Day 100: University of Alaska Fairbanks

July 23, 2014

Today it started raining about 4:00 am, but quit by 7:00. It has been cloudy all day without even a hint of sun, but no more rain. High today of 65. Last night only went down into the lower 50's.

Well, today is day 100 since we moved into Fred and started our journey! There were those that didn't know if we would make it in a motor home for that long. Well, we have and it has be so much fun. Yes, it is much smaller than most of your homes, but it's sort of nice – takes a lot less time to clean and then we get to go out and play. And there is no grass to cut or weeds to pull! We really appreciate those of you that have been following along. It's so good to hear from you because we really miss everyone! It has been super fun to meet so many new people as well. Hopefully, we will be able to stay in contact with many of you going forward.

This morning after breakfast and working on our upcoming travel plans, we headed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to meet with Rachel Seale, an archivist at the Elmer E.Rasmusm Library at the University. What a treat it was to meet with her. Kim from Denali National Park had forwarded her some of the digital pictures from Aunt Jean's photo album and she was anxious to see the actual album. She had already identified some of the locations of the pictures and was able to give us some information. We will talk with Aunt Jean when we get home and share all the information we have gathered so she can decide what will ultimately happen with the album. It really is a part of the history of this area. Rachael also told us about the Alaska Digital Archives and suggested it might be a good place find more images and information about Alaska during the time Aunt Jean was here.

We then went over to the Museum of the North also at UA Fairbanks and met with Angela Linn, the Senior Collection Manager, concerning the album. Kim had also emailed Angela the digital scans and she too was anxious to see the album. Again, she was very helpful in looking at the album and giving us additional information about the album and what would happen to it if it were donated to the museum or the library. She also gave us a quick tour of the area in the museum that highlights the construction of the Alaska Highway. There was even a portion of the exhibit showing the few women that worked on it. We will see if Aunt Jean met any of them. We also toured the rest of the museum. It is very nicely done with many art works and artifacts of the region.

The Museum Greeter

 

In case you were wondering, Debra.

It was such fun to meet with these two ladies today. Based on information in the album and the additional information from them we were able to go to various places in Fairbanks after lunch and take pictures of those locations today. That little search was really not as difficult as we anticipated and a blast to be able to complete.

"Fred" was Fred Parker, described by one person we met as "the self proclaimed first mayor of Fairbanks."

Today, this is the Alaska House Art Gallery

Today it's City Hall

Now an office building

Now belongs to a communications company

Sign out front of the building

After the tour of Fairbanks taking pictures, we went to Fred Meyer to resupply, stocking up for the upcoming trek across Canada. Nothing against Canada, but we really didn't find a grocery store there that we really liked. Maybe we need to spend some time with some locals to find out where they shop. We are looking forward to having Tim Horton's again.

Tomorrow we move to Chena Lake Recreational Area which is just a few miles from here and we are hoping for some nice weather for bike riding, hiking, and putting the boat in the water.