{"id":680,"date":"2014-07-11T05:55:06","date_gmt":"2014-07-11T05:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roadtrip.meenan.us\/?p=680"},"modified":"2014-07-12T05:59:11","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T05:59:11","slug":"fairbanks-ak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roadtrip.meenan.us\/?p=680","title":{"rendered":"Fairbanks, AK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"P1030920\"<\/a>July 6 – We arrived at Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground<\/a> today. \u00a0We happily set everything up as we will be staying here for 5 nights! \u00a0That means all I have to drive is the jeep. \u00a0It’s not that it’s hard to drive the RV. \u00a0It’s\u00a0just stressful. \u00a0I am happy to be having some R&R. \u00a0Sean is just happy to not have to continually move and Brian is happy he gets to sleep in. \u00a0Nana, is always flexible and rolls with the flow of moving around. \u00a0We have been very lucky on this trip and this campground was no different. \u00a0We received a very level, gravel site with 50amp FHU. \u00a0Even the Wifi worked well. \u00a0I would have to say my only negative about this location is that the spaces are very close together. \u00a0Thankfully the sites are on an angle. \u00a0I would hate to have to pull a 90 to get in here. \u00a0If you are here on Wednesday evenings you will get a chance to see a classic car show onsite. \u00a0We used this campground as our base to get around to all the sites near Fairbanks.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN1786\"<\/a>July 6 – Our first place we visited we actually passed on the way to the Campground. \u00a0We visited North Pole, AK. \u00a0Santa was away but we did get to visit the Santa Claus House<\/a> and picked up a few new ornaments for our tree this year. \u00a0They had some cute t-shirts that we picked up for the boys as well. \u00a0We didn’t spend too much time here as it’s a pretty small town. \u00a0We had hoped to drop off some mail so it cold be stamped with North Pole, but we didn’t think ahead and we don’t want to drive an hour back just to drop off a letter.<\/p>\n

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\"Ice<\/a>

Ice Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

July 7 – Today was the day we went to Chena Hot Springs<\/a>. \u00a0I had planned on taking the kids into the springs but the weather didn’t cooperate at all. \u00a0It was overcast with occasional rain showers. \u00a0There is a portion that is enclosed but I opted to just skip it. \u00a0We did enjoy seeing 5 moose on the ride to the springs. \u00a0The nice thing about the hot springs is that they have a lot of activities that you can do. \u00a0We opted to visit the ice museum. \u00a0They provide jackets as they keep it 20 degrees and I have to say it is very chilly. \u00a0The tour guide gave us lots of information about the couple who do the ice carvings and if you don’t mind paying $15.00 you can get a margarita in an ice glass. \u00a0You can also go horse back riding, have a tour of the resorts gardens and their thermal power plant.<\/p>\n

We decided to return home and visit The Great Alaskan Bowl <\/a>\"20140707_172046\"<\/a>Company<\/a>. We all enjoyed looking at all the different shapes and sizes. \u00a0We were really amazed at the sets of family bowls. Was interesting to see the size of the starter pieces they used for the family bowl sets. \u00a0They also have windows so you can see them making the bowls. \u00a0Call and find out when they will be working on the bowls as we missed this part. \u00a0The boys were very excited to be able to pick out a small bowl of their own. \u00a0I figure when they grow up and move out of the house the bowls will be great to use for keys so it will be good for a lasting memory.<\/p>\n

\"Nana<\/a>

Nana has gold fever!<\/p><\/div>\n

July 8 – Today was a day we set up just for the boys. \u00a0Last year they had so much fun “panning” for stones that we knew they would enjoy Gold Dredge 8<\/a>. \u00a0I didn’t tell them much about the trip ahead of time. \u00a0They were surprised to see that we were going to take a train to the dredge. \u00a0While on the train we got to learn about the gold rush in the area and how they mined for the gold. \u00a0Our favorite was learning about how they actually mined for pay dirt in the winter. \u00a0Later they used dredges to reach the gold. \u00a0I do have to say that they know tourists pretty darn well. \u00a0After the tour we went to a covered area with pans and warm water. \u00a0We each received our own poke (bag with pay dirt) and we all set off to find our gold. \u00a0Nana was a bit hesitant as she didn’t want to lose any gold. \u00a0The boys and I dug in and quickly found our gold. \u00a0I only had 4 flakes so mine was split between the two. \u00a0Brian found $37 worth of gold and Sean found $34. \u00a0They were both pretty happy with their finds.<\/p>\n

\"Arctic<\/a>

Arctic Circle Crossing<\/p><\/div>\n

July 9 – On today’s schedule was a drive up to the Arctic Circle. \u00a0Once we realized that it would be 5 hours to get there and 5 hours to get back, we quickly changed plans and decided to wing it there instead. \u00a0We booked with Northern Alaska Tour Company<\/a>. \u00a0They provide a variety of different tour options. \u00a0We decided to do the 5 hour arctic circle air adventure. \u00a0After getting our bags weighed we climbed aboard 9 passenger plane and flew just over an hour to Coldfoot, AK<\/a>. \u00a0We then drove 30 minutes to the town of Wiseman where we listened to a long time resident who spoke about how they survive in such a harsh climate. \u00a0The kids really enjoyed the flight. \u00a0Brian truly loved it. \u00a0Probably due to being the lucky one who got to sit next to the pilot. \u00a0We all received certificates for crossing over the arctic circle.<\/p>\n

\"Riverboat<\/a>

Riverboat Discovery<\/p><\/div>\n

July 10 – Our last day in Fairbanks. \u00a0We embarked on the Riverboat Discovery<\/a>. The boys enjoyed seeing a bush pilot take off and land on the river and they got to view Susan Butcher’s kennel<\/a>\u00a0all while aboard a working paddleboat. \u00a0They have a commentator onboard who kept everyone entertained. \u00a0The last portion of the trip was Nana’s favorite. \u00a0We stopped in a replica native village where we got to see how they use a fish wheel to catch fish, heard a lot about native life both past and current and finally got to pet a few retired sled dogs through a fence while the guide answered questions.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow we are off to Denali National Park & Preserve.<\/p>\n

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