Fairbanks

When we can, we like to hub-and-spoke our explorations from a single base as it gives us a sense of being settled, if only for a short time.

The first and last time we were in Fairbanks was when we stayed here overnight on our 2001 Princess CruiseTour. On that occasion, we visited a Trans-Alaska Pipeline interpretive center; panned for gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine ... struck gold, but not enough to retire; and went on the Riverboat Discovery tour to see the Wedding of the Rivers ... amongst other things.

This time we plan to do other things from our base at Glass Park, one of the two RV campgrounds at Fort Wainwright, the Army Post here in Fairbanks. We chose this campground over the one at Eielson AFB because this one takes reservations.

Being a mere 21 miles from the city, we had a short drive from Olnes Pond. The drive would have been about that much had we not had to backtrack to another gate because the main gate on Gaffney Road was closed for construction. Thank goodness for GPS and Google.

Although check-in was not until 4:00p, we were allowed to go to our site on the Moose Loop early ... it was only 1:00p. Our site — #8 — is one of the few here that has water/electric ... no sewer at any of the sites, but there is a dump station at the ODR (Outdoor Rec Center).

The gravel site is quite spacious ... even with a cabin placed in the back, waiting to be permanently installed. Not sure if they are planning to make this campground cabins-only, or if they are simply adding the cabins as an alternative for those who want to stay here without an RV. The newbie at the check-in desk was clueless about what’s going on.

We’ve got considerable distance between us and the neighboring sites ... no one yet to our left where there is a lot of brush and trees to provide privacy. The site to our right is occupied ... totally visible to us, but no one is staying in the trailer from what we can tell. No SatTV since the sky to the south is blocked by trees, but plenty of channels with the off-air antenna. Cell signal is decent with T-Mobile/GCI.

All in all, this campground will make a good base to explore the city and some of the other nearby places.

My only complaint ... the laundry facility is at the ODR Building ... not close enough to walk there with a full load of laundry. But that’s a problem for tomorrow since Mui has taken the car to run errands and reprovision the larder. With a Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart, Commissary and Base Exchange all within close driving distance, he’s in heaven.

I was going to sit on the patio, but we’ve had a rain shower come through, so everything is wet. I’ll just wait until tomorrow to do so.Read more