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Published: August 17th 2021
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Our lodge from last nightmileage - 173 miles
Our lodge accommodations last night looked like they were right out of a story book – exactly what you would imagine in the middle of the Alaskan Mountain Range: beautiful, hand-hewn logs, rock fireplaces and views of the mountains where it snowed overnight. We were roughly 30 miles from civilization and so for dinner we had a choice of fresh salmon (cooked one way) from the nearby river for supper (thankfully we all like salmon), but there was something weird about the salad dressing that made our eyes burn??? Although good, it had to be eaten with our eyes closed. Like little kids anxiously waiting for Santa, we were all up most of the night at the Lodge. If it wasn’t the howling and howling of the wind, it was the midnight sun coming through the blinds, or the beds that squeaked with every turn. With as much wind and snow as there is in August, we just couldn’t fathom what it must be like in the winter.
They said breakfast was at 9:00, but we said that was too late for us. They rolled their eyes and said they could accommodate us at 8:00
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Mountains near our lodge if they had to. We again said that wouldn’t work for us; we’d be gone by then. So, they asked us to check out at dinner because they didn’t want to wake up that early to check us out. So, what did we eat for breakfast? We had to hunt for our breakfast in our leftover food bags. We were packed and on the road headed north by 6:30 (we’d been up for a long while) and we seemed to be the only people on the road. Hey, Alaskans where are you?? We all decided the more we travel the more we’re glad we were born in the grocery store generation. We would’ve never made it as pioneers who had to hunt for their food. During the whole trip, all we’ve managed to find in our hunt for wildlife is one caribou in Denali (that was too far away to get), one moose in Anchorage (that we would have had to hit with our car, and you know cars wouldn’t have existed then), some baby geese in the road in Anchorage (again it would require a car attack and we might possibly have gotten one), and a lonely salmon in
an ice-cold stream. We would have starved to death if we hadn’t frozen to death first.
Along our route northward, we stopped to make pictures of Mt Deborah, Mt Hess and Mt Hayes (extremely tall snow-covered peaks) in the Alaskan Mountain Range. Then we drove over the pipeline (well, it went under us actually). We made it to Delta Junction before anything was open – apparently, they’re on island time here, just like at the lodge.
After heading north for a while longer, where did we end up??? The North Pole!!! Yes, Christmas has arrived in August here in Alaska complete with live reindeer, Santa Claus, and huge candy cane street lights. It’s winter wonderland minus the snow (the snow was in the liquid form due to global warming). Of course, we had to stop and make lots of pictures.
Then, we drove to Fairbanks and tried to figure out what to do in the rain (the pouring rain). Most activities in Alaska are outdoor activities and can’t be done in the rain. We went on several wild goose chases (not the wildlife kind) due to the plethora of road construction in the area. Dorothy even tried
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Mosquitos . Pam got it to take us on a military base to get around the mess. Susan had to ask permission to drive in to turn around. We finally decided we had enough and gave up. We ordered take out dinner at a fancy restaurant and ate it at our hotel room.
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