DrewE's Alaska Trip Travelogue
I returned about a week ago from a marvelous ten-week trip to and through Alaska (and back) with my dear mother. I went in a 32' class C, actually about 35' overall with a bicycle rack on the back, w...
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July 27th - 30th -- Fairbanks. Actually this includes a bit from August 5th and 6th as well, since we came back through Fairbanks then after heading north. I'm not going to bother with being precisely chronological here; it really doesn't matter much what order one sees the sights in, after all.
Fairbanks is a neat city, with plenty to see and do and experience. For the most part, navigating and parking with an RV wasn't too much of a difficulty. That's not to suggest that a car would not at times have been easier, or that public transit isn't mighty handy occasionally, of course. They do have a pretty decent city bus system, which is free for seniors.
July 27th and 28th we stayed at the campground at the Tanana Valley Fairground on the north side of town. We had to leave after the 28th as the fair was approaching and various vendors and workers and fairgoers had reserved the sites at the campground from then on. This campground is a little bit on the rustic side, with decently spaced sites and trees and vegetation amidst them. The facilities were functional if not beautiful. Campfire wood was available for sale and fairly inexpensive (sold by the wheelbarrow-full or half wheelbarrow-full). In some ways it seems a little more like a public campground than a private one, though in fact it is privately owned and operated.
July 29th and 30th we stayed at the parking lot at Pioneer Park, which is dry camping for a fairly nominal fee. Apparently some restrooms in the park are left open for campers to use, but it's quite a hike to get to them and we didn't verify this. The ambience is exactly what you'd expect for a parking lot, though noise isn't generally bad. The RV camping/parking slots along the edges are nice and wide.
August 5th and 6th, when we returned, were spent at Riverview RV park in North Pole. This is a pretty nice commercial campground, with the typical layout of pull-through sites separated by little strips of grass. The place is very well maintained and the restrooms, laundry, etc. are all good. They also have a bucket-and-hose RV washing pad, which was a very big draw for us at that time...but more on that in a later post.
The Morris Thompson Cultural Visitor Center (which serves as the city's main tourist information and visitor's center) is superb, with a well-done (and surprisingly large) museum section and a variety of free shows at times during the day. I think probably Fairbanks and Watson Lake had the best tourist information centers we encountered, and we did stop at several along the way for maps and other information.
Pioneer park is a pleasant place, but seems to me to have somewhat of an identity crisis. Is it an amusement park? A city park with playgrounds and picnic tables? A historical museum? A shopping center? A tourists trap? A cultural events center? In truth, it's a little bit of all of these, and almost seems like a place that has developed without an overarching vision to guide things. That's not to suggest that there's anything wrong, only that it's kind of confusing to try to categorize.
Click For Full-Size Image.
In front of the parking lot to Pioneer Park are a couple of statues keeping watch. This grizzly prospector is one of them. (I'm afraid I forget what the other one was!)
Click For Full-Size Image.
It seems to be a requirement for any proper town in Alaska to have a signpost with distances to various far-flung places. Here's the one in Pioneer Park.
Click For Full-Size Image.
There's a section of Pioneer Park with various historic buildings that have been relocated and are now (mostly) little shops or eateries.
Click For Full-Size Image.
In another area are some exhibits of mining equipment.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Close to the mining equipment is the large Alaska Salmon Bake. This is not fine dining with crystal and sterling silver and linen tablecloths, but it sure is good and bountiful eating!
Also the grounds are several museums of varying scales (aviation, railroad, general area history, an art gallery, etc.); the SS Nenana sternwheeler and a historic rail car, both partly restored; a carousel, mini golf course, and miniature (ride-on) railroad; playgrounds and picnic areas; and a performing arts venue. There are a couple of ongoing shows based in the park, including a very fun little vaudeville show (the Golden Heart Revue) in the so-called "Palace Theatre and Saloon"--which, in fact, is in fact not especially palatial, nor do they serve alcohol anymore. I'm sure there are a few other attractions I've omitted, as well.
