Day 36: Cantwell, AK to Fairbanks, AK

A Day for Traveling, Restocking, and Laundry

Looking Over the Plains at the Mountains (on the way into Fairbanks)
After our great monster truck adventure yesterday, we took today as a low-key travel and refueling day.  We left our hotel in Cantwell with the sun just starting to peek out of the clouds.  So, we drove a short ways down the road to an overlook that promised a great view of the big mountain on a clear day.  As it turned out to be not near clear enough to see anything, we headed back to the Parks Highway to begin our drive to Fairbanks.

 FUN FACT:  The Parks highway was named for George Alexander Parks, a mining engineer who was appointed as Alaska's Governor in 1925.  Parks was originally from Denver, CO and attended the Colorado School of Mines.  Bob took a picture of the plaque, but it didn't turn out well enough to post, because it was tarnished and worn from years of Alaska weather.

 The drive itself was completely on the aforementioned Parks Highway-- which sported some stunning scenery leaving the Denali area, and then flattened out as we approached Fairbanks.  Here are some highlights:


You probably noticed some interesting driving moves in that video.  The first one was Bob turning around in a scenic overview pull-out so that the crazed local tailgating him could go by.  The second was Bob passing a classic mustang as we made our approach into Fairbanks. (M just couldn't stand to watch the old guy cruise along.)  

 You probably also noticed the crane in the video-- because any drive is not complete for us unless we see a crane.  This one was in Nenana, AK and as we drove close to it when we took the loop through town Bob noticed that it came from Manitowoc (one of his old crane vendors that we actually happened to have visited during our 5th anniversary trip).

 As we approached Fairbanks we decreased elevation, and most of the scenic overlooks provided great views of vast plains with the mountains in the distance.
View of a big mountain (not Denali) from the Parks Highway

Panoramic View from an Overlook on the Parks Highway
It's hard to capture scale in the still photos. This short video Bob took (with the iPhone, not GoPro) does the view a bit more justice.


As we neared Fairbanks (actually when we were exactly half way between Nenana and Fairbanks, we just had to stop at the kitschiest of kitsch bars--Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn.  Yes--all double entendres intended and exploited. And Yes-- Bob bought a T-shirt.  We didn't meet the owner, Skinny, but we may have met his better half.  It was a little early for lunch, so we just bought our souvenirs like the tourists we are and continued on to Fairbanks.
Make Up Your Own Joke
The drive was less than 200 miles, and we got to town around 2PM.  We checked into our extended-stay hotel (meaning we have a small but full kitchen, a dining room, bedroom, and living room), and then headed out to the grocery store to stock up for the week.

 Here's Bob in the digs for the week, very happy to have a large TV on which to watch this weekend's opening VT Football game against WVU. (GO HOKIES!!)
Our suite in Fairbanks--
Bob Loves the Big TV for the First Big VT Game of the Season
As I type this, our laundry is in the dryer and I'm waiting for that to be done.  Tomorrow we explore Fairbanks.

 --Lisa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Alaska Adventure Wrap-Up

Image
What a Great Ride! M Back Home in Our Garage, with Her Friend the Old Brown Audi With M back home in the garage, Bob and Lisa rested up a bit from the final days of hard driving, the mail opened, the mountains of laundry started, and a significant dent made in the unpacking, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the totality of our Great Alaska Adventure. Let's begin with some stats: Trip Duration: 78 Days Start Date: 7/28/17 End Date: 10/13/17      Total Miles Driven: 9,179  Starting Mileage: 17,372 Ending Mileage: 26,551 Ferry Miles: About 800-- where M got to ride.    46 Stops for Gas Cheapest Premium Gas: Laramie, WY at the start of the trip--$2.599 Most Expensive Gas: Whitehorse, YT Canada-- $1.98 Canadian/Litre--  That's $7.50/gallon Canadian, or about $6 US / gallon. Cheapest Gas in Alaska: Palmer at $2.769    Average MPG-- 27-- not bad, considering all those horrid roads in Canada.    We ...
Read more

Day 76: Astoria, OR to Ontario, OR

Image
Cars, Airplanes, and Snow! Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by. Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow. Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR. Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR Here's how the rest of the trip went: You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums. As we were dr...
Read more

Welcome to Bob & Lisa's Great Alaska Adventure

Image
Welcome! Welcome to all of our friends, family, co-workers, and casual observers who happened upon this blog. It's purpose is to chronicle our great Alaska driving adventure.  We'll be traveling in my (Lisa's) bright red, really fast, BMW 2015 M235i with xDrive. (In case you're interested, that really is 4 wheel drive, and is purported to do 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds-- perhaps we'll find out 😄) Bob Standing with M as she waits to get new shoes. The plan is for the trip is to begin on July 28 by heading up through Wyoming and stopping for a couple of days in Butte, MT. The real trip begins with Glacier National Park in Montana, and then proceeding up through the Canadian Rockies with stops in Banff and Jasper. We then work our way up through Canada stopping in Fort St. John,  Fort Nelson,  Watson Lake, Whitehorse,  and Beaver Creek then crossing into Alaska with our first stop back in the USA being Tok.  The Alaska adventure begins in Palmer (home ...
Read more