Monday, June 7, 2010

More from Fairbanks

Yesterday, Sunday, as we headed out for more sight-seeing in Fairbanks, we spotted this moose leisurely munching on grasses right next to the road on the air base. The base RV area is very wooded and we were told there were moose here, but this is our first sighting.

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Our destination was Pioneer Park in downtown Fairbanks which turned out to be a fun and historical adventure.

There are mining exhibits, cabins relocated from all over the interior, and a river boat, to name a few………….

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Many of the cabins that have been relocated to here have been turned into shops with every trinket imaginable to entice the tourist’s wallet!!  

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Actually this turned out the be the wife’s waiting area as it was in front of a knife shop!!!!

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                                                          Note the “red light”………………

 

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      I really like the door……split cedar logs with old-time latch.

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Now this is my store!!!! Bill has always called me the “original bag lady” because I love bags of all sizes. I find many uses for them and they fold flat for easy storage in our motor home!!!

We had to go in so I could prove to Bill that there are other “bag ladies” out there in the world!!

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As you walk into the store, the first thing you see is this sign!!

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In one of the buildings is a very small heritage museum, crammed full of memorabilia from the past and some things I remember from my childhood.

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I love this old bathtub……………….

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                            I learned to sew on a machine like this one……….

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More old cabins…………

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A totem pole………….

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There is also a small railroad that runs around the park!

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There are piles or stacks of antlers all over town!

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               There is also a small air museum at Pioneer Park depicting the dependence on flight in Alaska.

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This little girl, about 3 years old, caught our eye……note  the mukluks, heavy sweater, and traditional skirt.

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The Alaska Salmon Bake is located in Pioneer Park which serves all you can eat salmon, halibut, cod, and prime rib from 5 PM to 9 PM. But since we had about 2 hours before they opened we took a short ride over to Creamer’s Field, which is a Wildlife Refuse located on land that was once a dairy farm and is the home to sandhill cranes.

But when we got there we found an artist’s festival in progress and the sandhills were nowhere in sight!!! But we looked around and talked to the one visitor center host, who comes up for the summer and stays on site, much like we do in the lower 48!

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Then it was back to the Salmon Bake in Pioneer Park! It was great, I have always loved salmon, but the fresh halibut was fantastic!!!

As you can see from the pictures the weather was not very nice, rainy and misting all day. But we have raingear so off we went!

Tuesday we are off to Denali National Park…..stay tuned!!!!

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