Saturday, February 13, 2016

Alaska Pipeline ~ North Pole ~ Fairbanks, Alaska

Our travels between Delta Junction and Fairbanks, Alaska


Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
Our first sighting of the Trans - Alaska Pipeline System was quite a sight as we crossed the Tanana River.  This pipeline would be visible to us throughout most of our road trip through Alaska as it follows the roads we travelled.  It is commonly called the Alaska Pipeline or just the Pipeline to those who live in Alaska.

Roadside moose sighting
This young moose was walking towards some water not far off the road and made for some good photos taken.  So many of the wildlife we saw were a great distance away so we were happy to have this opportunity.  We saw more once we got into Fairbanks, seems they prefer the urban life.

Tanana River
We got a wonderful view of the Tanana River on a rest stop on the Richardson Highway.  The Tanana is a 940 km (584 mi) tributary of the Yukon River.  The word Tanana is an Athabasca word that means “river trail”.

North Pole
Just a few miles south of Fairbanks we made a stop at North Pole!  Even for the non-believers, it was a great place to visit.  It was summertime so Santa wasn’t too busy making toys yet and was there greeting all the visitors.  They have sent out millions of personal letters to children all over the world for 60 years now and the tradition continues from Santa’s house.  This can be arranged online and was a big thrill for them when our young grandsons received their letters this year.  The oldest one is “a believer” again!  

Candy cane lamp posts
The streets in North Pole are lined with candy cane lamp posts!  The small city, basically a suburb of Fairbanks, AK has a population of just over 2200 people and I am sure that many of them work for Santa when the need arrives!

Santa Claus House
The Santa House was full of lots of souvenirs for us to look at.  It was a busy place with many visitors doing the same and young and old waiting in the lineup to have a chat with Santa.  He was a generous Santa with his time and was gracious enough to record a video for our young grandson for us!

Santa's reindeer
There were several reindeer out in Santa’s back yard so we were able to see them where they were safe and sound behind their fence.  We weren’t sure which one this was but he was the friendly one who came to say hello to us.

Cheena River
We made a couple of stays in this park as we passed through Fairbanks on two occasions and found it to be a good stop.  Travelling as we did covering many miles on most days, we were happy to stop for a couple of nights to catch up on laundry and grocery shopping.

Heading up the Dalton Highway, click here to follow us.

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