Why Alaska? and Memories from the Road

When I left Adak, Alaska in April '77, I wasn't sorry to be headed back to the States.

What I didn't know at the time is that Alaska has a way of getting under the skin. The military has a saying ... wait, the military has lots of sayings. Okay, they have a particular saying about serving in Alaska: "Once you visit Alaska, you never go all the way back."

The longer I stayed in Missouri, the more I wanted to head back north.

My wife and I got engaged in '78, and I tried mightily to convince her that we should move to Alaska. But that was pre-internet, and the only things she knew about the Last Frontier were those she'd seen on TV, or in magazines. I had my pictures from Adak, but Adak is rather stark. I found it strangely beautiful, as do most who got stationed there, but it's not for everyone. And those pictures didn't sway her opinion at all.

Still, I never gave up the strong desire to return.

Then the church in St. Louis, in which we served as music ministers, opened a sister church in Anchorage. My heart leapt in my chest, so to speak, but another couple was asked to move there to establish and pastor the church.

After 30 years, during which I'd prayed many times for a way to come back, I finally did the smart thing: I laid my desire at God's feet. In other words, I gave up trying to figure out how to make it happen, and turned it all over to Him.

A couple months later, the senior pastor announced that a) the church in Anchorage would start a Bible school to train up pastors and leaders from around Alaska, to start other churches, and b) he and his family were moving there.

The four of us, including our daughters who were 14 and 8 at the time, all got the same message at the same time: "We've been left behind, and we're going!"

About three weeks later, we had a new truck, a trailer on which to pull my wife's car, had given nearly everything away, and were ready to go.

* * * * *

We drove to Alaska from St. Charles, Missouri in late September of '03, arriving in Anchorage on October 2. There were many interesting sights along the way, as anyone who's ever made the trek will attest.

Just some snippets of things that come back to me:

• Younger Daughter, having been told we'd drive through mountains on the trip, asked "Is that a mountain?" at every small rise on the roadside. For five days, until we reached the Canadian Rockies. When she finally saw real mountains, her face took on an "Ooooohhh" expression that lasted for hours.
• Older Daughter handing us CDs from her collection. The trip took seven days, and that collection got mighty old by the time we reached Anchorage ... but we'd have gone nuts without 'em.
• Not every place we stopped was, let's say, wholesome. There were a couple of places where we wouldn't let the girls use the bathroom. But there was always another place, a little farther down the road.
• Travelling after Labor Day, through Canada, confirmed what we'd been told: two out of three hotels, restaurants and gas stations were closed for the season (meaning until the following May). In fact, the advice we'd received was "never pass a gas station, because you don't know where the next one is. The hotel rooms go quickly, so get off the road by 5pm, because all the rooms will be booked by 6:00. Then you can find something to eat."
• We hadn't made any advance reservations. I bought a Rand-McNally atlas of North America, and planned our stops based on how far I thought we could drive between 7am and 5pm daily.
• Not all the hotels were particularly attractive, either, but we only walked away from one that was too run-down to even consider. I should point out, however, that some of the hotels were spectacular; I don't mean to imply otherwise. And we had no problems getting a room each night, because of the advice we'd been given.
• Gas prices in Canada were all over the place - high, low, and everything in-between. As soon as we crossed the North Dakota border into Manitoba, my wife and I decided that "whatever it costs, it costs. Let Visa figure out the exchange rate, and just keep on truckin'."
• The Canadian people were very friendly. Everyone wanted to know where we were headed, since my truck was pulling our other car on a dolly, and it was stuffed to the gills - literally - with bedding and clothes.
• In British Columbia, we were delayed several times including once by a herd of grazing buffalo, by a small herd of horses running loose in the Yukon, and more than once by various elk and other critters walking along the highway.
• The best meal we ate on the whole trip was at Buckshot Betty's in Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory (about 16 miles from the Alaska line). The gal at the reception desk was the cook, too, and MAN she could cook! Betty's has cabins for overnight travelers, and that was the last time we slept in what could be called a single-family residence until we bought our house last year.
• We'd heard that many in Alaska were less than thrilled about the growing population, but the most pointed reminder of that was about an hour north of Anchorage, on the last leg of the trip. There were three large, round hay bales on the side of the highway, with a banner painted in red letters: "Welcome to Alaska - NOW GO HOME."

