June 29

We got up early to catch the Alaskan Railroad Gold Star train from Fairbanks to Anchorage.  This is Pat in front of the Train Station in Fairbanks.

They have a very extensive model railroad set up at one end of the depot in Fairbanks.  There were at least 6 trains all running simultaneously on various different tracks and some on the same tracks.

We upgraded our level of service on the train and had assigned seats in an observation car and our own dinning room just for our car.  They served us three free meals and a couple free drinks.  It made the 12 hour ride very pleasant.  We are now at the Guesthouse Inn for a couple days in Anchorage.

June 28

It was raining when we got up but it cleared up by mid morning.  This morning we took the River Discovery tour on a real sternwheel boat on the Chena River at Fairbanks.

As part of the tour, we saw a float plane demonstration, a dog sled demonstration and visited a recreated Athabaskan camp.

In the afternoon we did a walking tour of Fairbanks.  We walked along the Chena River and visited several Museums.

June 27

Today was our first day of significant rain all day.  We took the opportunity to visit indoor attractions in Fairbanks.  We spent the morning at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center.  In addition to a 40 minute movie on Northern Lights, they had many exhibits.

After lunch, we went to the University of Alaska Museum of the  North.  We saw three 30 minute films:  Discovering dinosaur bones in Alaska, Whale migration and research and another film on the Northern Lights.  They had an extensive art collection and many exhibits on the local people, local animals, dinosaurs and whaling.

The Brown Bear pictured stood 8ft 9in tall.

June 26

Well the day started with a big surprise!!  We received an email at 8:30 am that our 11:50 am Alaska Air flight from Barrow to Fairbanks was canceled.  I immediately called Alaska Air lines to see what they could do.  After spending several minutes on the phone, the agent confirmed the flight was canceled and came up with a 6pm flight from Barrow to Anchorage and a 11pm flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

In the process of discussing the suggested changes, I asked if there were any options through Prudhoe Bay.  She put me on hold for about 10 minutes and when she returned to the line she started apologizing profusely.  As it turned out, there was a mix up and the Prudhoe Bay flights were canceled. She returned our flight to the originally scheduled flight and all worked out and we are now in Fairbanks.
Go figure!!!

Interesting fact about the planes they use to fly to the small Northern towns like Barrow and Prudhoe Bay is that passengers board from the back of the aircraft.  There is a solid wall divider between rows 15 and 16.  There is additional cargo where rows 1 through 15 would normally be.  Passengers sit in rows 16 to the rear of the plane.

One additional point of interest.  In the debate over the pronunciation of Barrow, i.e., "bear-o" vs "bar-o", after surveying a significant sample of locals, it must be concluded that "bear-o" is the correct local vernacular.

June 25

We started the day in Barrow with an early morning walk in a light fog.  We walked about 5 blocks from our hotel to the shore of the Arctic Ocean.  There was a lot of pack ice that had blown in to shore.  The winds changed to off shore late in the morning, the sky was clear and sunny and by early evening most of the ice was about 1/2 to 3/4ths of a mile off shore.

We picked up a rental car at 10 am and were on the go until 10 pm (ya gotta love that 24 hours of day light).  We hit every sight there was to see.  The picture below is of the skull of a 51 foot Bowhead Whale.

There were many sites with whale bones around the city.  One site that is seen often in promotional material is the whale bone arch.  Note that picture was taken earlier in the day and the pack ice is still near shore.

We drove out on the road that travels along the Ocean on a spit to the Northeast of town to where the road ended at presumably the most Northern point in the USA.

June 24

We woke up this morning and it was raining.  Probably just as well as it would have been more depressing to return the RV on a nice day.  We certainly enjoyed the new experience.

The return process went quickly and smoothly.

Currently we are hanging out at the Anchorage airport waiting for our flight to Barrow, Ak to start the next phase of our trip.

If things go according to plan, we will be in Barrow about 7:30 pm local time (10:30 MN time).  More to follow.....  we made it!!

June 23

We took some time off from packing and cleaning the RV to go to Beluga Point.

We strolled around and did a little scramble to the tops of the rock formations hoping to catch a glimpse of a Beluga, but no such luck.

We stopped at McHugh Creek to do some hiking and observe the creek cascading into Turnagain Arm.

We are back at Golden Nugget RV Park to do the finishing cleanup touches on the RV as we will return it tomorrow.