After a pancake and sausage
breakfast, we took the RV to an outdoor carwash to remove the caked mud
and grime, plus hose out all the exterior bays, some of which we
could barely open because the latch mechanisms were so caked with
small stones and mud. L'il Guy looked sooooo much better..
As we headed north on the Alaska
Highway, we finally could see some of the snowy mountains of the
Alaska Range – no smokey haze!
The first part of the drive was
beautiful with the mountains on one side and the Tanana River on the
other. We drove over a bridge that put the river and mountains both
on our left and stopped at a nice wayside for lunch with views of
the mountains and river. Some clouds started to move in, making it a
bit harder to get good photos of the white, snowy mountains against
the white clouds, but we are so happy to not have any smoke.
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| While parked in Delta Junction, another German import motorhome! |
We arrived in Delta Junction –
official end of the Alaska Highway. Took a few photos here to mark
our finish, but due to computer and computer operator error, I lost
the photos. We did a grocery run and then stopped at a small state
campground with no services, but shaded and quiet and spent the early
evening outside with miraculously few bugs.
Slept in on Monday and woke to low
60's, clear blue skies and no smoke. Coffee outside and made plans
for the day – North Pole and Fairbanks.
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| Alaska Range |
We got on the road around
10:30 and immediately we had gorgeous views of the 3 tallest
mountains in the Alaska Range, each around 13,000 feet. They look
taller than the Colorado Rockies, even though a bit shorter because
we are looking at them from less than 2,000 feet and Colorado near
the mountains is over 5,000 feet.
We made a quick stop at an historical
roadhouse called Rika's. Comfortable old lodge and outbuildings on
the river provided food and lodging for river and road travelers.
We passed the Alaska Pipeline that runs
from the Arctic down to Valdez. This is the second longest pipeline
bridge .
A gift shop just south of the town of North Pole specialized in burl wood.
We stopped at the North Pole to visit
Santa, but he was at lunch. Everything Christmas here and some great, bigger-than-life Santa's greeted us at the door.
Ten miles up the road, we arrived in
Fairbanks and got a nice campsite on the Chena River.
Prettiest scenery we have seen, so will share one more of the Alaska Range
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