Roll Call Alaska 2013

I'd add a 3rd name to Joe b.'s list although not in the Fairbanks/Nenana area:

Two words in the area give tourists problems

Tanana is pronounced ( Tan Ah. Naw)
Nenana is (Nee Nan Ah) sort of like banana

....

Valdez is pronounced with a long "e" ("Valdeeeeez"), not Val-dez (i.e. not like Valdez is Coming).

I find, just closing my eyes works fine for me. Try it, and you will find it is dark inside with the eyes closed. LOL :) Same process I use for taking an after lunch nap, in my recliner here at the house. Have lunch, set in recliner, beagle curls up in my lap, we both close our eyes and soon we are asleep. Daylight and not a problem here, so why would it be elsewhere.

The big problem I have in the north is deciding when to go to bed. I learned over the years to go to bed when I got tired. Hardest thing was to get the daughters to go to bed in the summer time when we lived in Nenana. One night my wife woke me up about a noise she heard outside the house. In checking I found both our daughters, dressed and playing in their tree house next to the deck. They were not please to have to put their PJs back on and go back to bed.

Most of the north country functions on this time schedule of going until you can't go anymore and then crash. Works great if you don't have to be to work at a specific time as most urban residents have to do.

Never heard of anyone that has died of lack of sleep, unless they were driving their RV/car or flying an airplane and decided to go to sleep. Part of the fun adventure of RVing in the north country.

We purchased blackout curtains for the bay window in the back from Walmart (suppose to block 99% of sun). For the other bedroom windows I cut cardboard to fit inside the frame and then glued cheap car windshield reflectors to the cardboard and trimed. When not neeeded to block out light they pop out quickly and also act as a sun reflector. All this worked quite nicely the month we spent in Fla. this year.

Good advice Sue, tin foil comes in handy for numerous things, a must have like bailing wire and duct tape.

Tin foil makes an excellent light block in a pinch.

For our sleeping area in the fifth wheel, we have a black MaxxAir cover over the Fantastic Fan vent that is over our bed. The black cover keeps most of the light out and I can still use the fan to cool the fifth wheel at night.

On the windows, black-out curtains as the air flow is nice to have.

Here is what we did for Blackout Shades: Get some” black ballistic material” from your local fabric store – they normally sell it by the square yard ( 3ft x 3ft). Buy enough to cover your windows and/ or skylight with one piece (cut from a larger piece) so you don’t have to sew pieces together to make enough-unless you want to use up every last bit of material. I measure the windows this way: on the sides, I add about 2 – 3 inches for each side beyond the window opening; for the vertical length (top to bottom) I add about 8 – 10 inches. Be sure to have enough over-hangs to cover any sun light angles that might come in from the sides. On the sides, I fold over about 1 inch and sew that down to prevent unraveling over time. On the vertical length I do the same thing but I do an extra fold over at the top so that I can put a ¼ or 3/8 inch wooden dowel through the hole I just made on the top. Since most campers have the curtains already attached, I just take the “black out shades” I just made with the rods at the top and put them on top of the camper’s permanent shades by pushing them back far enough so that they don’t fall off. If need be, I will use a clothes pin to close any open areas. As for the skylight, I do the same thing but make the size to fit the outer skylight frame. This might be about 1 – 2 inches and I go to the outside of the frame for measuring. Then I sew some black Velcro (with hooks) or similar product to the black ballistic material. Then I get the sticky back Velcro (felt/loops) in white (to match my frame) and stick that on the frame of the skylight. Use just enough Velcro to hold the blackout shade from falling. Too much Velcro and you may pull the sticky backed Velcro off. Be sure you have the "hooks and loops" matching or it won't work. Then in the morning we just pull them off the window and skylight, roll them up and put them away. Use of the word “Velcro” is not an endorsement, just easier for folks to understand. Hope this helps.

CA Traveler

I use the metallic bubble insulation sold at Home Depot. It blocks the light and adds insulation to the window. A win/win.

What to take addition: Covering for windows for the 24/7 sun. I cut some foam to fit the inside of the bedroom windows.

