Alaska –North Pole – Fairbanks – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Due to limited access to internet service and Verizon Hotspot in Canada and Alaska we will be adding photos as we can. In the mean time we will continue to provide our RV adventure at each phase of our RV adventure in text.

Today, July 30, we are leaving Denali Rainbow Village RV Park a short trip to North Pole, AK for four nights. We were unable to find a campground in Fairbanks, thus searched North Pole which is under 15 miles from Fairbanks. We were able to book a reservation with Riverview RV Park in between Fairbanks and North Pole.

The travel time from Denali Rainbow Village RV Park in Denali National Park & Preserve to Riverview RV Park in North Pole is 2 hours 8 minutes (127 miles) via AK-3 North.

Since our decision to complete 49 states, a primary goal of ours is to visit Mother Betty in Fairbanks, AK. She was Lora’s interim boss at Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount, North Carolina almost 7 years ago. During our RV Adventure, she became the Rector at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The route along AK-3 North is very relaxing. The road is in great condition. As we get closer to Fairbanks we begin an assent up the mountains. The views extend all the way to the horizon.

We stop at a wayside dedicating AK-3 as George Alexander Parks Highway. George Alexander Parks was born in Denver Colorado on May 29, 1886. In 1907 he came to Alaska to do research for private mining companies. He later became Chief of Alaska Field Division, General Land Office from 1919 – 1925. In 1925 he was appointed Governor of Alaska by President Coolidge. During his Governorship the State Capitol was built in Juneau. He later returned to the US General Land Management in 1933 and retired in 1948. This portion of AK-3 was dedicated to George Alexander Parks in 1978. The views from the wayside is beautiful.

We reach Riverview RV Park before 12:30 pm. The campground is roughly 4 miles outside of Fairbanks adjacent to Fort Wainwright Army Base. The campground is on the banks of a small snippet of the Chena River. The main section of the campground is large up to 70’ pull thru’s. The small section directly behind the office is back in and some pull thru’s. Many of the RV Tour groups like Fantasy RV use the park as a resting point on their tours. Riverview RV Park has their own shuttle bus to take tours to specific attractions if needed. The bathrooms are limited to one building with two stalls and two urinals for the men’s bathroom. The eight showers are on the backside of the building. There is a pavilion on the edge of the river. The pavilion has indoor and outdoor venue and restrooms locked when the pavilion is not in use. There are two Fantasy RV Tours parked here. At 7:00 pm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the pavilion will host a local author providing stories of Alaska, the last Frontier, the gold rush, and music.

Lora reaches out to Mother Betty to inform her we made it. We had mail sent to the church. When Mother Betty found the package, she offered to drive to Riverview RV Park. We setup a time and anticipated the reunion. It has been nearly 7 years since Lora seen worked for Mother Betty at Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Mother Betty arrives, and Lora gives her the grand tour of the camper. Lora and Mother Betty catch up on news at the Church and our travels. We have a good time speaking with Mother Betty and so happy to see her in Alaska. We make plans to visit Mother Betty at St. Matthews Church on Wednesday, August 1st.

The next day we are up early. We head over to The Georgeson Botanical Garden on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus. We are the first there at 9:00 am. There is a recommended Donation Box suggesting $5.00 per person. We place our $10.00 into the steel box. The garden is small but is one of the best Botanical Gardens we visited in the states we visited. The flowers and vegetables are vibrant and so colorful. There are experimental gardens and a Children’s Garden. Between Lora and I we take over 300 pictures of flowers, vegetables, gardens, insects, and displays.

Some vegetables grow to enormous size because of the 20 plus hours of sun per day.

On the same site, next to the Georgeson Botanical Garden is a small weather station. The weather station has been recording climate conditions for the National Weather Service since July 1911. The site holds the distinction of being the longest continuously reporting Cooperative Weather site in Alaska.

Walking across the parking lot we enter the Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station. Past the barns there are a few reindeer grazing inside the fenced in area.

Our total time at the Georgeson Botanical Garden, Weather Station, and Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station was 1 hour. It was worth every minute visiting the site.

We plug into TripAdvisor North Pole. North Pole is south of Fairbanks, AK. Who would have guessed. The street poles and lights are candy canes. The street signs are Santa Claus themes. We go around a few roundabouts toward Santa Claus House. We have no idea what to expect. As we drive up Santa Claus House is decorated for Christmas. Murals and candy cane colors on the outside. Santa Claus House has been around since 1950.

