July 28: - August 2: Fairbanks: Easy drive up the Parks Highway from Denali to Fairbanks, 121 miles. Fall is starting to come to the North land, as you drive across country the gold is starting to show in the bushes. The story here is when the fireweed blooms are at the top of the stalk winter is 6 weeks away. Well, the fireweed is all the way to the top so I guess fall is upon us. We set out to see some of the sights, started at the visitor center, the Alaska Public Lands Info Center, the Quest Museum, and the University of Alaska Large animal research center, where we attended a talk about Musk Ox, Reindeer and Caribou. Saw many animals, some of them cute babies. Cost $9. for seniors and was good. Also went to the Univ. of AK Museum, really worth the trip, can't remember the cost. Drove out to Dredge #6, cost was $19. to $32. and since we had already been to one dredge we passed it up. Drove to the El Dorado Gold mine, $30. for the train ride through the mine, passed it up too because we'd already been to a gold mine. One evening we went to Ester, a small town 10 miles from Fairbanks, to the Ester Gold Camp, ate at the buffet at the old hotel, food pretty good, homemade biscuits and homemade blueberry jelly was excellent. Stopped at the Aurora Borealis show, shown on a panoramic screen with photo's taken by the guy that puts in on. He puts the slides to music and shows them on the panoramic screen where they sort of fade in and out. Very well done and worth the stop. Cost $8. each. Next stop was the Malamute Saloon for a live performance by local artists. The saloon has a sawdust floor and is very authentic and is also non-smoking (YEA). The show, about Ester's heyday was excellent and included some Robert Service Poetry. After spending time up here you learn to appreciate his poetry. Cost $15., don't miss it. Next day we checked out the Discovery II, a huge boat that is based in Fairbanks. When we got there, there were five tour buses of people waiting to get on. Since we'd already been on a boat tour we decided not to go. Sara and Roy went and said it was really crowded (900 people), but a good tour. Weather has been High 60's. Another day took us on a long side trip to the Arctic Circle. First 70 miles or so of the Elliott Hwy (State Hwy 2) to Linengood was blacktop and fairly rough. Got out first good look at the Alaska Pipeline, there is an information stop just outside of town where you can walk up to the pipeline. It's one of the largest pipeline systems in the world and one of the most difficult engineering feats of our time. For more information about the pipeline access the complete Alaska Log from the end of this page and go to July 31, (it's very interesting). At MM 70 you start the Dalton Hwy, known as "the haul road", it was constructed at the same time as the pipeline but wasn't open to the public until 1981 and 1985. It's 414 miles to Deadhorse, most of it gravel. The distance to the Arctic Circle is 115 miles, first 90 miles gravel, then a bit of blacktop. It was raining very hard when we arrived at the Circle, so decided not to go any farther. Were told that after Coldfoot the road gets terrible. Stop at the Yukon River bridge where there is a motel ( if you want to take a shower it will cost $10 extra, but if you have your own towel and soap it's only $6.), gas station and restaurant. The food was wonderful, go figure! Saw some RV's on the road, seems it would be OK in a pick up camper, wouldn't want to take anything much larger.

August 3: Fairbanks to Tok: Stopped at North Pole AK and Rika's Roadhouse. Rika's is in the Big Delta State Historical Park on the banks of the Tanana River. Miles Driven" 214, weather - low 70's

August 4: Tok to Kluane Lake: Traveled the Alaska Hwy, mountains, lakes and lots of gravel. Got a chip in the coach windshield today. Stopped at a pull out on Kluane (Kloo-WA-Nee) lake. Beautiful place to stop. Miles Traveled: 252

August 6: Haines Junction BC: Stopped here so we could take a side trip back to Whitehorse to see the pups at Frank's kennels and eat at the Klondike BBQ. Took a turn off to Scott Lake, part gravel and part rutted dirt. Lake was pretty, worth the drive if you have some time to spare. There were no pups, but the food was great. Miles to Haines Junction: 46

August 7 - August 11: Haines AK: The Haines Highway is an Alaskan scenic bi-way and, and absolutely beautiful. Mountains, streams, lakes, pine forests, the Chilkat Pass and glaciers. The wildflowers are going to seed, fields of white and purple, and in several lakes we saw Trumpeter Swans. From Haines every evening we drove 8 miles to Chilkoot St Park to watch the bears feed. The salmon are running and there is a counting station in the stream, that means the fish get pretty jammed up, so a great place for bears and people to fish. Bear and Eagle watching is a great experience!!! We also explored the Chilkat St Park, pretty place, don't try to take a motor home, there is a 14% grade getting down to the park. Ft Seward, an old military base, now privately owned is in Haines and we went to watched native dancers. Besides watching the bears the neatest thing we did was go to a Wildlife Park, 27 miles from Haines on Mosquito Lake Road. The park is owned by Steve Kroschel. He is a film-maker that raises wild animals that are used in movies. He has wolves, lynx, fox, porcupines, pine martens, mink, coyotes caribou and wolverines, plus some I can't remember. He keeps them in a natural environment, he also talks to them and sounds just like them. He and his 12 year old son live on 40 acres in a one room cabin. He has done wildlife calendars for National Geographic, been on the Johnny Carson show with his Wolverines, and done work for Oprah. When you watch an Avalanche scene in a commercial he is usually the one that filmed it. He also worked on the films, "Never Cry Wolf" and "Out of Wilderness". Steve is an example of Alaska people at their best, they wouldn't fit in the lower 48. We also attended the SE Alaska St Fair. Sort of like a very small county fair in the Midwest. The movie set for White Fang is on the fairgrounds. Haines is a very neat place to spend some time.