Friday, July 15, 2011

Day 30- To North Pole, Alaska

Last night’s stop at the Rest Area over look was a great choice. When we went to sleep, the breeze was blowing pretty good but sometime in the night, the wind died and all was calm and peaceful. It was still dusk like at 2:30 this morning. Unfortunately, my plan to provide a beautiful photo of the Tetlin Nature Preserve that we looked out on was messed up by the low overcast dark clouds. Off in the distance we could see a small patch of blue sky which seemed to grow and shrink as the day wore on. Every once in a while, a brilliant orb would fight it’s way clear and things around us would cast a shadow. It didn’t last very long. We fueled up in Tok, AK at a place that was closed for renovation. It seems there are many fuel stops that will leave their pumps on 24 hours a day for credit card purchases. I don’t have a clue when the last time this place was open although by the looks of the windshield washing stations, it’s been a long while. The stop at Delta Jct., the official end of the Alaska Highway was to get information about getting the truck and generator serviced. They have both been working really hard. The young lady was very helpful with names, numbers and even a pretty good map of Fairbanks. There was a point where we crossed a huge river on a multi spanned bridge. The Robertson River had to a quarter mile wide here and when I looked to my left, I could see large slabs of ice still lying in the bed. The flow of water had an appearance of chocolate skim milk, not very appetizing. We’re staying in an RV Park called Riverview, in North Pole, AK. The river is the Chena. I called to arrange a service appointment for the Toyota and Carl called the Honda dealer for that service. Tomorrow, we drive the Haul Road or the Dalton Highway which was built to service the 800 + miles of the Alaska Pipeline. Now, it’s a lifeline for many outlying communities as well as the oil businesses of Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay. It should be fun!!!

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