OK sue on the Fairbanks vistors center, I was wondering if the widing of Cushman street, down by the bridge was going to get the building. It also got my favorite hadrware store, Sampsons. Was there from the old gold rush days but the new bridge won and Sampson's building came down. Progress sometime just stinks, in my unbiased opinion. LOL :)

Will have to stop in at the new cultral center, named for a guy I knew in the village of Tanana, Big Boy Thompson. He died in the Alaska Airlines crash, coming back from Mexico and had the jammed elevator control.

RECOMMENDED SIGHTS & SITES

ALBERTA

Icefield Parkway - Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Mile "0" Signpost, Dawson Creek, Alaska Highway
Liard Hot Springs, Alaska Highway
Dease Lake (Cassiar Hwy) drive Telegraph Creek (not suited for large RVs)
Atlin – south of Tagish/Whitehorse area
Salmon Glacier - end of the road past Stewart BC & Hyder AK

YUKON

Frantic Follies Show - Whitehorse
Klondike Rib & Salmon BBQ – Whitehorse
Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre – Whitehorse
Dawson City Museum – Dawson City
Top of the World Hwy - Dawson City
Keno City Mining Museum – Keno
Watson Lake Sign Post Forest
Wildlife Gallery – Yukon Motel, Teslin
Kluane Museum of Natural History – Burwash

ALASKA

Barrow – north Alaska, fly-in only
Chicken - Tisha's School House via Taylor Hwy or Top of the World Hwy

SOUTHEAST ALASKA
White Bus (Lunch) – Hyder via Cassiar Hwy B.C.
Skagway AK, drive south of Whitehorse YT
Haines AK, drive south of Haines Junction YT
Wrangell Jet Boat Tour- LeConte Glacier Ferry (ferry or fly-in)
Ketchikan - Deadliest catch Tour (ferry or fly-in)

FAIRBANKS & AREA
Santa Claus House - North Pole AK near Fairbanks
Knotty Shop – Mile 332 Richardson Hwy near Fairbanks
108th Annual Midnight Sun Baseball Game (Summer Solstice) – Fairbanks
Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center
Riverboat Discovery 3-hour tour of
Tanana Valley Railroad - take a ride to the gold fields
Pan for gold at ElDorado Gold Mine
Alyeska (Pipeline) Visitor Center - Fox, 10 miles north of Fairbanks
Pump House Restaurant and Brewery - Fox
Howling Dog Saloon - Fox
Malamute Saloon - Ester, west side of Fairbanks

NENANA (near Fairbanks)
Visitor Center
Tripod Gift Shop complex
Railroad Museum
Native Cultural Center on the river bank
St. Mark's Log Church on Front Street

ANCHORAGE & AREA
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center - Downtown Anchorage
Alaska Native Medical Center - Anchorage
Crow's Nest (meal Captain Cook Hotel)
Simon & Seafort's Saloon - Anchorage
Charter Plane - Anchorage/Chugach Mountains
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Moose Tooth Pub -Anchorage

KENAI PENINSULA & AREA
Seward
Kenai Fjords Boat Tours – Seward
Seward Silver Salmon Derby - Aug 10-18 Kenai Peninsula
Alyeska tram and resort, Girdwood (dinner is great here-Seven Glaciers)
Winner Creek Trail at Alyeska, near Girdwood
Double Musky (Dinner) - Girdwood
Pratt Museum – Homer
Homer High Rd Drive
Halibut Cove in Homer - Dinner at Saltry
Hope - Between Anchorage and Seward
White water Rafting - Hope
Williwaw Campground - Portage Glacier
Glacier Tours – Glaciers

DENALI & PARKS HWY AREA
Denali Park Bus Tour
Denali River Rafting - Rafting (mild to wild)
Mary's McKinley View Lodge (view and dinner) – Trapper Creek
Drive Denali Hwy between Cantwell & Paxson
Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge
Talkeetna Sightsee Flight - Mt Mckinley/Denali

EVENTS
Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival – June 7-9, Whitehorse YT
Chickenstock Music Festival – June 14-15, Chicken AK
Atlin Arts & Music Festival – July 12-14, Atlin BC
Dawson City Music Festival – July 19-21, Dawson City YT
Alaska State Fair – Aug 22 – Sept 2, Palmer AK