Walking in there are letter to Santa on the cork board. The inside is a store stuffed with everything Christmas. The primary purpose to visit Santa Claus House is to say you visited Santa at the North Pole. Santa does make an appearance at different times of the day. There is also a large Santa Claus statue in the parking lot.

Another exciting activity here is to send a letter from Santa to friends and loved ones. You can also purchase a 1-inch square of property with an accompanying deed in the North Pole. We purchased letters for the grandchildren, Daniel, and 2 grandchildren of a friend.

Next to Santa Claus House is The Antler Academy. At the Antler Academy visitors came view Santa’s reindeer and for a reasonable fee walk among the reindeer and feed them cups of feed. Lora and I join a group of visitors and go into the pen with the reindeer. Once in the pen, the deer are quickly searching for the feed cups in our hands. If the cup is visible, they will come to you in numbers until you hide the cup or give it back to the handler in the pen with us. The antlers are in velvet currently and we are instructed not to touch them. The velvet is like skin and will cut easily by touch. If torn the section of horn needs to be cut off. We are given 30 minutes in the pen before leaving. We stay for about 15 minutes and decide to exit the pen.

There is not much more in North Pole related to Santa Claus, so we decide to head toward Fairbanks. We stop at The Alyeska Pipeline Visitor Center on the Steese Highway at milepost 8.4 between Fox and Fairbanks. The small wayside does not have a Visitor Center, but story boards about the pipeline. You can also get an up-close view of the Alaska Pipeline and walk underneath the pipeline. We will go more into detail about the pipeline in a future blog post.

Our next stop is downtown Fairbanks. We want to visit the Dog Mushing Museum. The admission is free. The museum is on the second floor of an old shopping mall. The museum has a World Map and a larger US Map for visitors to mark where they live. We leave our mark over Nashville, NC. We are the first visitors from Nashville or Rocky Mount to visit and leave our mark to the Dog Mushing Museum. The Dog Mushing Museum is a one room exhibit with pictures, sleds, and stories about the many different sled dog races passing through Fairbanks. The 1000 Mile Yukon Quest is the more famous race for Fairbanks. On one side of the wall, there are pictures and stories about the gold rush days and the 1967 earthquake.

We walk to Gambardella's Pasta Bella Restaurant. The reviews on Google is good. Alice and Matt opened Gambardella's Pasta Bella in 1987. It was conceived as gourmet take-out and began with only 10 small tables. They added a new dining room every couple of years to keep up with customer demand and the long lines for tables. The Fairbanks store is owned and operated by their daughter Lisa. Lora orders shrimp alfredo and I order a calzone. The food was good.

After our meal we walk back to the truck and drive by St. Mathews Church, so we will know where to go tomorrow when we visit Mother Betty.

We drive back to the Riverview RV Park and end our evening relaxing in our Rolling Paradise.

The next day we enter our 8th month of our RV Adventure. It is so exciting to experience the United States like this. We always give thanks to God and my parents for the opportunity.

Today we are visiting Mother Betty at St. Mathews Church in Fairbanks at 2:00 pm. We hang out at the campground until time to leave for St. Matthews Church.

We are greeted by Mother Betty and her Admin. Mother Betty suggests we tour city before she gives us a tour of the church. We briefly check out her office and lobby before heading out to her car. Mother Betty drives us to Tanana Valley Farmers Market. The Tanana Valley Farmers Market showcases a wide variety of Alaska Grown produce and plants, Silver Hand arts and crafts made in Alaska and - all symbols of excellence. It is the oldest established farmers market in Alaska and the only one located in its own permanent building.

After the market Mother Betty drove us downtown. She walked us to Soapy Smith's Pioneer Restaurant and introduced us to the host. Soapy Smith’s is an American eatery & bar with homespun vibe & historical memorabilia on the walls. There is an ownership connection to a former Governor of Alaska.

We walked to some of the jewelry and gift shops before heading back to the church.

Mother Betty took us back to the church. St Mathews Church is registered in the National Registry of Historic Places. The https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000001.htm website provides the following historical information.

