Our Road Trips

Saturday, July 26, 2014

7/25/2014

We took it easy for most of the day. We did go to Santa Claus House in North Pole, AK and did a little shopping...even got to see Santa. We escaped without spending too much and went to the grocery store. We are starting our trek to Washington State on Sunday, so we stocked up a bit. We will be going through some areas where things are a bit sparse as far as supplies go.

At 4, we left the campground with another couple for an early dinner. We found a BBQ place that proved to be pretty good. Then we went to the airport for a 6 o'clock appointment with Arctic Air and the Arctic Circle Adventure. 14 of us in two Piper 10 seat airplanes loaded up for an hour 20 min flight to Coldfoot, AK. It is a little town 52 miles north of the Arctic Circle. We arrived about 830 and loaded up in 2 vans for a 12 mile trip north to the screaming metropolis of Wiseman (pop. 12). We drove by a section of the Alaska Pipeline on the way after seeing miles of it on the plane ride. Then a guy Jack talked to us for over an hour describing his life up there for the last 50 years...no electric, gas, stores, etc. They depend on Amazon Prime & the free shipping for a lot of stuff and get fuel in Coldfoot. Otherwise, it is Fairbanks 235 miles away or living off the land, not sure I want to do that. He depends on burning wood, solar panels & wind turbines. He seemed content with his existence. Then it was head back time. We flew south at 5500' and watched the sun disappear behind the mountains. The sun set about 1150 pm and as we landed back in Fairbanks, it was still plenty light enough to see...after midnight. The land of the midnight sun indeed. It was a fun ride that we both enjoyed a lot. We were glad we made the effort.

We arrived back at the campground about 1 am and we sat up until after 2 winding down...morning was coming quickly. Another day of activity is ahead. We will be heading south soon.

Steve & Barb Larson