But we stayed, anyway. And more than 14 years later, we're still here.

Destination: Fairbanks & North Pole

(Additional pictures here.)

We've survived the drive to Fairbanks. The roads are very rough and bumpy in places, with many cracks, dips, and some of the worst frost heaves you've ever seen. It can be exhausting to drive hundreds of miles on bad pavement, but roads in Alaska can be like that. At mile 72, give or take, there's an 11-mile construction zone where the roadway is being widened. No pavement there, but plenty of mud and potholes. While that wouldn't have been a big deal in my truck, we elected to take the car, opting for better mileage. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, that was probably a mistake. We did okay, but the truck would have handled the load (four passengers, luggage, and shopping bounty) plus the roads (mud, dirt, gravel, and potholes galore) with greater aplomb.

The drive north was interrupted by two such zones, the northernmost being 18 miles in length. On Friday, the crews were working despite the rains, and we had to sit in queues awaiting our turn to be led by a pilot car through a zigzag obstacle course around pylons and excavating equipment. On Sunday's return trip, the zones were unmanned, and the dirt sections were "proceed as best you can, given the conditions".

Having not previously traveled more than 120 miles north of Anchorage, we all enjoyed the sights. The stretch through Denali National Park was really interesting, too, with deep gorges and mountain vistas somewhat different from those surrounding Anchorage. Mt. McKinley, alas, was shrouded in clouds on both days, so we didn't get any up-close-and-personal time with the continent's highest peak.

We did note that some of the valleys near the entrance to the national park were named in a fashion to discourage getting out of the car: Iceworm Gulch and Hornet Creek. Of course there were several Bear Creeks, and at least two Bison Creeks along the way. We also crossed the Upper and Lower Troublesome Creek valleys; I'm going to try to find out what's behind the name. That sort of thing interests me.

The drive of 365 miles took 6.25 hours.

Fairbanks reminds me of Anchorage back in the mid-'70s, before the oil boom. More frontiersy, and a bit more rustic. We found the people to be more polite, and in less of a hurry than those in Anchorage, too. Nice.  

Younger Daughter hadn't programmed the date on her camera.

Dining out was a bit more pricey there, but we had some really good meals.

The heavy rains came on Saturday; having spent over 45 years in the Midwest, we're no strangers to gully-washers. The thunderstorms that blew through in the afternoon were as heavy as I've seen, with visibilities at one point down to less than 15 feet. It brought traffic to a standstill on the highway, and flooded local streets and intersections. I never realized I missed that (a little, anyway) until it happened.

On Saturday morning, we drove to North Pole, a smallish town about 11 miles southeast of Fairbanks. We all laughed at the highway sign, announcing "South Hwy 2 to North Pole" ... you know you're too far north when you have to turn south to get to North Pole.  :)
On Santa Claus Lane, all of the street lights are striped like candy canes.

When visiting North Pole for the first time, everyone must visit the Santa Claus House ... on Saint Nicholas Drive, of course. It's the place where, every year, dozens of volunteers hand-cancel Christmas cards which have been sent there, so that the cards go to their destinations postmarked "North Pole, Alaska". That's nice.



The ladies shopped ... and shopped ... and shopped some more. We arrived at 8:30 a.m., and didn't leave until noon. My wife decided it was a great place to find Christmas gifts, and got a kick out of the idea that we'd have 95% of our shopping done in July, for a change.
 

After looking around for an hour or so, I walked around outside, taking pictures of the building (lots of murals), the reindeer (what? surely you knew Santa's house would have reindeer) and generally enjoying being in one place. Seven hours in the car on Friday made me glad to sit still.

