Day 216, 8/4/2011

One of Fairbanks’ best-kept secrets.

In my dozen years as a Sourdough, I had never visited this little gem until today. Shame on me.

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is indeed a lovely place to be on a sunny Interior day.

Besides the picturesque plots of colorful and fragrant flora the Garden offers several romantic seating areas, bubbling brooks crossed by small wooden bridges, water features, a koi pond (unfortunately the fish were too shy for a photo) and interesting sculptures.

Visitors can view giant Alaska cabbages, several species of birds, and hard working honeybees.

The place is also kid friendly. I observed pure unadulterated (pun intended) joy as children ran through the lush green grass, wound through a maze of vines, 

climbed trees and splashed in the water.

If your kids are bored at home during the summer on a nice day, throw a sandwich in a paper sack and head on over to the Botanical Garden. You can sit back and relax while their imaginations run wild!

Day 217, 8/5/2011

Opening day! And right on cue, it’s raining.

Happy 80^th birthday, Tanana Valley State Fair!

Day 218, 8/6/2011

The North Star Golf Course is home to the northernmost set of fairways, holes and greens in America.

This may not be Augusta, but for golf enthusiasts, imagine the bragging rights!

And besides, the exotic local wildlife would be a welcome change from alligators and snakes!

Day 219, 8/7/2011

We're smoking salmon today.

How can I describe this delicious fish without being excessively verbose? 

It's just good.

Day 220, 8/8/2011

August is typically wet and chilly in the Interior. The segue from summer to autumn will be the month that sees the mercury start to drop and the foliage start to turn.

This morning the temperature was 35 degrees Fahrenheit, just above freezing. The cold air coupled with the damp drizzle we’ve had recently produced a thick fog all around the North Pole area.

I drove to work in about as thick a pea soup as I’ve ever seen here in the summer time.

Day 221, 8/9/2011

As promised in yesterday’s post, these splashes of color are popping up all over the area.

Summer is fading fast…

Day 222, 8/10/2011

A couple of crazy kids experience the slingshot ride at the Fair.

Nothing like whiplash in the rain!

Day 223, 8/11/2011

The Tanana and Chena Rivers are perfect for riverboat rides for the tourists, and sometimes Interior residents take advantage of the opportunity to cruise with one of the local companies that navigate these rivers during the summer here as well.

The Sternwheeler Tanana Chief rests dockside awaiting the next group of folks who’ll board for a leisurely tour.

Day 224, 8/12/2011

Another Alaskan bumper sticker stuck to another very Alaskan truck.

Day 225, 8/13/2011

More turning leaves.

Day 226, 8/14/2011

Seen in the North Pole Safeway parking lot.

I really am speechless.

Day 227, 8/15/2011

Wiggly Willow watches wistfully out the window.

(Yes, I know it's dirty, blame the dogs!)

Day 228, 8/16/2011

Peeling birch bark.

Day 229, 8/17/2011

Now that's different.

Day 230, 8/18/2011

Hey, hey, hey, it’s the first day of school!

And a touching reminder that many school kids in the area will be telling their Dads or Moms about it from far away, or not at all.

Day 231, 8/19/2011

Today kicked off the 13^th annual all-volunteer Stand Down for Veterans at Pioneer Park. 

Photo by Matt Splechter

The event is an effort to offer a one-stop shop for military veterans to receive goods and services and counsel on an array of things, ranging from blood pressure checks to tax advice.

Day 232, 8/20/2011

Youth Safety Day drew hoards of happy children to the Regal Cinemas parking lot, where they roamed from station to station enjoying various and sundry safety associated activities.

Among the favorites were the bicycling stations, where helmets were handed out and bikes repaired for free, and kids navigated through dozens of orange cones while participating in the Bike Rodeo.

There was also an Earthquake Cabin, designed to convey the experience of a real earthquake without the real relative dangers. Earthquakes are certainly a part of life in the Interior. In fact there are earthquakes nearly every day in Alaska, and once in a while, they are strong enough to be felt here.

If you’ve never experienced an earthquake, it’s difficult to describe, but first it hits your ears, with the rattling, then you feel the shaking. So far we’ve been lucky enough to only have very minor damages from the few strong ones that have occurred since we’ve been here.

