Along THE Highway Wild and Wildlife

Our trip from Haines Junction, Yukon to Fairbanks was a beautiful cold weather drive. The scenery speaks for itself.

The famous Alaska Pipeline crossing the Tanana River

 Glacial Rivers are broad and rocky

Wildlife  

Caribou for our view

Look hard on the center left. The MOOSE did not want her picture taken!


Two very welcome rest stops that WERE open..

NEXT: Fairbanks peculiarities

Up TO the Highway as they say here

 Haines Alaska

The Canadian border guards checking out Pete's guns

Our trip from Haines to Fairbanks was harrowing at best. The first part of the trip was sheer ice. It had snowed then rained on the way up the mountain to Canadian customs. I think it was the worst drive we have ever had. I knew we were in trouble when we saw Semis stopping and putting chains on the area where we had just tried to drive.

Once we got to Canada the roads had at least been sanded

Haines Junction, Yukon Territory was a joy to see.

We will now be on THE ALCAN Highway after joining it in Haines Junction.Tomorrow, hopefully  Tok, Alaska!

Ketchikan and the Saxman Totem Park

One of the things that Rita wanted to see was Saxman Totem Park.  The Ferry arrived in Ketchikan early morning. We took a taxi to the Native village of Saxman, which we were told was 2 miles.  The native Tlingit of SouthEast Alaska had a very developed culture. Since there was a lot of fish, animals, berries, and mild climate, they did not have to spend most of their time surviving as in more Northern and Interior Alaska.


We enjoyed the beautiful Totems.  Some were brought from villages from long ago, and some are recent carvings.

 Ketchikan is only accessible by water and air, although it is not an island. The airport is on an island in the strait and one needs to take a Ferry to get there. You can see the strait from this photo at the Totem Park.

Totems are hallowed out and today they are secured on posts as you can see above.
It was hard to believe that Abe Lincoln was featured in an Alaskan Totem!

 Totems include eagles, frogs, fish and other important animals... note Rita

After the Totem Park we walked back to town which we thought was a mile...  we met a bicyclist along the road on an early Sunday morning and he said that it was 2 miles, but there WAS a coffee shop in town. It turns out that it was 2.5 miles... a long walk and the New York Coffee shop was wonderful.
We then took a bus back to the ferry, as it was after 9:30 am and the buses were running.

Ferry from Bellingham to Haines

Our Ferry trip was delightful. The scenery is awesome as Kevin Murphy would say! We met several delightful people which is one of the benefits of riding the ferry. We had a 4 person cabin which meant that we could turn around and we even had a window.
Below is a description of the different people that we met...as well as a few photos of the scenery.

The Manatuska in Bellingham

 What can I say!

People:  Brian, Dorothy and Cathy…on their way to Fairbanks to serve at Camp Richardson. Daughter is 9 years old. They have lived many places: Pennsylvania,  North Carolina and Oklahoma and chose Alaska over Hawaii. He will be going to Afghanistan in May. She is an LPN.  They met several other people who were going up to Fairbanks with the military and convoyed with them up there.

Daryl… from Ketchikan  He is 70, bearded, worked as a plumber and pipe fitter for 40 years in Alaska, from the Islands to the North Slope as well as in Texas and California.  Loves to hunt birds and goes to Nevada and Oregon each year to hunt from Oct-Jan.  He has a small business as a gunsmith.

The lights of Ketchikan

 At the dock

Workers:    Bruce… does everything.  Lives in Ketchikan  has daughter and son.  He tended bar, mopped floors, worked the register at the cafeteria, etc.  He works on several different boats.You work 7 -12 hour days and then are off for 7 days, usually. Pay is good as they are unionized.

Jo: Bar tender.  Is  80 years old.  Just rebid the job after quitting earlier. Used to work in Skagway as a bartender and raised her children there. She is into cell phones, I Pads, Facebook et al!  DO NOT bring in an open container into the BAR!!! (Sometimes it could be a closed container… unless she liked you, and then she would put the container behind the bar while you were there)

Professor and his wife from Fairbanks: He is a retired professor from University of Alaska, Fairbanks in Industrial Engineering. His wife teaches music.. French horn.   She taught in native villages for several years and found it very rewarding. They are both musicians. He is a violinist and she is a French horn player. They just spent several months in the lower 48. They have a truck and sometimes sleep in the truck when on the road.  They will be having a concert with the Fairbanks Chamber group in late February.  She previously played for the National Ballet.