• St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, established when Fairbanks was founded in 1904, has played a significant role in the history of the community. From the start, St. Matthew's congregation has embodied the philosophy of the first Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, Peter Trimble Rowe, and pioneering missionary Archdeacon Hudson Stuck focusing on the welfare of the people of Fairbanks and the surrounding Native and rural communities. Founded as a supply camp for miners, Fairbanks quickly grew to be a city. It had social services such as the hospital and library that St. Matthew's provided, as well as government offices, and was a hub for river and trail transportation. St. Matthew's always looked to serve all people in Fairbanks, not solely church members, and is respected for its caring outreach programs. The church through the years was a leader in starting social services in the community. Notably, in the 1960s it started an alcohol rehabilitation program and soup kitchen for the community. The period of significance starts in 1948, when the current church was constructed to replace the earlier one that burned in 1947. The period of significance ends in 1973, when the alcohol rehabilitation program St. Matthew's initiated was turned over to the City of Fairbanks, although the church continues to serve the community as a church and as a center for social services.

The log church was originally built in 1906, then lost by fire in 1947. The alter, lecturn, and support posts carved by nurses from the Hospital were recovered from the fire along with the church bell and can be see today when visiting the church.

The next day, Aug 2nd, Lora and I are going to take the Riverboat Discovery tour at 2:00 pm. The story about the Riverboat Discovery tour can be found on their website.

• The Binkley family’s steamboating tradition goes back over 100 years and five generations. In 1898, when Charles M. Binkley hiked over the Chilkoot Pass with other stampeders, he was not so much in search of gold as he was the chance to build and operate boats on the Yukon and its tributaries. He became a respected pilot and boat builder in the North. His son, Captain Jim Binkley, Sr., followed in his father’s footsteps and piloted freight vessels on the Yukon and Tanana Rivers in the 1940’s. As transportation systems changed in the north, railroads and airplanes began to carry much of the freight. In 1950, noting the coming changes in the freighting business, Captain Jim and his wife, Mary, began a river excursion business focusing on sharing their love of Alaska and its culture with visitors. Over the coming years, Captain Jim and Mary B’s business grew from the Godspeed, a 25-passenger vessel, to the Discovery III, a 900 passenger vessel. Today, Captain Jim’s grandchildren run the company and Mary B is still active in the business.

The Riverboat Discovery tour is a must do if you ever get a chance to visit Fairbanks. The tour is very informative and professionally narrated by a local television new anchor.

Once we get on board we sit on the left side. After introductions of the narrator, crew and captain we set off. Once turned around, the narrator informs us of our first demonstration. A small floatation bi-plane takes off next to riverboat. As the narrator and bush pilot talk about the history of using these planes the pilot circles around and lands back on the river. He makes a second take off, flying into the horizon.

Floating down the river, the captain and narrator talks about the homes along the route and the family history of the riverboat.

The next demonstration is at the home and kennels of the late four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher. We pause at Trailbreaker Kennels along the Chena River and view from the boat Dave Monson, Susan’s husband. He gives firsthand experience about kennel life and the challenges that go into making a champion dogsled team. Dave or a senior handler at Trailbreaker Kennels share stories of life on the trails as puppies play in anticipation of joining the team. The highlight of the demonstration is seeing the dog mushing demonstration.

A short float downstream we reach Chena Indian Village. The native hostess gives a brief demonstration on carving and hanging a salmon.

The captain heads down steam briefly and turns around.

She informs us we are making a stop at Chena Indian Village for a walking tour and another chance to meet with Dave Monson and trainers. We are separated into groups and the hosts take us to different sections of the village talk about the exhibit and indigenous Indian life.

The students hosting the village tour and doubling for the crew are native Alaskans from the Indian villages deep in the bush of Alaska.

We are starting at the Log Cabin, Cache, and Fur Display. The two hosts take turns teaching us about life in the village.

We then walk over to the Ancient Village and Reindeer. The host speak about ancient life prior to contact with the outside world.

The last demonstration before being let go to walk around is the garments, hides and moose demonstration.

We stop by the post office and meet with Dave Monson. Susan Butcher completed a children’s book before passing away from Leukemia. We purchased the book and had it signed by Dave Monson.

The last 30 minutes we can walk around at our leisure.

We hop on board and head upstream. We are given a sample of salmon dip on a cracker.

As we pass The Pump House Restaurant the staff give us a wave.

Just near the end we pass the wife of the founder. She walks out from the house and waves to the boat as we prepare to dock.

We exit the ship quickly and take a few more pictures before heading back to the campground.

Tomorrow is Lora’s Birthday. She turns 59 years old. We are also heading North a 2 nights.

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