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Published: September 4th 2008
Alaskan Pipeline
This is where the pipeline crosses the Tenana River...literally a stones throw from where I used to stay.Back on the road after fun times in Denali. What to expect from Fairbanks! We were steeped in anticipation! It had been just a few months over a decade since my last visit to Fairbanks and my recollections of it were that it was somewhat anti-climactic. We arrived in the mid morning, and boy was I right. Basically Fairbanks is like Middletown in Alaska. The car was in need of an oil change, being a solid 4000 miles overdue, and there were a few food items we needed so we began our search for the local Wal-Mart.
Every other town we have been to that has a Wally-World (including Anchorage) does not make it difficult to find. With no prior knowledge of a town, you can often drive through it and simply look for Wal-Mart and have excellent results. Not so in Fairbanks. I have never considered myself to be much of an engineer but that town was apparently designed in the haste and chaos of the gold rush, such that no one ever took the time to consider the layout beyond a few haphazard traffic intersections (all of which are under construction for the next several decades). We managed
Downriver
tying the boat down after a short trip on the Tenena...I used to have to do this every day in the summer to get to school to find a Subway to grab some food at, parked on a dead end road near the airport, ate and ranted. After a few minutes of this, having totally annihilated the victuals, we spied a man walking down the road toward us.
This seemed a stroke of luck since anyone who couldnt afford a car would HAVE to know where Wal Mart was. Those who are less economically endowed are not loathe to give "the Great Satan" their business. I tried to ask him where the aforementioned market of devilry could be found and apparently this cat was either running from the cops (he was carrying bags of something) or inferred some condescension from my inquiry. Without breaking stride he says, "Oh its on the other side of town"
I'm thinking to myself, 'thanks a lot, a-wipe, this town isn't even organized enough to have sides. big help you are'. I hadn't meant anything derogatory by the question. It was as sincere as when Josh, my housemate in college, asked the manager of our dining hall (who was both enormous and black) if he had any watermelon--this large individual responded with acute hostility even though Josh had been
View from the bluff
I spent a good bit of time up here in High School...and learned to love high places completely unaware of his faux pas...Anyways he must have thought better of his response and he clarified that it was near the "other" Fred Meyer. I then realized that he was not malicious but probably just a little slow.
Getting out of Fairbanks was a treat. We headed south, towards the Alaska Pipeline and my old residence at Delta Junction, where a large part of my formative process took place. I contacted my good friend John Porter who was an awesome host, taking time off of work to show Stef and I around, taking us down the Tenana River to some of my old haunts. After being gone for a decade much has changed, and much is still the same. I got a chance to see many old friends from my previous time in AK and that was really nice. Its staggering to see kids all grown up now who were toddlers when I first met them. We got to chat with the man who introduced me to climbing during a PE class in the 10th grade as well as my old debate coach who got me interested in philosophy. We also got to rock a couple of Alaskan
Delta Junction
Looking out at the Tenana River from the bluff Potatoes as well as the only tourist memorabilia purchased to date- from Rika's Roadhouse, just across the street from where I used to live.
We stayed one night at Clearwater Creek State Park which my parents remember as a free campground back in 85 when we first came through there...sadly it is no longer free...for most people. Since we kinda squatted down by the boat launch, we managed to avoid any idiotic fees.
From there we headed back out through Tok and on into the long dark of the Yukon.
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jRichert
non-member comment
alaska pics
very nice. keep pics and stories comin. look foward to them. be safe.