After lunch back in Fairbanks, we headed north to the El Dorado gold mine, a functioning mine which extracts three million in gold daily. It opens to the public at selected times for guided tours, including a narrated ride on an old train which goes through a permafrost tunnel, past old cabins, mining sheds and sluices.

Part of the tour includes the opportunity to pan for one's own gold - and you get to keep whatever you find. Youngest daughter's sample produced $69 worth of flakes, which we split between two lockets so that each girl could have one.

It was on the way back from the mine that we ran into the heavy rains. Dinner was at a neat place called The Pump House, an interesting place with a tin roof and Victorian decor dating back to the Klondike gold rush. Another round of storms came through while we were eating, first causing the power to go off for a moment, and then the heavy rains hit & drowned out conversation for awhile.

It was worth it, all told, to drive up there and back ... but if we decide to visit for a third time, I believe we'll fly. If for no other reason, it's a great time-saver: it's only an hour in the air.

Former Marines Take On a Mission in a Model A

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Under any circumstances, this would be a classic, crazy road trip.

Former Marine Leonard "Lenny" Cestaro will be leaving Thursday to drive this 1930 Ford Model A 5-window coupe from Anchorage to Arizona with friend Aaron Showalter to raise money for a paralyzed fellow Marine who is trying to use an exoskeleton to walk again and remain on active duty. The vehicle, which gets 10 miles a gallon, "hits its sweet spot between 70 and 80 mph," said Cestano, an East High School alumnus, who clarified that that would not really happen on the drive south.

ERIK HILL — Anchorage Daily News

Former Marines Lenny Cestaro and Aaron Showalter leave Anchorage at 5 a.m. Thursday morning to drive a hot-rod, Ford Model A 5-window coupe to Arizona. It's a rig to behold and one Cestaro spoke of with love and laughter Tuesday, the specs rolling off his tongue like military designations: 292 Ford Y-block engine from a 1956 Ford F-100, a 1958 2-speed Fordomatic transmission ("And there's a reason why they stopped producin' 'em," Cestaro says), two three-barrrel Holley carburetors. The "Rat" is a low-slung road warrior "custom fabricated through trial and error" that hits its sweet spot between 70 and 80 mph.

Cestaro, a federal firearms instructor, and Showalter, a certified diesel mechanic, are having fun, but fun isn't why they're strapping in for 3600 miles and change. They're on a mission.

Read the rest here. And contribute if you can.

Saturday Road Trip

My wife & I drove down to Seward for dinner, yesterday.

It had been raining, off and on, for most of the day, and the afternoon was equally grey and gloomy. But if you're waiting for great weather before taking a drive in Alaska, you may wait a very long time. Keeping in mind that weather can vary greatly from place to place, we set off in shirt sleeves, but tossed a couple of jacket-slash-raincoats in the back.

Driving down the Turnagain Arm, we realized that the clouds were not as low as we'd thought, being at about 4,000 feet. That condition held for much of the drive, allowing us to see the mountains on the way. I should explain that the road from Anchorage to Seward is "a drive through the mountains" the entire 120 miles of the trip.

There is active construction going on near the Seward end of the journey, with several miles of hard-packed dirt road where asphalt used to be. Oh well, that's why we took the truck rather than the car.

Arriving in Seward (in a brown truck that was green when we started), we did a little shopping, and then checked into Ray's.

Most of the tables have a view of the small boat harbor, and even though the rain and lowering clouds made things a bit gloomy, it's still to see all the fishing and excursion boats, as well as the mountains on the opposite side of Resurrection Bay.

We began with scallops drenched in butter & wine, crab cakes with remoulade sauce, and then the entrees arrived: halibut cheeks with capers and mushrooms, salmon with mango salsa, lime cilantro rice, and "seasonal veggies" which turned out to be broccoli and squash. Dessert was a shared piece of the best carrot cake EVAH: light, fluffy and moist, with whole walnuts and a delightfully light cream cheese frosting.

