Hotel Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge

... Jane will not let Jim publicize the score.  Let us just say that she has a large debt to pay.<br><br>Tomorrow we drive south on the Parks Highway to Denali National Park and Preserve.  It struck us this afternoon that we are finally turning south.  Up until today we have driven north and west.  Anaktuvuk Pass and Fairbanks are the farthest north that we will go.  From this point on, we head south and east.  We have plenty of adventure left to go, so we are not yet thinking about getting home.

... our 5 day detour, we resumed our northward journey toward Delta Junction and Fairbanks. Delta Junction is the end of the original 1942 Alaska highway, although nowadays it continues on to Fairbanks. We grabbed a bite to eat at a local diner and I checked in with work. After only being back in America for a couple hours, its funny the small things you notice. A sign on the wall stating "Prayer may not be allowed in schools, but it is welcome at our tables" made me ...

... 3's Skype phone also packs a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, an expandable micro SD card slot (up to 1GB) and weighs a pocket-friendly 85g. The star feature however, has to be the ability to make cheap Skype calls. You can call friends or relatives anywhere in the world via Skype and not spend a penny, or have to be tied up to a laptop or PC -- we like." We'll see how it pans out. Going to Europe without my laptop has ...

... and I freaked out thinking that all of the trains for the days I wanted were sold out. "Impossible!" my travel savvy friends declared. Some googling revealed that seats are not available for sale more than 60 days in advance. I waited until 60 days in advance, hitting the reload button until it struck 12:01 am in Italy. I found my trains, one of which was available with an Amica fare (20% off for booking early), put them all in my ...

... for thought the rental guy said "Well, there's the military base that you will paddle though". This did not bode well and unfortunately he was spot on. As military bases go I'm sure that the one in Fairbanks is very scenic but from the river there was bugger all to see. Also, it seems that the way to dispose of old cars in Alaska is to crush them and then stick them in the river bank - no wonder wildlife seemed scarce. After a 5 hour paddle/drift and numerous games of "I'm thinking of ...

... located deeper into the park or with wilderness camping permits. A third option is to take a glorified school bus for which a ticket must be obtained in advance to any point along the way. The gravel road ends at Kantishna, mile 89. As I said, my aim was to see Mt. McKinley and Polychrome Pass. I did this in three stages. Stage One I arrived late Sept. 11 (Monday) evening. My first priority was to buy a bus tickets for the next day to get deeper into the park ...

... like watching oil and water mix and mingle, a lesson in turbulence. It finally dissipates.<br><br> <br><br>The bar&#8217;s doing good biz at midnight, too, from a combination of pipeline people and summer-school students. A pipeline foreman tells me he&#8217;s having trouble finding workers. The money&#8217;s good. There&#8217;s only one problem- they have to pass a **** test. Another stranger buys ...

... a few drinks in Fairbanks at a local bar which was doing pints of mystery beer for a dollar! When in Rome... ... got back to the hostel at 1:30 in the morning, still in bright daylight - really weird, but it is the longest day of the year today. We are the most north that we will be going on this trip, just 100 miles short of the Artic circle. It would be good to go up there but we ...