Day 27
Monday, July 4
Fairbanks, Day 4


 

Happy 4th of July!! What a wonderful country we live in, and how fortunate are we to be able to visit such a wonderful place. Today was the first of two "free" days as nothing is planned by Adventure Caravans. Some of our party took an optional trip to the Arctic Circle. Some left at 4:15 this morning; others left at 6:00. Those leaving at 4:15 rode a van 8 hours up to the Arctic Circle and then flew back to Fairbanks. Those leaving at 6:00 rode a bus up and back. They won't be back until 11:00 tonight. We talked to Chris and Mary tonight at our potluck and Mary said she didn't think it was worth it. They paid a total of $900 to ride the van up and fly back. They didn't get to visit the Eskimo village as they were promised so they will get a couple of hundred back, but still, that is too much money. I will be interested to hear what the others had to say.

We slept late and just hung out around here this morning. I fixed breakfast of bacon and French toast - good! Then Robert and Bet went with us to run around a little. We went back to the Riverboat Discovery to exchange a T-shirt and sweatshirt the Jenna bought a couple of days ago. We spent about 45 minutes looking around their gift shop. No one was there but us and the help. The riverboat was gone with a load of passengers so we had the place all to ourselves. After that we went to a wooden bowl manufacturing plant. We had a coupon for a free planter, so naturally we had to go. We watched a man make a set of 3 bowls from a single piece of tree trunk. They cut a section of tree trunk in half. They mark the center of the half and then put it on a lathe. It cuts out the large bowl first, then the middle size and then the little bowl. The largest is about 12 inches and the smallest is about 5". They then kiln dry them for 6 days before sanding them smooth. Some are finished with a lacquer and others a left plain. They are beautiful bowls, but very expensive. A small individual salad bowl was $17 and the larger ones were up to $150. Needless to say, we only got the free planter. Everything was too expensive to buy.

We made a return trip to the North Pole and Santa's House. Jenna got a T-shirt and I got a sticker for the trailer. This place is a genuine tourist trap. T-shirts were relatively inexpensive, but everything else was unbelievable. We mailed all the grandkids, Evan, Izzy, Addie and CJ a post card that will be postmarked "Santa's Workshop, North Pole.

On our way back we stopped by Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. A community wide 4th of July Celebration was underway.
 
 

Fortunately we got a good parking spot and were able to walk right in. The U.S. Army Arctic Warrior Band was playing so we grabbed a seat and listened for a while.   As we were going to sit down, I heard someone say "How's everything in Texas today?" I looked to see who said it and saw a man and his wife from Abilene whom we met in Watson Lake a couple of weeks ago. We sat and visited with them for a long time while we listened to the band. We went to get something to eat and noticed that all the building had signs on them indicating where they came from in Fairbanks. I wonder what kind of "hostess" Miss Eva was? 
It seems that if they need to tear down a historical building in order to build something new, instead of tearing it down, they move it to Pioneer Park. 

The buildings are all old cabins or houses from around town. They are retro-fitted inside to be an ice-cream shop, a gift shop, etc. The whole celebration really looked like something out of the 4o's or 50's. The carousel was old as were the other rides and play areas. It was a very pleasant place to spend a little time.

We got back to the campground just in time for me to take a little power nap. I was supposed to help cook dinner tonight for the potluck. Dick and Bev Enderlien, two of our caravan folks, had their freezer go out a week or so back. It was full of steaks, pork chops and chicken. They farmed it all out to others who had room for it, and then volunteered to provide the meat for our potluck tonight. As I said earlier, about a dozen of our group had gone to the Arctic Circle so a potluck was organized for those left behind. We were supposed to start cooking about 5:15, but at 5:00 we had a "toad-strangler of a rainfall. Water completely encircled our trailer and many others. We waited until about 5:30 and the rain stopped. I cooked 9 big pork shops; Dick cooked 8 big steaks, and Don cooked a dozen chicken breast and a number of chicken legs. Everybody brought salads, vegetables or desserts and we had a wonderful meal.

Tomorrow is another "free" day. Jenna is going with Bet to get a haircut and I'll probably hang out here for a while. I report in tomorrow about what we found to get into. Until then - Happy Trails.