 teaser66.jpg Dinner by the river. This was our windiest campsite. Though it had an excellent view |
 teaser67.jpg Kay and Steve's place. Somehow I missed a photo with them in it. |
 teaser68.jpg Look! A moose! |
 teaser69.jpg The mystery hole. No-one has ever been here yet. (talk to bettles lodge) |
 teaser72.jpg Late night sun from Bettles |
 teaser74.jpg Late night sun from Bettles |
| Back in time for 4th of July dinner at Bettles. Miss out on hearing about the town people's party out by the river. Probably just as well. Lots and lots of drunkeness, and some issues with a four wheeler. We arrange an earlier flight out of Bettles (Let us out of here) and get out early the next morning. (Instead of late the next afternoon) | ||
 teaser75.jpg Me trying to take art pics. (Bettles) |
 teaser76.jpg Mick, Myself and Scott in front of Bettles Lodge. |
 teaser77.jpg The Pipeline, just north of fairbanks. |
| Get back into Fairbanks, rent a car, and head off to Chena Hot Springs (resort). Lovely and relaxing. See a moose by the pond at the hot springs, and a big beaver on the road. Go figure. Guess our trip was a bit too much wilderness. Check in at Billies again, and head off for dinner. We must have been quite a sight at Billies, almost everyone else there was on a much lower budget than we were, right down to the people cooking lentils in the kitchen. We however, were aviators. With nearly $1100 in plane fares, $20 on dinner for an extra two or three nights was pocket change. No trying to scum lifts to denali for us. We went north to Fox for dinner at the brewery (recommended by two guides, and also the brewery of my favourite pickaxe) but the brewery is basically shut, isn't serving dinner's that night, and has a very very lame bar. The alaskan's have a lot to learn about tourism. Sometimes you just want a souvenir, and you can't get it. Oh well.
The next day (Saturday 6th of July) we drop Scott off at the airport, he is headed to an IEEE conference in Vancouver, then Mick and I go into downtown fairbanks for brekky and souvenir shopping and tourist type stuff. We don't fly out till 1am monday morning. Look at a gallery that has painted emu eggs. Go up to the reccommended UAF museum. Nice museum. Shitty gift shop. Next stop Alaskaland. A big "themepark" in Fairbanks. Generally dismal displays, lame tourist shops. Really lame. Almost fleamarketish, very very few good souvenirs. And I was trying to spend money. Nice big air museum though, well laid out, lots of stories of Russian/American pilots during the war and the LendLease program. Lot's of RV'ers in the carpark. Dinner at the Pumphouse. Almost an upmarket restaraunt, but not quite there yet. Caribou steak for dinner though. If I can't see big animals, I'll damn well eat them. Drop the car back at Billies, then walk down to the Marlin again. Cool barchick from last time remembers us when we walk in, and offers to bring us out drinks, saving us from the horrible line for beer there. We order a jug each, and quite impress the locals with our style. Mick with his jug and glass, me with my jug and a glass. Meet up with a variety of locals, some whom we'd met the week before, some new ones. Lots of fun. Cheer a bit for my birthday when midnight comes round, and eventually toddle off up the street and into bed. | ||
 teaser78.jpg Emu eggs in a gallery in fairbanks, "decorated by native artists" or some such weirdness |
 teaser79.jpg Totem pole outside UAF museum, feat Mick. |
 teaser80.jpg Crazy shakespear/muppets play at Alaskaland |
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