Pioneer Park

We visited Pioneer Park in Fairbanks today.  Pioneer Park is maintained by the Pioneer Club of Fairbanks known as Igloo #4.  The Pioneer Club started around the turn of the century.  You had to have been in Alaska before 1888 to be a member.  The first club was in Nome.  It later admitted other Igloos.  I suppose to be a member today you must be able to prove your ancestors were pioneers in Alaska.

The Club has preserved many artifacts of local history and they are on display at the park.  We spent several hours touring the facility.  They have fully restored the Nenana.  It was the largest paddle wheel river boat to serve the Nenana and Yukon Rivers.  It was a vital link for the wilderness settlements along the rivers.

They also have displays and artifacts from the gold mining days in early Fairbanks.  Mining was a very difficult life.  Looking at old photos of miners, it is obvious that comfort of any kind was nonexistent.  Those gold seekers had to be more enthused about finding gold than I would have been.

Darlie saw this washer and now she wants a new one.

The park has a miniature golf course, railroad museum, airplane museum and a native art center.  Admission is free.  Donations are accepted at some of the displays.  The airplane museum has a fare of $3.00 for adults. They have reconstructed an old settlement that would resemble a mining town.  There are dance halls, churches and stores of various kinds.  Some of the buildings are actual buildings that have been brought to the site and reconstructed.  For those in campers, you can camp in the parking lot for a fee.  They also have a dump station but no other services.

Dog sled for freight 

We are camped in a state recreation area in the city tonight.  It is on the banks of the Chena River.  I walked down to the stream with my fish pole to pass some time casting a lure around.  The river has grayling in it.  You can only catch and release them.  That takes some of the thrill out of fishing.  I didn't catch anything but I did have a rather large fish follow my lure up to the bank.  They tell me in a couple more weeks the salmon will be running.  They tell me I should fill my freezer.  That won't take long because our freezer is just a bit larger than a pack of cigarettes.

This is a foot powered dentist drill.  You would have to be really liquored up to let the doctor work on you with this thing.

Buddy is shedding really bad.  Everything is covered with hair.  She is having a good time though.  We put up with it because we love her.  It rains about once an hour.  The ground is always muddy.  She tracks in all kinds of crap.  It is impossible to keep this place clean.  It is also very cool.  Our daily highs are only in the 50s.  We rarely see the sun.  When you do, it is only a quick flash and it is gone.  It feels warm though.  If it would clear off I think it would be 75 or 80.

A major ground cover here is the wild rose.  They were all in bloom a week ago.  Now the rose hips are turning a deep burgundy color.  Rose hips are used in jams, jellies, herbal tea and can be eaten whole.   They are high in vitamin C.  Some claim they have healing power for various aliments as they have antioxidants in them.

We many stick around here for another day.  Some people camped right across from us tonight are from a place in Florida called Cape Coral.  What a surprise it was for all of us to find out we are neighbors.  We have met several people from Florida but none who live so close to us.  They told us about a city of ice or something that we just have to go see.  We will get directions tomorrow and check it out.

Fairbanks, Alaska

We are in Fairbanks today.  It was a warm sunny day when we arrived here yesterday but it started raining during the night and turned cold and cloudy.  It was a perfect day to visit the University of Alaska museum in Fairbanks.

Don't you love that expression?

The museum is fabulous.  There are displays of native culture, art and craft.  The wildlife displays were excellent also.  They have several movies on topics such as aurora and life in Alaska in the winter.  They had interviews of locals talking about life here when it gets dark and cold.  They don't consider it to be bitter cold until it gets below - 50 degrees!

Ceremonial masks

Something else I didn't know is that most people don't have indoor plumbing.  It is just too cold for underground utitlities.  They said it is a bit uncomfortable to get out of bed at three in the morning and make a dash to the outhouse.  Outhouses are so much a part of life here it is the object of affectionate humor.  Some like to decorate them to make them more cheerful, I assume.

Darlie visiting an outhouse.

Another local says he has a well for his house but in the winter either the well or the sewer pipe leading out of the house freezes up.  You just learn to live with it.  Some told us their advice to us was for us to visit in the summer and go home before winter sets in.  They implied they like things the way they are. The harsh weather will prevent too many of us coming up here and staying.  But people are coming.  There is a magic about the frontier and the sense of freedom here.  There will always be those who will brave the elements to have that sense of being a pioneer.

In winter time the sun only rises just above the horizon for about 3 hours.  It is like a 3 hour long sunset.  The many hours of darkness do lead to depression and other disorders.  For this reason, many Alaskans become involved in outdoor winter sports such as cross country skiing, dog sledding, and snow mobiling.

The aurora appears about 100 times during the winter.  People will stop their cars along the highway to watch the night display.

Raincoat made of seal gut.

The Museum of the North, as it is called, also has displays and historical items from the gold rush days.  There are fozzilized artifacts that were unearthed by the hydralic mining method that was used to wash gold bearing soil into sluice boxes.  We saw fozzelized remains of the mammoth and the lion that used to roam this area.

Beautiful beadwork.

We stopped at Walmart to stock up on things that can be difficult to find other places.  While there, I noticed the parking lot had pedestals with electrical outlets on them for each parking space.  Most Alaskan autos and trucks have an electric plug hanging out of the grill.  When you go shopping at Walmart, you plug in your car to keep the engine warm so it will start when you come back out.  I suppose that would be vital if the temperature was -50 as it often is in Fairbanks.

See the plug?