 This gull followed us for miles and miles

Jackie.. Museum curator or such. Quite young.  Has lived in Alaska before and is going to Sitka to work in the museum downtown. Was in Boston and drove across country with a co worker via the Grand Canyon.  He may stay in Sitka with her.  She has a dog who travels with her always. She is a vegetarian. As long as she can run, has her dog, can cook, has a job she likes and read life is good. She had been in a 5 year relationship and was engaged. Her new job is with the Sitka historical society

 We saw some whales off afar but not photos!

Frankie Lane… Woman with girls on Basketball team coming from Prince Wales Island to Haines. She has lived in Haines most of her life except for a  6 year stint in Tucson.  She has 6 children, two grown, one grandchild.  She and her husband have 5 jobs to make a living. They have a fishing permit and fish commercially for halibut.  He is a pastor also, she is an interior decorator, works at a store, helps out at the school….

Karen from Prince Wales Island: She is originally from Washington State. She graduated from there in the 80s and went in the Peace Corps in South America. After that she did not like large population centers.  In 1985 she took the ferry all alone up to Ketchikan in the winter and found a job. She met her husband there and now lives on Prince Wales Island,  the third largest US Island (Honolulu and Kodiak)She recently got her Masters Degree and works  for the University of Alaska, SouthEast. Her husband works as a geologist or such.  She is on her way to Juneau to meet with legislators about renewable energy.  On their island there is 20 % unemployment. They do have several small sawmills. They want to create a pellet business to turn the bark and sawdust into pellets for stoves.  Alaska has a policy that whenever oil is over $8 a gallon?? for diesel some funds go into renewable energy projects. She is seeking funds for their project as a citizen. The Alaska legislators are very available to their constituents.

View from the top!

Guy from Kentucky and his wife… also going to Haines…on an adventure also. They do not have a  cabin on the Ferry. They are  sleeping in public areas, but sleep in different places so that one can be warm, the other cool.  He is a pilot and previously flew his plane up to Alaska. He said that you just bear 330 degrees and go where you desire.

Coming next: Photos of the largest totem park in the world in Ketchikan, AK!

Visit with Karl Fischbach and the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA

Pete cousin Larry's son, Karl and family live in Anacosta, Washington.  He invited us to tour the NAS Whidbey Island. We had a delightful tour, and according to Karl it was what he would give a 2 star General.

 Karl is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force with squadron that is stationed at a Navy Air Station.  The planes that he navigates are designed to seek out enemy fire.

 The best part of the tour was the trip up in the tower.  We could see forever. Pete even walked out on the outside walkway.

 This is the side of a helicopter.

 After the tour we were refreshed in the bar for the Squadron. Karl treated.

 Rita is enjoying the clock... it is 5 o'clock somewhere!

 We had a delightful evening with appetizer's of Karl's own smoked salmon in their beautiful home and then dinner with the family at one of Anacosta's fine restaurants.

Kieran, Rita, Pete, Karl, Cindy and Rory, all Fischbachs. The boys enjoyed knowing our name was Fischbach!

The journey to the Ferry

We had a great time traveling across Route I 80 mainly, via Fort Collins, Co.  In order to spend a night or two in Colorado, one of three states Rita had never slept in, we journeyed South to fort Collins.  They highlight there was the New Belgium Brewery which has an awesome tour, with samples at every stop.  Pete even went down the circular slide and consequently won the Fat Tire Beer for one of the best of the tour.


The Brewery was founded by a man who was riding his fat tired bike around Belgium in the 1980's. He returned to Colorado and began a brewery in his basement. They now have 40 employees.
Each employee receives a custom bicycle on his/her one hear anniversary.  We took many photos for our friend Marty Potts, an antique bicycle rider and owner.

We drove across the Wyoming mountains in ice and snow, but the road was open.  We stopped in Oregon to watch the Bear/Packer game and the right team won.  A couple of historical things that we enjoyed were The Snake River in Idaho Falls where Evel Knevil did his great motorcycle jump, the Oregon Trail historical interpretive site (where are senior parks card worked for free admission) and the Pendelton Woolen mills.
History in the making.

 The new Evel Kneivel

 Bike at Woody's bar.. Fat tire..

 Pete with his winning beer

The drive through the  Columbia River Gorge is beautiful. We had sunshine the entire route. The bike above spins around like a gyroscope!