In my travels to North Pole, I drove 254.4 miles.
There was some beautiful scenery along the way. Although, we did encounter more road construction. They say in Alaska there is two seasons. Winter and Construction.
I passed through the town of Delta Junction. Here is the official “End of the Alaska Highway”. Milepost 1422. I started on the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek.
The day we arrived at our North Pole campground, we boarded a bus and headed to the Alaska Salmon bake for dinner and a show. For dinner we had a choice of steak, salmon or beer battered cod.
The facility also included a pioneer village. The show was a vaudeville type show with 4 actors and a piano player. It was very entertaining.
Of course, since I am in North Pole, I had to go and see the big guy!
We went on a Riverboat ride which also included a family style served lunch.
This was very well done. The boat stopped several times while traveling down the Chena River. They had great narration and showed all stops on video screens located throughout the ship so that everyone would be able to see.
These stops included watching a float plane take off and land, a stop at a dog sled facility, and a stop at the Chena Village Living Museum/Athabasca village where we disembarked and enjoyed several presentations around the village.
Float Plane take off and Landing
Dog Sled Kennel
Athabascan Village from the boat and walking tour.
After the Discovery Boat tour we went to the University of Fairbanks Museum of the North. They had a lot of neat displays on the culture and history of Alaska.
I found most interesting the area about the Japanese Americans and Aleuts. During WWII they were considered sympathizers with the Japanese and placed into internment camps. There were lots of handwritten notes and letters that these interned people sent to their families. It was interesting to see photos and notes of this period in Alaska/United States History.
Also, in Fairbanks we visited a Dredge. I am going to put that in its own post.