The drive home was just as grey & rainy as the trip south, but there was much less traffic. All in all, a nice way to spend a few hours.

Scenes From the Road, Part 2

Talkeetna Mountains, along the east horizon while driving north through Denali National Park

Talkeetna Mountains again

Tanana (TAH'-na-nah) River bridge at Nenana (neh-NA'-na)

Tanana River, looking east from the bridge

Museum of the North, on the Univ. of Alaska - Fairbanks campus

The picture postcard view of the Museum, from the front lawn

Jade boulder weighing 3,550 pounds - the surface is nearly waist high

A 10,000 year old wooly mammoth femur (note sign which reads, "Please touch")

Rifles and shotguns of the Alaska frontier

More long guns from the early days

A remarkably docile group of grizzlies

5,495 pound copper nugget

Girl Scout Council HQ in Fairbanks - I just liked the name

Sign inside the main entrance of Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, a theme park devoted to the pioneer days of only a century ago

SS Nenana - largest stern-wheeler ever built west of the Mississippi - she sailed the river from 1933 to 1954, and is now a national historic landmark (I find that oddly curious, for a boat)

Main Street in Pioneer Park - almost all the cabins are originals, most moved to the park from downtown Fairbanks - there are dozens of cabins

An early telephone switchboard from Fairbanks' ... um, early days

"General store" display at Pioneer Park

Scenes from the Road, Part 1

Along the highway in Denali National Park

Pike's Landing (where we ate dinner) at 10 pm yesterday.

Road Trip

The sun is shining, it's 55 degrees with light & variable winds ... and the road is beckoning. We don't even have a particular destination, but off we go.

Since it's impossible to drive anywhere in this part of Alaska without spectacular scenery, pics will follow. Ciao!

Back at the Helm

Well. That was a interesting week. About 7,000 miles flown, and another 350 driven, in five days. I know there are road warriors out there who do more than that, but I haven't done it in years, and it kicked my backside.

The good news is that my dad is keeping a positive outlook, and exploring some treatment options. He hasn't given up, and that's a very good thing. My sister the nurse is taking time to be with him, and helping him understand the medical terminology and procedures that are available.

I spent a couple of hours with MO Bro, my occasional co-author here, and caught up very briefly with Dana and Sandi-with-an-i, who also sometimes contribute material.

Most of the time, however, was spent with my parents, who are feeling very vulnerable and a bit overwhelmed at what lies ahead. I won't go into personal details, of course, but I think they're doing as well as can be expected.

Beyond that, I got very little sleep due to the jet lag and the short timeframe, and had gone through short attention span (oh, look ... a moose!) to forgetfulness, to initially sitting in the wrong seat on the final leg of the trip, this afternoon. I got myself straightened out as quickly as possible, but I strongly recommend more than 30 minutes' sleep prior to launching a series of interconnecting flights. Especially when that short sleep happens a couple (or four) nights in a row.

I exaggerate - a bit - but it was as disorienting a time as I can recall since the early '70s ... heh. But let's not go there, shall we?

So, onward and upward. I need to find out what's going on in the political races at the local and state levels. The last time I looked, the Anchorage and Fairbanks newspapers - along with that so-called "journalist" who was handcuffed by Joe Miller's security detail - were doing their level best to crucify him in the court of public opinion.

Somehow I doubt that much has changed in that regard. Nevertheless, I hope to be back on topic(s) by tomorrow.

One personal note: my older daughter is 21 today. That will be the occasion of much merriment tomorrow, as she's returning from L.A. tonight.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wayer Upper North Than Ever Before

Back from Fairbanks and North Pole. 800 miles, rain, torrential downpours, hail, thunder & lightning ... road construction, mud, dirt & gravel, frost heaves, mountains ... gold panning (and finding!) ... moose, caribou, river boats ...

Tired. Hundreds of pictures to sort through. Had a lot of fun. More later ... right now, when I close my eyes all I can see is more highway.