Alaska & the Yukon

A quick morning walk around a few streets close to our hotel. Fairbanks is a military, tourism and oil town so there are lots of services and facilities here.

One of the main streets here in town is Lacey Street which crosses the Chena River which flows through town. There are few historical buildings left from the early days of this town established in 1902 because of fire that burnt most of the town down.

A short walk leads us to the Visitor Centre where the Yukon Quest starts and finishes each year. It's a 1,000 mile dog sled race.

There are lots of beautiful flowers and gardens surrounding the buildings and colourful hanging baskets. We even find some of the fattest rhubarb we have ever seen growing in the streets. The river walk along the banks of the Chena highlights the colourful and varied history of this town - the Gold which established the city here; WW2 and the Military which have a continuing presence in the army warning system; and the oil pipeline.

We notice that all the cars have small power leads protruding from their front grills. They must be plugged in during winter to stop the engines from freezing.Read more