More from Fairbanks … | Alaska Trip 2014

June 25: Today was another day of no scheduled activity for me … except sewing the binding on one quilt and piecing blocks for another. It rained most of the morning, so in addition to sewing, I managed to work in a nap! 😉 That evening, Dave and I attended a dinner at the Salmon Bake restaurant in Fairbanks’ Pioneer Park. Once again, the food was plentiful and scrumptious, especially if you like fish! The dining hall was decorated with a number of Alaska-themed quilts of various sizes, made mostly with batik fabrics. The largest one featured a depiction of the Northern lights against a background of mountains and a full moon. It was gorgeous, and I guessed correctly how the maker got the Northern lights effect … judicious use of fabric paint! Overall, quite a lovely effect.

After dinner, we walked through the little village itself, which included various relics and buildings from the Gold Rush days that were interesting to see. Later, our group attended another vaudeville-style “revue” that was even better than the one in Whitehorse. The performers had great fun interacting with some of our group who were seated in the front row—at the end, we left with our sides hurting from laughing!

Yes, you can find room for a sewing machine in an RV

A portion of a mural quilt at the Alaska Salmon Bake

The cast of the show at the Palace Theater

June 26: Another rainy day in Fairbanks! I had no special activities scheduled today, either, so I enjoyed being cozy and dry in the coach while I pieced some more quilt blocks, washed and dried 3 loads of laundry, did some hand sewing on a quilt binding, and—yes!—napped. And I quite enjoyed it! Dave had signed up for a trip above the Arctic Circle, so he left aboard a small plane around noon and returned by bus around 1:00 a.m. (and yes, it was not dark outside yet!). Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy for the entire trip, so he failed to see much outside the plane or the bus. That was a major bummer, because he knew there was some gorgeous scenery out there, but it wasn’t visible through the clouds and fog. Our next major stop is Denali, so we hope the weather lifts a bit so we might be able to see animals and/or scenery there.

The cabin of our plane for the flight to Coldfoot Camp, AK

One of the four airplanes that took us to Coldfoot Camp

An aerial view of Riverside RV Park in Fairbanks. I sent a text to Marilyn as we flew over and she heard our airplane leaving Fairbanks.

We flew at 9000 feet, just above the clouds that obscured our view of the earth

As we approached Coldfoot, magnificent mounts loomed from the clouds

"The Captain" of our flight helps his passengers retrieve "baggage" from the cubby in the wing — “The Captain” of our flight helps his passengers retrieve “baggage” from the cubby in the wing

The "Slate Creek Inn" at Coldfoot Camp. Yes, you can book a room there! — The “Slate Creek Inn” at Coldfoot Camp. Yes, you can book a room there!

The post office at Coldfoot, like most "improvements" there, is built for utility rather than beauty. — The post office at Coldfoot, like most “improvements” there, is built for utility rather than beauty.

Yes, I crossed the line. Yes, I (John Stevens) have a certificate attesting to such crossing.

A view of the Dalton Highway and the Alaska Pipeline on a dreary day

These are some hard core bicyclists. This was indeed a nasty day and they were WAY out on the Dalton Highway.

We had some fine eats at the Yukon River Camp. It was definitely not fancy, but there was good food and excellent service.