Fairbanks to Deadhorse return - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 164

We had not seen any gas stations so before we set off south we asked a local where to fill
up.
“ Over at the pumphouse ,” he muttered, pointing at a little old shed on the perimeter of the
parking lot. There were some rusty old barrels piled up around it.
There was no one there but the door was swinging on its hinge so I went in. A grotty-look-
ing machine stood there. VISA and Mastercard symbols were peeling off the rusting sur-
face but they did point to a credit card slot. Not too sure about this, but clearly understand-
ing that the 782 km /489 mi mile trip back to civilization was not going to happen without
a full tank, I slipped the card in. The screen sprang to life.
“ Choose a grade .”
“ Regular unleaded .”
Outside,Steveheardthepumpcometolife.Hepulledtheleveroverthe“regularunleaded”
sign and just like that, we had fuel. But at what cost? There was NO indication of price
anywhere to be seen.