Alaska day 4

Today I took a super long full day tour to the Arctic Circle with 1st Alaska Outdoor School . . . picked up at 6:30am and dropped back off at 9:00pm!  Our tour focused a lot on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.  We made a quick stop outside of Fairbanks at a lookout area.  You can see the map of Alaska and to the right is the pipeline that runs from north to south; pretty amazing considering the elements and temperatures of the state!

It is elevated pretty high off the ground and much larger than I imagined; should have taken a photo standing under I guess!  Also thought it was fascinating that it was built zig-zag to withstand earthquakes and allow movement . . . what an amazing engineering design!

As we were standing there the Alaska Highway Patrol (think TV Show) caught someone speeding; they were not filming for the show but man those dudes are fast!  We (guide, myself, and 3 other couples) jumped back into the van and headed to breakfast.  A little annoying to me since I ate at the hotel but another couple had not so we wasted waited for them to enjoy their sourdough pancakes!  Of course I quickly pegged that couple who would annoy me all day long.  The husband wasn't so bad but the wife always had to insert her two cents and be heard!  I got lucky and sat next to a couple from Canada and she was a delight!  I tried to always sit next to her and chat about her travels; they were in their 60s and on a 2 month road trip!  We again loaded back up and saw miles and miles of this as we drove the Dalton Highway . . .

. . . again the pipeline follows the road and is usually visible at all points.  We made a stop at an outhouse along the way.  I was thinking no thanks but honestly it was the best outhouse I have ever used; no stinky smells which shocked me since it was along the side of the road and knowing what probably uses them!  The only bad thing were all the mosquitoes . . . wow what a mess!  Back on the long endless road . . .

We crossed the Yukon River . . .

. . . the bridge is built on a 5 degree incline which you don't notice until standing back looking at it . . . oh and it is wooden which really surprised me too.

At this point that lady was complaining about the dirty windows and how she could not take photos out of the dirty windows . . .

. . . I just rolled my eyes and continued to enjoy my shot gun seat!  I think it was her way of asking to switch with me; that wasn't going to happen!  We made stops along the way looking for wildlife and did see some caribou in the far off distance and a huge dead moose on the road too . . . and then we arrived at our destination!  

As soon as we opened the door we were attacked by mosquitoes.  I know mosquitoes and deal with them all the time here in Texas but these things were down right awful!  It was crazy but what are you going to do? Now I would have thought the Arctic Circle ran in the same direction of the sign but nope it runs perpendicular . . . who knows exactly where because there was no exact mark on the ground so I'm saying it runs exactly where the A in Arctic is on the sign!  This map and the star was fascinating to me . . .

. . . don't really ever look at a map this way but due North is one of my favorite parts of Europe!  So close but so very far away too.  We loaded back up to the return trip but before we left that lady in the back wanted me to take a photo of a sign as we drove off.  I rolled down the window and the husband made a smart ass comment about how smart I was for doing that because I just let a bunch of mosquitoes inside!  I was super annoyed especially since it was for his wife.  I then found evil joy for letting another mosquito enter our van every time I opened the door!  LOL, what a jerk!  I even received a certificate commemorating my journey . . .

. . . and it took us forever to get there which meant it would take us just as long to get back!  We stopped at the Yukon River Camp for dinner that we had pre-ordered after we crossed the Yukon earlier in the day.  It wasn't bad and was really all there was to offer in the middle of no where!  One thing that totally annoys me about organized tours is they stop at pre-determined places to shop.  I did not go on a tour to the Arctic Circle to shop at some silly tourist trap but of course that couple did.  Oh well at least I got to see what I wanted and really did enjoy the super long day!  One last fact that I found interesting and should have known but guess I never really thought about it . . . 95% of Alaska is federally owned, 4% state owned, and 1% owned by individual.