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| Alaskan Range |
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| Rika's Roadhouse |
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| Tanana River |
Thursday June 21, 2018
The next leg of our journey was driving from Chicken, AK, to
Tok and then northwest on the Richardson Highway (great road!) to Fairbanks. We
didn’t stop in Fairbanks, just drove by to head north, knowing we would be
coming back that way in a few days. We made a few stops on our way to
Fairbanks, however.
On the Taylor Highway between Chicken and Tok several stops
were needed for photo ops. It was a clear day, and we caught our first glimpse
of the Alaskan Range, from a great distance, but there, nonetheless. Those
beautiful mountain views were, I guess, the pay off for suffering through the Taylor
Highway’s broken pavement, rough gravel patches, frost heaves, and pot holes!
Once on the Richardson Hwy heading for Fairbanks, we stopped
at Rika’s Roadhouse State Historical Park on the Tanana River. A walking tour of
the building and property helped us imagine the Roadhouse as a busy stopover for
travelers from Valdez to Fairbanks in the early part of the 1900s.
That night we camped on Quartz Lake, a few miles north of Delta
Junction and Rika’s Roadhouse. During the evening 3 eagles flew to the boat launch
area near our RV and hung out for a while. An adult eagle kept watch from the top
of a nearby spruce tree and one of the immatures strutted around on the grassy
beach entertaining us. (Mosquito update: Better! Especially inside the RV.)
Sunset: 12:13 am and Sunrise: 4:13 am.
The next morning on our way to Fairbanks we stopped at the
Knotty Shop, a log, burl-carved cabin gift shop with a sort of amazing display
of taxidermized Alaskan animals and a separate display of ptarmigans with their
summer and winter plumages. Of course, souvenirs and gifts were for sale too.
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| at North Pole |
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| Christmas! |
Just before reaching Fairbanks was the town of North Pole, the
Santa Capital of Alaska! It was all a bit too Christmas-y for me. Michael didn’t
even venture in, but I walked through the store and was mildly astounded by the
amount of Christmas paraphernalia under one roof. I didn’t see Santa though.
The next leg of our journey was driving from Chicken, AK, to
Tok and then northwest on the Richardson Highway (great road!) to Fairbanks. We
didn’t stop in Fairbanks, just drove by to head north, knowing we would be
coming back that way in a few days. We made a few stops on our way to
Fairbanks, however. 
That night we camped on Quartz Lake, a few miles north of Delta
Junction and Rika’s Roadhouse. During the evening 3 eagles flew to the boat launch
area near our RV and hung out for a while. An adult eagle kept watch from the top
of a nearby spruce tree and one of the immatures strutted around on the grassy
beach entertaining us. (Mosquito update: Better! Especially inside the RV.) 
The next morning on our way to Fairbanks we stopped at the
Knotty Shop, a log, burl-carved cabin gift shop with a sort of amazing display
of taxidermized Alaskan animals and a separate display of ptarmigans with their
summer and winter plumages. Of course, souvenirs and gifts were for sale too.
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