The Riverboat Discovery cruise is very much a tourist trap sort of operation, but an extremely well-done and generally worthwhile example. I'm not sure I would think it worth the money without a TourSaver coupon, but with the discount it's fairly priced. This is a little excursion down the river on an authentic (modern) sternwheeler, with narration and demonstrations of bush pilot aviation, sled dog training, and a shore excursion to a sort of reproduction Chena indian encampment. It's all tastefully done, even if it's a bit artificial or contrived at places. Given the number of people who go on the trips, it would be impossible to do differently.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The Discovery III; they also use the somewhat smaller Discovery II, while the (much smaller) Discovery I is now only used for charter operations.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Sled dogs on the home stretch.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A Chena fish camp (or a fair re-creation of one).
Click For Full-Size Image.
Chena clothing--these are correct to form, made with authentic materials and techniques.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A taxidermy specimen moose at the Chena village.
The Large Animal Research Station (LARS), operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, offers informational tours of some of their facility. There is also a space for picnicking and frolicking or lazing about with occasional views of some of the animals, but the tour is well worth taking to get closer and (at least with the guide we had) be inundated with information about the animals. Musk-oxen have an inner wool called qiviut that is one of the warmest fibers known. There's a little gift shop at LARS that sells, among other things, yarn and articles made of qiviut...that, though luxuriously soft and warm, were rather out of my price range.
The research at the station deals mainly with musk-oxen and reindeer/caribou. (The only real difference between caribou and reindeer is domestication; reindeer are domesticated, while caribou are wild. They're the same species, though there are some minor differences such that they might be considered different breeds.)
Click For Full-Size Image.
One of the musk-oxen being bribed with fireweed.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A reindeer, who is about to be bribed with lichen or moss or something of that ilk.
Also operated by the university is the large Museum of the North, which has exhibits primarily dealing with natural history, cultural history, and fine art. This is a fabulous museum. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, was that I found the organization of the main exhibit hall by regions rather than by subject matter to be somewhat confusing and disjointed. It was pretty easy to accidentally miss some areas. The gift shop at the museum had some very nice handcrafted items for sale.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The rather well-known grizzly bear that guards the entrance of the main exhibit hall of the museum.
The day we visited the museum, there was an absolute downpour right around when the museum closed, making for a mighty damp walk back across the parking lot. On the whole the weather was fairly good for us over the trip, though not of course entirely rain-free.
Besides being tourists, we did more mundane things in Fairbanks like buying groceries, gas, and propane, and getting an oil change in the motorhome. There are, of course, many other attractions in Fairbanks, which we didn't have the time or the inclination (or both) to see.
(Edited to fix errant formatting.)
Fairbanks is a neat city, with plenty to see and do and experience. For the most part, navigating and parking with an RV wasn't too much of a difficulty. That's not to suggest that a car would not at times have been easier, or that public transit isn't mighty handy occasionally, of course. They do have a pretty decent city bus system, which is free for seniors.
July 27th and 28th we stayed at the campground at the Tanana Valley Fairground on the north side of town. We had to leave after the 28th as the fair was approaching and various vendors and workers and fairgoers had reserved the sites at the campground from then on. This campground is a little bit on the rustic side, with decently spaced sites and trees and vegetation amidst them. The facilities were functional if not beautiful. Campfire wood was available for sale and fairly inexpensive (sold by the wheelbarrow-full or half wheelbarrow-full). In some ways it seems a little more like a public campground than a private one, though in fact it is privately owned and operated.
July 29th and 30th we stayed at the parking lot at Pioneer Park, which is dry camping for a fairly nominal fee. Apparently some restrooms in the park are left open for campers to use, but it's quite a hike to get to them and we didn't verify this. The ambience is exactly what you'd expect for a parking lot, though noise isn't generally bad. The RV camping/parking slots along the edges are nice and wide.
August 5th and 6th, when we returned, were spent at Riverview RV park in North Pole. This is a pretty nice commercial campground, with the typical layout of pull-through sites separated by little strips of grass. The place is very well maintained and the restrooms, laundry, etc. are all good. They also have a bucket-and-hose RV washing pad, which was a very big draw for us at that time...but more on that in a later post.
The Morris Thompson Cultural Visitor Center (which serves as the city's main tourist information and visitor's center) is superb, with a well-done (and surprisingly large) museum section and a variety of free shows at times during the day. I think probably Fairbanks and Watson Lake had the best tourist information centers we encountered, and we did stop at several along the way for maps and other information.
