Fairbanks via The North Pole

Tuesday, July 6th, we needed to head out toward Fairbanks decently early because we had a little bit more gravel road to cross and we weren't exactly sure how far it would last until we got to pavement. Little did we know, the pavement appeared a few miles down the road!

You can probably imagine our excitement after the Top of the World Highway, haha! Once we got all the way on the pavement, you could hear an audible "Aahhh" from both of us. We forgot how nice it was to be on pavement, and how amazing it was to go faster than 15 mph! We were cruising at a solid 45 mph and felt like we were flying, ha!

We soon got into an area that was covered fairly thick with smoke. Even while in Colorado, we never encountered much smoke, let alone, enough to impair the visibility of the road.

Once in Tok, AK, what felt like lightening quick, our first stop was at a gas station that offers a free RV/Car wash. This was something that was imperative due to all the mud and dust we went through. We started spraying off the motorhome, wheel-wells first, and watched the show of mud and rocks fall onto the concrete pad below. Yikes! There were huge clumps falling off, which made little hills around the wheels, haha! Next, the Jeep got a turn in the sprayer's path with nearly the same result. By this time, there was a small line forming behind us, so we headed out and noticed the mucky-mud mess we left the next in line (hehe, oops).

I mentioned to Sean that we should probably check out the brake lights on the Jeep to make sure they were working, so he pulled up (out of the way of the line that had formed at the wash station) while I stayed behind to watch. This is when I noticed none of the brake lights were working (motorhome and Jeep)! Holy cow, not another problem!

Luckily, this was most likely something we could handle ourselves, and we traced the problem back to the fuse board where we found a blown fuse. Phew! Now, that we can handle! We were able to walk over to the gas station convenience store and buy a small box for cheap, and replaced the bad fuse with success. After lunch, we were off to Fairbanks and the road felt like an impeccably smooth Interstate!

A little way down the road, we ran across a sign that stated "TURN HEADLIGHTS ON, WILDFIRE AHEAD." So, we kept our eyes peeled to spy the wildfire...and we kept looking....and looking...after a while we forgot about it. Then, we past a hill where Sean pointed out there was smoke. Oh yeah, "wildfire ahead."

We had read ahead in The Milepost book where we were given a heads-up about a suspension bridge for the Alaska Oil Pipeline, where we planned to stop. We ended up missing the turn-off, but I was able to get a picture.

Delta Junction was our next stop to see the end of the Alaska Highway. This town is where Alaska Highway ends at the Richardson Highway.

Photo Cred: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/78530570

Next stop was to be in North Pole, AK to visit The Santa Claus House. This place is where you go for anything Christmas related. They let you take a picture with Santa!

We decided to stay at Riverview RV Park in North Pole since it was decently priced and had availability, and guess who we ran into? Our motorhome twin! Actually, not exactly the same. The other motorhome was a 40' instead of 43', so it did not have a tandem axle, and it was outfitted with a different layout. And, as we were to soon find out, there were actually 3 Safari Cheetahs and 1 Safari Serengeti! (Pictured: Left-Semi Twin Motorhome, Center-Semi Twin Motorhome with other Safaris, Right-Our Motorhome)

These motorhomes were owned by Safari International Club members and the "twin motorhome" by the Vice President of the Texas Chapter. Ooohhhhh! They came over to talk with us after we got settled into the site, and this is where we found out that our motorhome is actually only 1 of 6. Six, that's it? Wow! We had no idea this motorhome was so rare. Granted, we have only seen maybe 1-2 ever.

The next day, we wanted to take it easy and just stick around Fairbanks. Our first stop was at the local Jiffy Lube to get the Jeep an oil change. Once that was done, we went to the Large Animal Research Station. This was a really neat place to visit and tour! They give a detailed lecture/tour of Musk Ox and Caribou/Reindeer.

After the tour, all we wanted was a baby Musk Ox to take home with us, haha! Next, was lunch and then we headed out to Fox, AK to see the Alyeska Oil Pipeline Visitor's Center.

We went to Pioneer Park after our oil pipeline education, and that is where Sean and I had a mini-golf competition! We stayed neck-and-neck until toward the end. Sean won 52-55, and he was able to get a hole-in-one on the 17th hole (pictured below)!

We were really feeling the heat when the temperature reached 88 degrees. I thought it was supposed to be cold in Alaska, all the time, haha! We headed home so we could get some rest before hitting the Dalton Highway (Ice Road Truckers show highway) the next day.