Fairbanks

As we were here in 2005 with friends on a land tour following a cruise to Seward, we weren’t going to repeat some of the things we did then. We had done the Riverboat Cruise that went to a mock native village, and stopped at Susan Butcher’s place (she was alive at that time) to see her run her dogs. We also toured a gold dredge and panned for gold, then toured the Alaska Pipeline site.

This time we had more important places to go, like Santa’s House at the North Pole as we had letters to Santa from some special grandchildren which we needed to deliver. We also wanted to see the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska. We had seen clips about it on Alaska TV (on RFD TV carried by satellite and some cable systems) and in Alaska Magazine which we had subscribed to. Pioneer Park was on our list and of course Linda was checking to see what quilt shops she might find to tour (buy things).

Tuesday, July 17th

Today we went to North Pole, AK and visited with Santa at his house.

After giving Santa the kids’ letters, I gave him MY two cents worth. He told me to sit on his knee. I hope that wasn’t too painful for him.

I always wondered what his house looked like. Now I know. He keeps his reindeer out back. I never did see Rudolph though.

Wednesday July, 18th

This is the outside of the Museum of the North at the U of A, designed to remind one of a glacier. The museum is packed full of artifacts, plants, animals (not live!) and works of art. We watched two different 30 minute films, one on the aurora borealis and another on living in Alaska year-round which means 9 months of winter; the challenges and the benefits. We thought that this museum was about the best we’ve visited on the trip so far.

Pioneer Park was another stop today. We learned that a local Fairbanks Quilt Guild had a quilt show in progress in one of the buildings, so that was our first stop. Next we browsed through the Farthest North Air Museum which contained antique aircrafts and memorabilia of Alaska’s aviation heritage. Finally, we visited the Pioneer Museum which had information and artifacts from early Alaska pioneers.

One of a few quilts that caught my eye was this one of a wolf. Sorry, quilting friends, I forgot to record the names of the quilts.

I loved this appliquéd piece with flowers and hummingbirds. The best part about it is shown in the next picture......

We both thought the back was just as beautiful as the front! Lots of “thread play” went into this one!

Last, but not least, my favorite quilt shop of the trip so far. Not only did I spend over an hour, but I spent some bucks too!!! I’ll have to lock myself into my sewing room for a year at least when we return home.

Temperatures have ranged from lows in the upper 40s to low 50s and the highs have been in the upper 50s to mid 60s, all in all fairly pleasant. The weather has changed to light rain on and off. Looks like more on than off tonight and tomorrow. As a result we haven’t made plans for tomorrow yet.