Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fairbanks
Enroute to Fairbanks today we stopped at the Hot Spot Cafe and bought a sweatshirt that
says, Arctic Circle - Dalton Hwy. I don't usually buy that kind of thing but after driving this
road I feel entitled to brag a bit.
The veggie garden at the Hot Spot Cafe was interesting: big black plastic blankets covered
raised beds of earth, holes cut in them where veggies and flowers were growing out of. They
don't have a long growing season here but because of the endless hours of daylight the pro-
duce grows HUGE.
Our van is again absolutely plastered with rock-hard, cement-like mud. Once back in Fairb-
anks we check into the Tanana Valley Campground, a municipal facility. On the edge of
town, it has a nice forested state park feel to it. Unlike state parks they actually have free
WIFI if you sit up on the porch of the office.
They are also generous with their water source (not everyone is) so we hook up our hose and
spend two hours chipping the concreted mud off the van then scrubbing the greasy muck it
leaves behind off. We realize that we are going to have to do it again in a week when we
come off the Dempster Hwy in the Yukon but in the meantime, if we don't wash this off we
will literally be carrying hundreds of pounds of mud with us.
From Fairbanks it is just 17 km /11 mi to the North Pole. The town that is. Having already
met Santa Claus at the truck stop on the Parks Highway I was keen to check out his home
town. In fact, it is a tiny little town just 4 square miles in size. It's claim to fame has always
Search WWH ::
Custom Search