Fairbanks

From Denali we drove a little over two hours to Fairbanks. We went to a BBQ place, and then walked to a ice sculpture museum that was positively a tourist trap, but Oliver had a blast sliding down the ice slide. After we walked around Fairbanks a little, we drove to our Airbnb, which was a two-bedroom guesthouse. Nadia slept on the couch in the living room. Similar to the cabin near Denali, the last road was unpaved with a lot of potholes; however, we were able to take a shower here. We purposefully didn't stay in downtown Fairbanks because we wanted to have a chance to see the northern lights. Using Aurora apps and checking a couple of websites, I had seen that prior to us coming up here, there had only been low activity (1-2 out of 9). I had been praying for weeks that God would enable us to be able to see the aurora while we were in Fairbanks. This was the primary reason we ventured this far north in Alaska and why I scheduled the vacation for the end of August. I was thrilled to discover through the websites and apps that the two nights we were staying in Fairbanks were BOTH good nights in terms of above average activity (4-5 out of 9). Unfortunately, there were two factors that made it difficult to see the beautiful lights. First, it is only dark for four hours a day here. Secondly, it was very cloudy both nights. The first night every time Paul got up to check, he only saw clouds. During our reindeer walk yesterday, other guests were talking about trying to see the northern lights the previous night. One family said they had seen them, but another family visiting from China said they stayed up until 4:00 am and still never saw them. The second night my aurora apps were sending out alerts on a frequent basis, but for many of those hours it was still daylight. I usually go to bed at 9:30, but I stayed up until 11:00 in my attempt to see the lights. Thankfully, Paul got up and checked a few times including at 2:45 am at which time there was one spot in the sky where the clouds weren't blocking the northern lights. Praise the Lord!! If the sky had been clear, it would have been such an amazing evening to see them, but I am very thankful that for the first time in my life I've seen the northern lights! I know they have been visible farther south this year, but this was my first time to see them. Paul and I both stayed out and watched them for about 35 minutes. I had read up on how to take photos of them with a DSLR camera, but due to the limited nature of the display we saw, I just took two short videos and one picture with my phone. The lights we saw were mostly green. Paul got the kids up, but each of them only spent a few seconds on the deck outside and then promptly returned to bed. 

Yesterday morning our first stop was the Museum of the North, which is located on the campus of the University of Alaska. We watched two thirty-minute movies there. One was on the northern lights, and the other was about bowhead whales. We also explored the exhibits. We had lunch at The Crepery. The size of the line gave evidence to how popular the restaurant is! The crepes we chose were pepperoni and cheese (Ian), ham and cheese (Nadia), bacon, egg, and cheese (Paul), whipped cream with three types of berries (Oliver), and Creme Brulé with two types of berries (me). They were all delicious! Although eating PBJ again would have been more economical, I'm glad we splurged and took a break from that to enjoy a special lunch. Our third stop was Running Reindeer Ranch where we spent 2.5 hours learning about and interacting with reindeer, which are the herd animal version of caribou. She has fourteen reindeer in her herd, but we only saw nine of them as some were elsewhere as this is rutting season. The program concluded with homemade cookies and lemonade. It was a very enjoyable experience! Afterward we drove back downtown for pizza and a stop at Safeway. The cashier at the grocery store joked with us about how we were dressed considering it was in the low 60's and sunny outside. He said that Monday and Tuesday had been the nicest weather days so far in 2024 in Fairbanks. We have been very fortunate on this trip because for the two weeks before we came here it had been raining SO much in Seward, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. We are very grateful that the weather has been mild, and we haven't experienced too much rain. Oliver and Nadia appreciated that the tv in our Airbnb had Disney plus, and Nadia enjoyed putting together a 300-piece puzzle on Tuesday night. Over the past eight days we've driven about 800 miles altogether. This morning, we will do one final activity in Fairbanks and then begin driving back south toward Anchorage. 

P.S. I wrote this post on August 28 not September 3!