous cinnamon buns – the one we shared was ten inches across and three inches high. It had really, really good flavor – not too sweet. Raisins, cinnamon, lightly iced and dough that was thoroughly baked. The lodge actually has an airstrip called ‘Cinnamon Bun Airstrip.’ It is an official checkpoint on the 1000 Mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race [Mush!]
The second stop was a picture spot called Five Fingers Rapids. This was a tragic point on the Yukon River where many travelers and their vessels were lost crashing into the rocks. Civil Engineering efforts have made it less treacherous over timeThe third stop was Minto Landing, where we had lunch and took a group photo with the Yukon River as a backdrop. On the way back out to the highway, we stopped for a black bear that was crossing the road.
Our fourth stop was Moose Creek Lodge. It was a little different: Strawberry-Rhubarb tarts, among other flavors; hot chocolate; coffee and tea; oatmeal raisin cookies, apple raisin cake; date bread; brownies; and a horseshoe pit. There was enough time to play a couple of games, which some in the group did. Of course, the natural beauty surrounding the lodge, included tree covered mountains for as far as you could see.
Our last stop before reaching Dawson City, Tintina Trench, is a horizontal fault line that is said to run through theYukon Territory as far down into the United States as Montana. The fault activity is said to be caused a new fault horizontally rubbing against an old fault. One fault goes southeast and the other goes northwest.
As we head on into Dawson City, we come past mile zero of the Dempster Highway. Dempster Highway is the only road that goes to the Western Arctic Circle, four hundred fifty miles . The building of this road was thought to be a waste by many people, but many natural resources have since been discovered and are accessible because of this road – which was one man’s vision. I actually had the pleasure to talk to a couple from eastern Canada, who had just returned from driving the highway. The first five to six miles is paved and the rest is gravel! Imagine what that trip is like.
White Pass & Yukon Route Railway
Sunday, June 28, 2009
There is a Song of Joy in my heart as I admire this majestic panorama of mountains, waterfalls and gorges along the White Horse Pass and the Yukon Territory on this train. It stirs passion within my heart as I think about the formation of such beauty. It inspires you to reach out to hold it close to your heart – if that were at all possible.
Today, Sunday, June 28, 2009, we left Skagway, Alaska, aboard the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway. This will only be a 28 mile journey of a possible 67 miles due to the washout of the train base further up the line. It won’t reopen until July 1st. We will disembark at Fraser. This is a narrow gauge railroad with an average 2.6% grade up the mountains. It was built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush and is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It has vintage parlor cars that are very comfortable.
The White Horse Pass was one of two trails [the other was the Chilkoot Trail,] out of Skagway that would lead to the Yukon River which allowed the gold rushers to get to Dawson City. Dawson City is actually where the gold was and Skagway was the key launching point where supplies were acquired. Because Dawson City was actually in Canada, and most of the gold rush stampeders were American, the Canadian Government required each person to have one ton of provisions for the journey. This was enough to last for one year. Canada knew that there wasn’t enough provisions in the Dawson City area to accommodate these people and they wanted them to be able to survive.
Our journey is continuing by motor coach from Fraser to Whitehorse, where we’ll spend the night. Besides many photo stops, the first city along the route was Carcross, where we were able to get our passports stamped with a Canadian stamp and there was some excellent ice cream. There were also some historical markers related to some stories mentioned by the motor coach driver. Our first photo stop was a spontaneous one because we saw a bear on the side of the road feeding on berries. He just continued feeding as we took our photos from the motor coach, which was no more than five feet from him.
Our lunch stop was Caribou Crossing. We had the opportunity to visit a wonderful Taxidermy Museum of animals from the area. All of the animals died of natural causes or a non-hunting encounter with man or his creations. I saw Caribou, foxes, rabbits, Lynx, moose, bears, weasels and various birds. It was a delightful museum. They also had new born Huskies for viewing and holding.
The last photo stop was at Emerald Lake. This lake is colored green by a substance called marl that is in the run off from the mountains above. It was truly a sight to behold.
We have arrived at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Canada. It is the Capitol of the Yukon Territory and has a population of 23,000. What is unique about this is that there are only 32,000 to 33,000 inhabitants in the entire 400,000 square kilometer territory. To put that size in perspective, the states of California, Arizona, West Virginia and Delaware could all fit inside of the territory. There are three territories and ten provinces in Canada and there are thirteen First Nations tribes [we would call them Indians in the USA.]
Skagway
We’re settled into our hotel for the night. Our Tour Director is Juli, a wonderful, energetic college senior from Texas. She has spent the last three summers up here working with Holland America Line Tours. We look forward to spending the next nine days with her. Today we learned about the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush that was launched from Skagway. Skagway never had any gold, it was 600 miles away in Dawson City, Yukon Territory Canada.
Skagway is four blocks wide and twenty-three blocks long. It was home to a notorious character by the name of Soapy Smith – if there was angle to get the gold speculators’ money, Soapy had figured it out. For example, he would offer to send a telegram back home for people who had arrived so their loved ones would know that they arrived safely. There was only one problem, there were not any telegraph lines in Skagway. He died in a gun battle with another man who was working with the people in the town to get rid of Soapy and his gang.
