Wednesday, June 18, 2008

This was our last morning in Fairbanks, and our host family provided breakfast for us and they really outdid themselves – sausage and egg casserole, coffee cake, mixed fruit, juices, milk, coffee, hot chocolate…yum! After hugs and goodbyes, we hit the road, but we didn’t get very far. Fairbanks is the only large city we will see for days, so we stocked up on provisions and gas.

Heading south to Denali National Park, we came to a town called Nenana. This little town is made famous for a ice festival celebrating the thaw of the Nenana River. They place a wooden tripod (quite large) out on the frozen river, and a cable is attached to a clock tower. People bet on the precise day and time the river will thaw enough to topple the tripod – last year it paid $303,000 to the winner! People bet $2.50 per guess.

We arrived at Denali late afternoon, and were very fortunate to find two camping spots close to each other – we won’t have to move out of the park for 5 days! The sites are great, but don’t have water or electricity, but for $4, you can take a shower for as long as you want! They also have bear concerns here, so we need to stow anything food related in the vehicle.

After a supper of sloppy joes and salad (Chris has cereal – he had not had cereal for a long time and was missing it), we called it a day and headed for bed. It is 11:40 and still light enough to read a book outside.

It is cloudy, and we are praying for sunshine tomorrow as we are taking a long all-day bus tour into the furthest reaches of the park. We will leave at 9:15 a.m. and get back at 8:15 p.m.!