Fairbanks

Tuesday: (08/09) Along the way to Fairbanks we stopped at skinny Dicks Half Way Inn just because of the name. It's rater more an adult shop that a bar. The firewood stacked by the door should have been an indicator.


We also stopped at a view point to look over the Tanana Valley and learned of a fife that's been burning since the 60's that occasionally flairs up as it has again. The tundra keeps burning.


We arrived in Fairbanks about 5:00pm and checked in at Pioneer Park. We got some references for good restaurants here and chose Big Daddy's BBQ downtown. Lou and Dawn shared a pig out platter and I had a cowboy sundae (beans with shredded pork and coleslaw on top.) It was really quite good and Lou and Dawn ended up with leftovers enough for another meal. We found a good laundromat but it was too late to do laundry
tonight so it is deferred to tomorrow. We dropped Dawn off at Gulliver's Books and went to Fred Meyer's for groceries. On the way we found where the Farmers market is and the fair that is open this week.
(GPS:64.8373894,-147.77140560)

Wednesday: (08/10) Leftover spinach and salmon omelet for breakfast. We headed over to a laundromat on University @ College. Dawn was dropped off at Gulliver's Book Shop and Lou and I started the laundry.

Last week, on our last bus trip when I was snacking on some banana chips I found a hard spot. I thought it was a bad chip but then I felt a rough spot on my tooth. I had plucked the hard piece out. It was about a small pea sized part of one of my teeth. I had spent some time this morning making a list of possible dentists here in Fairbanks where I can get my split tooth looked at. As it turned out, that wasn't necessary. Lou spotted a dentists office across the street. I checked there and they could see me but referred me to another dentist a block away. I dropped by that office and got an appointment for about an hour latter. It worked out well for me, not so for Lou. Just as the clothes were about dry, I was off to my appointment.

I was expecting the worst, at least a crown and likely the removal of the tooth. Per the dentist a crown would be needed to fix the tooth permanently but that would have taken three weeks. Luckily, this was a good dentist and he just sealed the tooth with Bondo, or something like it, and did a little grinding and I was off, painlessly in thirty minutes. The fix is supposed to last for several months so it should last until I'm home or back to Mexico. I can now recommend a dentist in Fairbanks, Dr Evan Wheeler at Alaska Interior Dental Group. Not only were they fast, but unlike most everything else here in Alaska, they weren't costly. The total charge was about what it cost to clean my teeth at home.


With the laundry and the dentist tasks completed, we picked up Dawn and headed to the Farmers Market. They have an excellent market, about half produce and half crafts. We saw the World's largest cucumber ever grown at there. It was grown in 33 days.

Lou had made sandwiches this morning and we enjoyed them at the market with an almond cake Dawn bought.


Next, we went to the Tanana Valley State Fair, just down the street. It's a pretty nice fair. We looked at the animals, crafts, and enjoyed some of the entertainment, especially a magician named Mike Bliss and his sons.

For dinner, we stopped by Sam's Sourdough Cafe, across the street from my Fairbanks dentist's office. I had confirmed they had chicken fried steak and not many places up here seem to have it. It was very good and so was Lou and Dawn's liver and onions.

Today was mostly clear even sunny and warm until about 9pm when it started to rain heavily.


Thursday: (08/11) Toasted English muffins with Peanut butter and honey for breakfast. We visited the Alaska Wooden Bowl Factory and enjoyed watching the wooden bowls being made.


We drove out to Fox North of Fairbanks and saw a part of the Alaska pipeline. We weren't looking for it but it does run from one end of the state to the other and we had to find it somewhere. There was a retired pig there. Pigs are used to clean the Alaska pipeline.

For lunch we stopped at Fred Meyer's for Panini sandwiches. We didn't do much else today. We did spend more time at the Gulliver's Bookstore. For dinner we had leftover BBQ meats with baked beans and coleslaw. We had rain in the morning and again in the afternoon with some cool weather the rest of the day.


Nenana, the largest wooden boat built west of the Mississippi sits in Pioneer Park. There was another old timer there as well. The steam shovel on the right helped dig the Panama Canal and worked in Hawaii before coming to the gold fields in Fairbanks.