Tracy Arm & Juneau
We are on our way to Tracy Arm which is a glacier-carved, narrow fjord famous for blue icebergs and various animals and mammals. It is truly controlled by mother nature and we won’t know if we can navigate it until we get there. I’ll keep you posted.
Those blue icebergs I mentioned earlier, they were all over the entrance to Tracy Arm and thus prevented us from going in. This however made our arrival to Juneau, Alaska, much earlier than had been planned. I had the opportunity to visit the Alaska State Capitol and the Governor’s Residence [Sarah Palin wasn't there because she was visiting our troops in Kosovo, according to our tour guide.] The guided tour of the State Capitol was quite enlightening. Did you know that the state legislature only meets for ninety days each year beginning in early January? Anyway, the building was first a federal building which housed a post office, courtroom and other offices, before being taken over by the state government. The building is in the process of being renovated.
We were informed that Juneau is the largest city, by area, in the United States. Population wise, there are about 31,000 residents. Did you know that it is only accessible by land or sea? – there are no roads to there As we docked, the bald eagles were putting on a show for us all to see. Juneau is surrounded by mountains that are a beauty to behold. When the sun shines off of the snow-capped mountains, you get deep understanding of the power and creativity of the God who designed this great land. We stayed in Juneau for about 12 hours.
We’re off to Skagway next, where we’ll disembark and begin the land tour portion of our trip.
Cruising the Inside Passage
Friday, June 26, 2009
It’s dinner time of the first day aboard ship and we’re having dinner with two couples: Rich and Pat, from Charleston, SC; and Pat and Esther, from Vancouver. Pat and Esther were the last ones on the ship today. They were on the waitlist and got the call about forty minutes before the ship was to sail. Pat works for the Port Authority. Esther is a nurse. She had to drive home and pack when they got the call. Pat just walked across the street from his office. He decided to be packed and ready to go. She said she wasn’t packing until she was sure she was going. They were rushed a little bit, but having a daughter that worked there in the Customs office, helped them to speed through the process and get on the ship just in time for the lifeboat drill. What was nice about dining with Pat and Esther was hearing about the area in detail as we cruised through islands along the inside passage. We saw barges of wood chips being towed by a tugboat. They looked like they were just floating along without a power source, until you saw the tugboat. They also told us of a tragic story of a family who was forever changed when the father , who was piloting their yacht, decided to go between the tugboat and the barges. What he didn’t realize was that there was a substantial cable tying them all together. He lost a couple of family members when the cable sliced through the yacht and the result of that incident is that every boat operator now has to have a license. This lead to stories of houseboats, real estate, the local economy, ferry commuters and the cruise industry.
The other couple had some interesting conversation, too. Rich is a retired superintendent of schools. Pat was a manager of small utility company, both in northeastern Ohio. They now live on an island off of the coast of South Carolina. It was interesting listening to their story of having alligators, snakes and other critters in their back yard and the tourists who don’t heed the signs about them. In fact, Pat said she never goes into her back yard. They also told a story about being on vacation and meeting a professional basketball coach [Scott _ _ _ _] who coached Pete Marevich, and the Pistons, Bulls and Jazz teams. Coach Scott had a lot of unique stories to tell and they laughed continuously throughout the whole trip along with two other couples. The rest of the folks on the trip weren’t very happy with this boisterous group. Pat shared the story of the downsizing of her company and being offered the job of shutting down each of the offices around Ohio. She told Rich what she was going to be doing and he told her she didn’t have to do that! As a result she took a buy out from the company and has been enjoying life every since. They shared many other stories about students, S.Carolina’s real estate and local economy.
This commentary wouldn’t be complete without letting you know what dinner entailed: Baked Rockfish, potatoes, asparagus and baked apples. It was finished off with Gold Rush Baked Alaska that was on a fudge brownie base and topped with hot fudge sauce!
Needless to say, the views of the mountains and countryside are tremendous, even though it is a little cloudy today.
Vancouver, BC
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
We have arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. We’re excited to finally be here at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, which is just a short distance from the Canada Place Pier. It is a beautiful, classic hotel from a bygone era. Wide hallways, chandeliers, high ceilings, antique lamps, embossed carpeting and enameled steel bathtubs. Breakfast at Griffin’s was a wonderful experience.
Oh, by the way, did I mention that we are without luggage? All of the plane and schedule changes resulted in our luggage staying in Seattle overnight. Our luggage finally arrived at the Vancouver Airport at 10:30 am. I agreed with the airline representative’s recommendation to have it sent directly to the Volendam Cruise ship – I won’t get my luggage until well after 2:00 pm, but l’m good with that because I know where it is! This is the first time I’ve been without my luggage at the beginning of a trip. It is good to be flexible and adaptable, or uncontrollable events could quickly sidetrack your vacation.
We’re on the Holland America Line Volendam Cruise ship now. We’re hanging out, having just finished a lunch of roasted salmon, cream spinach, almond rice, pineapple, cantaloupe and New York cheesecake. We’re looking out into the bay watching air taxis take off and land. It’s raining today in Vancouver and a wall of fog has just blocked our view of the surrounding mountains.