Putting in a Plug for Plugging In

Our first few days in Fairbanks were unseasonably warm with freezing rain resulting in dangerously icy roads. Pretty much everything was closed or cancelled - the place was a virtual ghost town. By the weekend Fairbanks' more typical winter weather was back on track. With temperatures ranging from 10ºF to -20ºF, activity levels increased exponentially. Plugging your car into a block heater is the way of life and absolutely mandatory if you have any hope of starting your car.

Pioneer Park

The Christmas season would be incomplete without attending a traditional holiday bazaar. The bazaar we attended was part of Pioneer Park's 2010 Holiday Celebration which also included train rides with Santa and a fireworks display.

Pioneer Park bills itself as "Alaska's Only Historic Theme Park." After making the rounds on two floors of homespun arts and crafts, we walked around the grounds of the park. Although closed for the season, attractions include historic museums, dance halls and theaters, miniature golf, restaurants, shops, and Riverboat Nenana. This place is probably hopping during the warmer months.

We came back later in the day to watch fireworks. The display was excellent and, best of all, started at 5:30 pm.

Black Friday - Literally and Otherwise

With barely 5 hours of daylight, most of the day after Thanksgiving in Alaska IS black. So at 9:00 am - in the dark - we participated in one Black Friday holiday sale. We made a beeline to the door of The Great Alaskan Bowl Company where the first 20 shoppers received bonus shopping dollars.

This factory is well-known for beautifully crafting clear, knotty and arc bowls from the Alaskan Birch tree. This family-run business has a proud history of making one-piece bowls using equipment designed from machinery developed over 100 years ago. While the products are worth the hefty prices they charge, we were relieved to take advantage of their Black Friday sales and also put our bonus shopping dollars toward some Christmas gifts.

A Different Kind of Thanksgiving

Without question, my favorite day of the year is Thanksgiving. I love spending the better part of the day cooking, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, celebrating the holiday with family and friends, and watching "Miracle on 34th Street" for the first time of the season. Moreover, the sentiment behind the holiday is perfect.

Thanks to technology, we shared the holiday with our faraway family. And we did watch the parade and most of the movie. But cooking turkey in our motel kitchenette wasn't much of an option, so we made reservations at a popular local restaurant - The Pump House.

With its turn-of-the-century atmosphere, the restaurant features the 1890's Gold Rush motif and a clever assortment of Alaska memorabilia. All the furnishings are authentic, old, and charmingly showcased. Most importantly, the food is very good. Along with the masses, we enjoyed an excellent turkey buffet with all the trimmings - possibly the first Thanksgiving meal I've had in a restaurant.

Putting in a Good Word with Santa

It would be ridiculous to go all the way to the North Pole without spending some time with Jolly Old St. Nick. After mailing Christmas cards from the North Pole Post Office, we took a quick drive to Santa Claus Lane before turning onto St. Nicholas Drive. Since 1952, the Santa Claus House has been a year-round attraction for families and kids of all ages. The grounds include a 40-foot Santa, live reindeer (I'm pretty sure we saw Donner and Blitzen), nearby ice sculptures, and picture-taking opportunities in Santa's sleigh.

The House itself offers an extensive assortment of Christmas decor, ornaments, and collectibles. But the featured attraction, of course, is Santa Claus himself and the opportunity to make one last appeal for a dream-filled stocking on Christmas morning. Naturally, I sat on Santa's lap and also put in a good word for our kids. Santa was charming and jovial and asked where we were from. I told him we live in Hayden, Idaho, and asked him if he knew where that is. He laughed and said, "Of course! I go there every year." Whew!

The North Pole!

One of my chief reasons for traveling with Tom to Alaska in late November was to mail our Christmas cards from the North Pole. Okay, from North Pole, Alaska. To accomplish this took considerable advanced planning on my part and some additional heavy lifting on Tom's part (10 extra pounds in his carry-on). It was worth it. With all the changes and moving around we've done during the past 18 months I'm still trying to educate people about our new mailing address.

The postal clerk wasn't surprised to see a non-resident come to the counter with a load of cards, and she patiently let me take a few snapshots of the North Pole postmark. I'm glad I beat the rush.

Put That in Your Pipe and Move It

We drove to a point just outside Fairbanks to get a look at the famous Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline was designed and constructed to move oil from the North Slope of Alaska to Valdez - the northern most ice-free port in Alaska. Completed in 1977, the system is 800 miles long and has a diameter of 48 inches. The two-year construction project was privately funded for a cost of $8 billion, and over 15 billion barrels of oil have moved through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System in its 33-year history. The visitor's center was closed, but we got the idea.

It's Been a Long Day's Night

Or is it a long night's day in Fairbanks, Alaska during late November? I thought I was prepared to expect only five hours of daylight, and I had been forewarned that we would lose an additional eight minutes of light every single day. But seeing is believing.

7:30 am - outside our motel Sophie Station



9:30 am - after doing a little grocery shopping


1:00 pm - the sun never rises much beyond the horizon


4:00 pm - Griffin Park's antler arch


Thanksgiving Weather Report - unseasonably warm

Heading North - Way North

Wishing to keep his surgical oar in the water, Tom did a 10-day locum tenens during October in Fairbanks, Alaska. Subsequently, the Tanana Valley Clinic asked him to return in November to once again cover the practice of a local surgeon. Tom agreed to take the assignment, and this time I tagged along.

We have twice taken the Alaska Marine HIghway System up the spectacular Inside Passage. The state ferry (aka the "Poor Man's Love Boat") took us to Juneau and beyond to Skagway, but those cruises were over twenty years ago and limited our exploration to Southeast Alaska. So, despite the time of year, I looked forward to seeing a bit more of our 49th state.

Naturally, we flew Alaska Airlines to Fairbanks. I knew this Alaska adventure was off to a good start when the young woman sitting next to me excitedly pointed to a man walking toward us from the front of the plane. With considerable admiration, she identified the fellow as Lance Mackey - reigning champion of the Iditarad.

Winning the Iditarad is no small feat. This annual sled dog race covers 1150 miles of rugged, extreme terrain in 10 to 17 days. Often called the "Last Great Race on Earth," the Iditarod route starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome on the western coast of the Bering Sea. In temperatures far below zero, mushers and their teams of 12 to 16 dogs must traverse mountain ranges, frozen rivers, forests, and tundra.

Like a shameless groupie, I left my seat and asked Lance if I could take his picture. This opened the floodgates, because others in the back of the plane quickly lined up for photo shoots of this Alaskan hero. Lance Mackey has won the last four races, and he holds the record for most consecutive wins. If this weren't impressive enough, the guy is a survivor of throat cancer after extensive surgery and radiation in 2001. This inspirational man has twice been nominated for national ESPY awards losing only to the likes of Tiger Woods.