finally...we're home!

well, for jenny, i'll start this off with a shot of.....the food!! i was shocked at the quality, volume, and selection at all the places along the 497 miles of dalton highway. i guess the reason is that there are only 3 places. pretty much all the residents of the towns eat at the hotels, the residents total of all three locales is about 60 total. no shopping except general stores, no theaters, pretty much you have to have good food.



we saw so many things on the way. the scenery changed from scrappy trees to smaller trees and shrubs to ice and tundra.



brian made sure he looked extra fetching.




one of hte first stops was just 20 minutes past fairbanks at joy. it was the home of a very large family. i don't know much about it, but it's now mostly a pit stop.



it's really quite a ways from the arctic circle but the sign was cute.




the rest rooms were quite luxurious.




here's a ladies' room.



and so was everything else there. :)

below are some other images from the drive.



this is my favorite of when two arctic foxes came out to play. he was leaping!



the caribou were very casual about our presence.



this is a zoom in on a mother and baby moose.



the road was scenic.



there's not much snow, but occasionally we came upon an avalanche zone and weather station.



on the first day of the drive up we got to go over the yukon river.



the bridge is made of wood and it goes downhill 6% as you drive north.



we got out at the yukon to look around.



the ice was very glassy and broke in long skinny needles.



the river was thawed out on the west of the bridge with chunks of ice floating on it.



it was still frozen to the east.





later we crossed the real arctic circle.



the first night on the road we spent in coldfoot. it is a town that basically exists in order to service the dalton highway.



it gets cold.



it's pretty rustic.




the hotel is made from movable travel trailers built together. all the rooms have two twin beds. it was good sleeping.



the second day on the road was another long one. we got to stop at the last tree. note the duct tape. some idiot cut it down last year. it's dead now.



in prudhoe bay, there is pretty much just ice and tundra and gravel roads and equiptment.



once again, the hotels were luxurious.



it's a booming industrial town.



it's in the middle of nowhere.



this is where we ate.



this was our hotel.



look at the time!



it never gets dark this time of year. the sun set the day we were there at 1:30 am and rose at 2:08. we wanted to get up at 1:25 to watch the sun rise and then set but the alarm didn't work. fortunately, we were sharing a twin bed and i was excited so we woke up at 2 and went outside.

we had a great trip. we were 7 miles from the arctic ocean. we were planning to get to go see and touch it on a tour but due to a scheduling oversight we had to leave at 4 am and the tour wasn't until later in the morning. that was very disappointing, but it was ok. we'll just have to go back.

oh, i forgot to mention the pipeline. we followed the pipeline all the way from fairbanks to prudhoe bay. it's quite the feat.



it swerves around bends, above ground, under ground...



sometimes when it's under ground there are fins sticking out. they have something to do with temperature regulation.



it never seemed to end.



well, i'd better sign off and see if this thing even posts!