Pioneer park is a pleasant place, but seems to me to have somewhat of an identity crisis. Is it an amusement park? A city park with playgrounds and picnic tables? A historical museum? A shopping center? A tourists trap? A cultural events center? In truth, it's a little bit of all of these, and almost seems like a place that has developed without an overarching vision to guide things. That's not to suggest that there's anything wrong, only that it's kind of confusing to try to categorize.
In front of the parking lot to Pioneer Park are a couple of statues keeping watch. This grizzly prospector is one of them. (I'm afraid I forget what the other one was!)
It seems to be a requirement for any proper town in Alaska to have a signpost with distances to various far-flung places. Here's the one in Pioneer Park.
There's a section of Pioneer Park with various historic buildings that have been relocated and are now (mostly) little shops or eateries.
In another area are some exhibits of mining equipment.
Close to the mining equipment is the large Alaska Salmon Bake. This is not fine dining with crystal and sterling silver and linen tablecloths, but it sure is good and bountiful eating!
Also the grounds are several museums of varying scales (aviation, railroad, general area history, an art gallery, etc.); the SS Nenana sternwheeler and a historic rail car, both partly restored; a carousel, mini golf course, and miniature (ride-on) railroad; playgrounds and picnic areas; and a performing arts venue. There are a couple of ongoing shows based in the park, including a very fun little vaudeville show (the Golden Heart Revue) in the so-called "Palace Theatre and Saloon"--which, in fact, is in fact not especially palatial, nor do they serve alcohol anymore. I'm sure there are a few other attractions I've omitted, as well.
The Riverboat Discovery cruise is very much a tourist trap sort of operation, but an extremely well-done and generally worthwhile example. I'm not sure I would think it worth the money without a TourSaver coupon, but with the discount it's fairly priced. This is a little excursion down the river on an authentic (modern) sternwheeler, with narration and demonstrations of bush pilot aviation, sled dog training, and a shore excursion to a sort of reproduction Chena indian encampment. It's all tastefully done, even if it's a bit artificial or contrived at places. Given the number of people who go on the trips, it would be impossible to do differently.
The Discovery III; they also use the somewhat smaller Discovery II, while the (much smaller) Discovery I is now only used for charter operations.
Sled dogs on the home stretch.
A Chena fish camp (or a fair re-creation of one).
Chena clothing--these are correct to form, made with authentic materials and techniques.
A taxidermy specimen moose at the Chena village.
The Large Animal Research Station (LARS), operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, offers informational tours of some of their facility. There is also a space for picnicking and frolicking or lazing about with occasional views of some of the animals, but the tour is well worth taking to get closer and (at least with the guide we had) be inundated with information about the animals. Musk-oxen have an inner wool called qiviut that is one of the warmest fibers known. There's a little gift shop at LARS that sells, among other things, yarn and articles made of qiviut...that, though luxuriously soft and warm, were rather out of my price range.
The research at the station deals mainly with musk-oxen and reindeer/caribou. (The only real difference between caribou and reindeer is domestication; reindeer are domesticated, while caribou are wild. They're the same species, though there are some minor differences such that they might be considered different breeds.)
One of the musk-oxen being bribed with fireweed.
A reindeer, who is about to be bribed with lichen or moss or something of that ilk.
Also operated by the university is the large Museum of the North, which has exhibits primarily dealing with natural history, cultural history, and fine art. This is a fabulous museum. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, was that I found the organization of the main exhibit hall by regions rather than by subject matter to be somewhat confusing and disjointed. It was pretty easy to accidentally miss some areas. The gift shop at the museum had some very nice handcrafted items for sale.
The rather well-known grizzly bear that guards the entrance of the main exhibit hall of the museum.
The day we visited the museum, there was an absolute downpour right around when the museum closed, making for a mighty damp walk back across the parking lot. On the whole the weather was fairly good for us over the trip, though not of course entirely rain-free.
Besides being tourists, we did more mundane things in Fairbanks like buying groceries, gas, and propane, and getting an oil change in the motorhome. There are, of course, many other attractions in Fairbanks, which we didn't have the time or the inclination (or both) to see.
(Edited to fix errant formatting.)