For a list of recent earthquakes and an interactive map, click on this link.

Day 233, 8/21/2011

Welcome to Pioneer Park. I'll be your tour guide today, so please keep all appendages inside the vehicle while you sit back, relax and let a local show you around.

As we walk under the bridge over the entrance to Gold Rush Town, you can see the Tanana Valley Railroad's Engine #1 chug by with a load of passengers.

This would be a good time to let you in on local's secret number one: Pioneer Park was not so long ago called Alaskaland. Then someone somewhere decided that might confuse tourists into thinking that Fairbanks had an amusement park, so in 2001 they changed the name. But guess what, to the locals, it's still Alaskaland.


Next we have main street in Gold Rush Town, lined with historical cabins that have been relocated here from around the city of Fairbanks. We've just made a few minor alterations, making them suitable to house gift shops and snack bars.

Here we have the -40 cabin. For a mere $8, you can go home and tell all of your friends and family that you know what it feels like to be in Interior Alaska in the dead of winter.

Local's secret number two: You'd have to experience it for longer than a few minutes to know what it's really like, and we don't need a reminder in the middle of summer that we'll be feeling the sting of winter again very soon. Trust me, you should just keep your $8.


Around the corner we have the Palace Theater and Saloon. During the summer, shows are put on regularly and a good time is generally had by all.

In the center of the park is the majestic Sternwheeler Nenana. For a small fee, you can actually board and tour this example of Alaskan history.

Anyone getting hungry? There are several gastronomic options for you all around the park.

Local's secret number three: This is a Souvlaki. It is delicious, and since the downtown location closed a few years ago, this is the only place we can score one of these other than at the Fair that's only open for a week each year. 


Enjoy your stay in Fairbanks!

Day 234, 8/22/2011

Gotta hurry before it starts to rain again!

Day 235, 8/23/2011

In a hurry for lunch? Why not grab a “Bun on the Run?”

Though this little trailer has changed hands a couple times, it has been a fixture in the parking lot of Beaver Sports for years, and has kept the same menu and recipes.

Just another one of those little roadside gems around here that has quite a following.

Day 236, 8/24/2011

Always make sure you go by the dump before you go to the store.

Day 237, 8/25/2011

By the time the top of this fireweed plant opens there could be snow on it.

And every day we get closer to the top...

Day 238, 8/26/2011

Visitors gather at the observation area next to Creamer’s Field to watch the throng of migratory geese and Sandhill Cranes. 

The refuge celebrates the Sandhill Crane Festival this weekend.

Day 239, 8/27/2011

Today was a fun hike with friends up the Birch Hill downhill ski area on Fort Wainwright. 

The chair lift won’t be lonely much longer…

Meanwhile, Matt is caribou hunting with a friend from work near Chicken, Alaska. They say the town was named Chicken because no one knew how to spell the name of the state bird, the Ptarmigan, so they just went with Chicken.

This group of bulls is part of the 40 Mile Herd, a group that roams near the Yukon River toward the Canadian border.

A successful hunt brings meat home to the freezer.

Day 240, 8/28/2011

These are the days when you just don’t know how to dress for the weather. These photos show the difference from morning to late afternoon.

Day 241, 8/29/2011

Check it out – if you stay up long enough, you can see this thing called darkness coming around again. Before long it will be dark for most of our waking hours, except while we’re at work! Word has it that the aurora has been blazing lately, so of course the one night I stay up late I get nothing. But it wasn’t a total loss, the stars were twinkling by the millions. I left the shutter open for about 5 minutes here, and you can barely see the Big Dipper’s trails.

Day 242, 8/30/2011

Margarita at Gallo's?

Yes, please.

Day 243, 8/31/2011

A student recreates during a break with his remote control glider.

Day 244, 9/1/2011

August has been its typical damp self and I seem to be inadvertently cultivating several varieties of fungus in the yard. Here are a couple of them.

Day 245, 9/2/2011

Termination dust sugars the tops of the “starter” mountains near Black Rapids off the Richardson Highway. 

Winter she’s a comin’!

Side trip - Valdez, Alaska...

Rolling into town and as usual and expected this time of year, Valdez is socked in.