WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28:

     Not sure how much it rained last night . . . some puddles on the ground, and still spitting this morning.  Took our time getting ready to leave, as it’s less than 200 miles to Fairbanks, and on a good highway.   Sad to leave this place.  Denali (the national park) has become one of the many highlights of this trip.  It’s a marvelous untamed wilderness.   Thanks to our NPS for intentionally maintaining it that way.  The spectacular scenery & wildlife we witnessed here so exhilarated us, especially the last 3 days.  We’re so thankful. 

 

     Stopped for breakfast just up the road at the same café we ate at last night.  I think this is the first sit-down breakfast we’ve had on this trip!  Bill  had an egg/pancake/sausage plate, and  I had a spicy Mexican omelet, which was mucho delicioso! I’d go back there just for another one!

        By now it was nearing noon, so we headed north in earnest.  Stopped about 60 miles north at the town of Nenana and spent a few hours there.  We had a great time strolling the main street of this tiny town, learning its history, seeing the historic buildings and some of their now funky and humorous exteriors, talking to the locals, etc.

 

                                         Love the Drive Thru sign!:

                                            Mural depicting Nenana's history on the side of the town grocery store:

                                                Log church built in 1905 as part of the Epicsopcal mission here:      

 

Right across from the Visitors Center, which was brightly framed with lots of beautiful blooming flowers,

 

was a grouping of old log cabins which now houses a few gift shops, all adorned with big blooms and award-winning-sized cabbages! .

   

                                                        

                                                                

A couple of them had surprisingly nice items and books.  Of course, we were suckers for the books, including a cookbook of everything blueberry, and  Into the Wild, which is the account of the young man who forsook his affluent background to go live off of the land near Denali Nat’l Park and perished there.  It’s just west of where we were staying, so we had a special interest in reading the story.  I believe they made a movie also, starring Sean Penn??  Besides the books, I couldn’t resist a stuffed Alaskan Husky puppy, which looked so real.  A totally frivolous purchase, but I loved it!  He stands watch over our bed on the cabinet top.

 

 

      This is another small Alaskan town with its own unique character.  It was an Athabascan village which served as a river freighting center to the interior for centuries, as it’s at the confluence of two good-sized rivers.  It changed character rapidly when the Alaskan Railroad was being constructed in the 1920’s and the town served as a supply center.  Since then, the town has been known in part for its rich railroad history.   President Harding came out here in 1923 to drive in the golden spike which connected the two segments of the railroad. (It’s gone now – someone stole it.)   And it was the site on which the historic transfer of the railroad was made from the Federal govt to the state of Alaska.  The station is listed on the Nat’l Register of Historic Sites and now houses a museum.  

 

 

 

 

     We also visited the Nenana Cultural Center, which contains history and culture of the Athabascans, as well more recent history.  Spent a good bit of time talking with the curator, who shed a lot of light on the current social/economic state of lots of Natives and how they’ve lost their traditional ways of living with and off the land, but haven’t benefitted from economic  alternatives.  For instance, many Natives went to work for the pipeline when it was being constructed in the 80’s and made good money.  But they had no history or language of private ownership, equity, etc., so they blew through the money, and ended up even worse than before, because they’d sold or given away their trap lines, fishing equipment, etc.  He felt that the average Native hadn’t benefitted from the corporation structure which was set up  back in Nixon’s administration to benefit the Alaskan native – again, the average shareholder doesn’t know how to handle the dividend cash, plus he feels that there’s a significant degree of corruption.  This was a different viewpoint than we had heard in Juneau from a spokeswoman who spoke highly of the corporation statute and its benefits to her people.  So, like any cross section of people,  you hear differing viewpoints and opinions, equally thought out and considered.

     What this town is most well-known for is the Nenana Ice Classic. This is Alaska’s “coolest” lottery.  It’s an event that could only be held in the land of ice and cabin fever.   Cash prizes are awarded to those who guess the exact time – to the minute- of the spring ice breakup on the Tanana River.  Breakup occurs at the moment when suddenly there’s more water than ice on the river.  A tripod is frozen into the river a few weeks earlier, in a festival weekend, and attached by wire to an official clock is tipped over by the surging ice and water.  After it moves 100 feet, the wire stops the clock, noting the official break-up time.  And a siren is released, notifying all residents to come to the river and witness the ice breaking up!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     This sounds like such a fun and light-hearted idea – but the winnings are serious money.  Last year, over $300,000 was awarded!  We saw the official entry books – tickets are sold all over Alaska @ $2.50 each – and each entry was painstakingly entered, on a single line, and the book was at least 3 inches thick!   Virtually all of the high school students here take part in assembling the books, and is the actual first cash-paying job most of them have.  We were just tickled with the whole concept, and took a couple of entry forms with us – people outside of Alaska can enter (one year a Japanese person won!) – but you have to fill out a form, mail it back in, and they’ll transfer your info to an official ticket, because state law prohibits lottery sales across the state lines!  You gotta love it!  Oh yes, once the tripod and clock are set, a 24/7 armed guard is stationed in the tower to make sure no shenanigans take place with the clock!  We just loved this one more example of how these tiny towns find a way to create community spirit, fun, and even a small economy.

     We’re so glad we took the time to stop here  -

a wonderful afternoon in this little river town which, despite its hard scrabble existence now for most of its residents, has a thriving spirit and proud history which it is eager to share with visitors.

 

 

 

     Drove on another 45 miles or so o Fairbanks.  It had stopped raining and was warming up. Went through some really pretty scenery – mostly tree-lined highway, with spruces, aspens, and birches.  The deciduous trees were slightly beginning to turn.  Reminded us of last fall in the Grand Canyon, with the splendorous golden aspens. 

     Found our RV park on the edge of town easily, and quickly got set up.   It’s a lovely RV park – very large, with lots of trees and green space.  We asked to be by the river (the Chena), and we have a lovely serene view out our windows.  We grilled outside, and almost ate outside – it was that pleasant – but was quickly turning cooler, so ate inside.    We’ll probably be here the better part of a week.