The Great Escape - Day 29: Denali at last, and now at Fairbanks

We rode the bus out of the Denali Park Village shortly after 8AM for a three hour ride to Fairbanks, AK.

As we rode north towards Fairbanks, the driver spotted something he'd hoped for and at a known to him rest stop he pulled over to let us see Denali in the clear skies of today.

 Denali, from about 60 miles away

 Jane and Larry

 Jane, Larry and Martha

 Robert and Linda

Robert drove the bus and Linda did the tour director duties

 Gas station in Nenana where Valencia, my 2011 Ural Patrol

broke down and has to be rescued by Richard: LINK

 The skies overhead slowly became almost "cloudy"

obscuring the sun in a cool way....

 Another rest stop, perhaps 100 miles from Denali.

We arrived at Fairbanks shortly after 11AM and were dropped off in the downtown area to get lunch on our own. 

 Lunch at the Fudge Pot in downtown Fairbanks

Nearby, across the street from the place we got sandwiches from, was a multi-figure monument to the Atabascan people and several plates depicting historical events and the names of proud Alaskan families.

After lunch we took a horribly crowded paddle boat excursion to visit a Atabascan Village production on the Chena River.  No pics of the actual Atabascan material, the morons in the crowds angered me too much for me to enjoy the material.

My fault, I should have never stepped onboard such a crowded vessel.  The potential of encounter or being annoyed by morons becomes 100% at that point.

 Pre-sailing, empty, the paddle boat we took up river to see

the Atabascan Village

 Home and Kennel Training Center for Sled Dogs.

The Atabascan Village reproduction had a small group of domesticated Caribou which they'd trot out on command for the passengers of the paddle steamer to take pictures and such.

 Not quite wild Caribou

 A view of the stern portion of the Discovery III

The unpleasant experience of the crowded conditions on the paddleboat tour over with, we re-boarded our bus and headed over to to a section of the Alaska Oil Pipeline which is open to the public:

 Fellow bus riders at the oil pipe line

After pictures at the pipeline, we adjourned by bus to the hotel we're overnighting at near the Fairbanks Airport.  Pike on the Lake Lodge or something like that.  Had dinner, drinks and felt better after the paddle boat excursion crowd debacle.

I shall never allow myself to be in that kind of crowd again.

Here's a photo of a picture in the hotel lobby of Denali, I doubt it will happen, but someday I would like to see Denali from such a location.

Tomorrow:  We meet with the Machidas!