Our travels between Delta Junction and Fairbanks, Alaska
 |
| Trans-Alaska Pipeline System |
Our first sighting of the Trans - Alaska Pipeline System was
quite a sight as we crossed the Tanana River.
This pipeline would be visible to us throughout most of our road trip
through Alaska as it follows the roads we travelled. It is commonly called the Alaska Pipeline or
just the Pipeline to those who live in Alaska.
 |
| Roadside moose sighting |
This young moose was walking towards some water not far off
the road and made for some good photos taken.
So many of the wildlife we saw were a great distance away so we were
happy to have this opportunity. We saw
more once we got into Fairbanks, seems they prefer the urban life.
 |
| Tanana River |
We got a wonderful view of the Tanana River on a rest stop
on the Richardson Highway. The Tanana is
a 940 km (584 mi) tributary of the Yukon River.
The word Tanana is an Athabasca word that means “river trail”.
 |
| North Pole |
Just
a few miles south of Fairbanks we made a stop at North Pole! Even for the non-believers, it was a great
place to visit. It was summertime so
Santa wasn’t too busy making toys yet and was there greeting all the visitors. They have sent out millions of personal
letters to children all over the world for 60 years now and the tradition
continues from Santa’s house. This can
be arranged online and was a big thrill for them when our young grandsons
received their letters this year. The
oldest one is “a believer” again!
 |
| Candy cane lamp posts |
The streets in North Pole are lined with candy cane lamp posts! The small city, basically a suburb of
Fairbanks, AK has a population of just over 2200 people and I am sure that many
of them work for Santa when the need arrives!
 |
| Santa Claus House |
The Santa House was full of lots of souvenirs for us to look
at. It was a busy place with many visitors
doing the same and young and old waiting in the lineup to have a chat with
Santa. He was a generous Santa with his
time and was gracious enough to record a video for our young grandson for us!
 |
| Santa's reindeer |
There were several reindeer out in Santa’s back yard so we
were able to see them where they were safe and sound behind their fence. We weren’t sure which one this was but he was
the friendly one who came to say hello to us.
 |
| Cheena River |
We made a couple of stays in this park as we passed through
Fairbanks on two occasions and found it to be a good stop. Travelling as we did covering many miles on
most days, we were happy to stop for a couple of nights to catch up on laundry
and grocery shopping.
Heading up the Dalton Highway,
click here to follow us.
