Downtown Fairbanks, Alaska

This weekend my daughter went snowshoeing in Denali National Park so my Little Companion and I just sat around and moping and sulking...

WHATEVER!
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After we went to McDonald's for breakfast and she had played awhile, we headed downtown Fairbanks and perused the Chena River.

There is a sidewalk that runs alongside the river and we found this little viewing area overlooking the river.

Here's a ramp to be able to get onto the river. People actually use the river to drive on in their trucks and snowmobiles. Look at all those tracks!

Sadly people do occasionally go through the ice but for the most part it is probably safer than driving the roads at certain times of the year. Even now they say the ice here is 50 inches thick.

Beautiful.

There is also a park by the courthouse.




Very cool, very large statue.

Oh look at all the knowledge she is soaking up!

LITTLE COMPANION COME BACK, LOOK WHAT I SPOTTED....

Oh ya. How cute is this place and how...tempting!

Bear tracks.

We were in luck, OPEN!

Are you loving it so far?

Hi Little Companion!

This place was very cute. Had a little gift shop area having all things Alaska and OH THE FUDGE! We selected some fudge, looked around, and then left.

It was so cute I would like to go back sometime for the soup and sandwich!

Happy Monday.

Thread crochet

Since we will have limited space on our return trip to the "lower 48," I figured I should scale down my projects a bit and try some thread crochet. Now I have never done thread crochet before, and was not really sure I had the patience for this sort of thing, but turns out I am really enjoying it.

This was my first piece and is a start although definitely not perfect.

Second one just for fun, no pattern. Sits by my bed and holds my water glass.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Okay, now we're cooking with butter. I was very pleased with this coaster, this one is correct. I was so pleased in fact that I ...

made three more and now have a set of four. These have not been starched and blocked but then I'm not sure I'm a starching and blocking sort of gal. I like the extremely soft feel of the thread crochet.

I am in the process of making a pink doily and am pleased with the progress so far. I hope to have it done prior to Easter.

I also went to the doctor yesterday to get my thyroid level checked and hopefully we'll get a blood level soon on that so we can tweak the medication some. Still feeling pretty fatigued but no longer having to nap for hours everyday! Very pleased with the doctor, if you need a doctor in Fairbanks, Alaska let me know and I'll give you his name.

Happy Thursday!

Trans-Alaska Pipeline

On Saturday we headed out to Chatanika, Alaska to see the outhouse races.

Yes we did, we headed out to see the outhouse races. We actually got to Chatanika, Alaska on the very tortuous road that wound through the icy mountain pass (at times traveling about 25 mph) having visions of careening off the mountain side into the icy river below and exchanging jokes about being wolf bait. When we got to Chatanika, Alaska we could not figure out the parking. We think they had the main road blocked off and we would have had to park our little rental ford car in the muck and the mush that was the parking area. Ummm hummm, ya, didn't happen.

We did, however, get to see the Trans-Alaska pipeline!

This is an 800-mile long pipeline that starts in Prudhoe Bay (way up north) and travels to Valdez (an ice-free port).

The pipeline startup was in 1977 (the year I graduated from high school).

Me with the Trans-Alaska pipeline in the background.

Amazing structure.

My companions.

Since we did not get to see the outhouse races we stopped by the visitor's center here in Fairbanks. It is a very nice visitor's center with a nice exhibit on Alaska.




This little plane hangs in the visitor's center. The widow of the bishop donated. It had to be dismantled into 3 pieces and then reassembled inside. Before it was hung up the widow put things in it that would have gone along with him on his trips. Very touching story.

It is warming up here some (between 20 and 30 degrees) and the ice sculptures around town may be nearing their end. Doesn't it look warm? Ya, I think we may be nearing the final stage to completion of mutation.

Thanks for coming along on our trip. We enjoyed the pipeline and the visitor's center very much!

Out and about

Birds.

You see a lot of these birds here. These guys are big. They can stand a couple of feet high.

Had to research them a bit. They are ravens, part of the Corvidae family which include jays, crows, and magpies. These are the largest species of songbird and have more than 30 distinct vocalizations. They have very long lives and have been known to live as long as 29 years in captivity.

They are smart and can withstand Alaskan winters. An interesting bird!

Moving on...

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Mountains.

Can you see the mountains in the distance?

Looks fake, like a scenery backdrop in a play.

These mountains are part of the Alaskan range.

They include Mt. McKinley, which is the tallest mountain in North America.

We are hoping to get a closer look sometime before we leave the area.
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Recreation.

Making the plan...

Executing the plan...

That's all folks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Museum of the North

This past weekend we were able to enjoy a trip to the University of Alaska MUSEUM OF THE NORTH!!!

The museum is housed in a grand structure "designed to convey a sense of Alaska, evoking images of ridges, glaciers, and a diving whale's tail." It is an interesting structure indeed.

Boot ice sculptures by the entry.

Fellow museum goers daughter and Little Companion.

Little Companion, "take my picture." Me, "DON'T TOUCH THE HORSE!!!" Ha ha on me, Little Companion had her hand behind the horse and was not at all touching it. FUNNY LITTLE COMPANION.

Some nice wildlife exhibits. Beautiful white fox.

Looks like I was on the iceberg with this little fellow!

Loving the fabrics and textiles. Beautiful clothing.

Boots!

Russian exhibit.

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Magnificent robe.

Upstairs... the art gallery.

Loving the art gallery.

Are you more an abstract sort of person or...

A flapjack sort of person?

This one made me chuckle.. Things I ate in Alaska, funny.

An artistic slant on an outhouse.
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I have to say I found the information on the frontier women of Alaska fascinating. I marvel that these women could have made the journey and survive the harsh winters and wildlife. Seems a lot of their problems actually were caused by the men they associated with and not where you would have assumed it would have come from... hum... interesting.
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All in all a very enjoyable adventure!