Getting into hot water
Heading north up the Parks highway, we passed through Healy. No Skoolie driver in his right mind could pass up Stampede Road. This is the location of the bus that Chris McCandles died in at the end of the Jon Krakauer novel Into the Wild. They flew the bus out under an Alaska Air National Guard CH-47 last year to keep more dumb people from killing themselves trying to get there to see it. It seems several people have done so in the same river that kept Mr. Alexander Supertramp stuck there.
Then nice thing about driving your house around is that you can stop any beautiful place and make lunch. The wet spot on the pavement was there when we got there. I did not do it!
Our next stop was in Nenana where the highway crosses the Tenana river. Every winter they put that big tripod on the frozen river and sell chances to pick the exact date and time in the spring that it will fall through the melting ice. You can win some serious cash. They have it on a web cam for everyone not in Nenana to watch.
After getting to Fairbanks to find that the state campground had been shut down, we scrambled around and found that we could camp in the parking lot of Pioneer Park. It is a great park with a carousel, little shops and ice cream shacks and even an outdoor Salmon Bake restaurant.
The best part to me, other than the dog friendly beer garden, was the aviation museum in the park. They had lots of exhibits of early Alaskan aviation. There is also a Railroad museum and Native Heritage center.
Up the road we went to Chena Hot Springs Resort. They have a nice campground we stayed in for a few days. You don’t lead us to hot water and think we are leaving too soon! The hottest part of that pool was right at the buoy that marked the bottom of the ramp. You did not dilly there.
I have a knack for ending up near airplanes!
Ruckus and I went for a hike up this hill that gave us a good view of the resort and surrounding area. Luckily it had rained a little and got rid of the smoke from the 40K acre fire that burned right up to the resort.
Martha doing her best Lilly Tomlin impression in the big chair. That dragon was protecting the greenhouse from intruders.
This tractor was not rusted solid. Parts seemed to move freely. I am pretty sure some air in tires and gas in the tank is all it needed to run again.
On a hike around the valley, we came across this bridge. It had many patch jobs. Definitely not Mz Dazy approved.
After a few days camping and hiking at the hot springs, Ruckus decided we should camp by this lake for a few days so that he could have some water therapy.
The state stocks this lake with Rainbow Trout, how could a guy pass that up?
Ruckus wanted to help release the little ones.
The birch forest really lights up on a sunny day.
We decided to go on an adventure and hike around the lake. Not many people even stopped by. Most just drove in, turned around and left. One couple did stop to catch a couple of fish and another stopped to chat a while. At least we know it was not the weirdos in bus scaring them away!
We found this guy guarding the trail.
The weather was so nice, we even had a rare sighting of Martha in shorts without a Hoodie!
Ruckus even had his own fetching pond off to side so that he would not disturb the fish.
On Saturday we decided we wanted some trout for lunch. In all of 30 minutes we had two pan size trout caught, cleaned and cooked. They were delicious.
No trip to the Fairbanks area is complete without a stop in the town of North Pole, AK. We took this exact picture two years ago in January. You can bet the clothing was different!!
Rudolf and the guys taking a break from their flight training.
And down the road we go……….