It was another rainy day in Alaska as we drove across what is called the Skyline Drive, seeing nothing but low hanging clouds. I was appreciative of the rain as the road construction was muddy and the rain washed it away leaving our units free of the mess. We continued south without as much as a dry spot all along the way. We passed "Skinny Dicks Halfway Inn" and continued south to Nenana.
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Halfway between Nenana and Fairbanks is the ultimate Alaskan roadhouse--Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn. Skinny is a legend! An Anchorage newspaper once carried the story of Skinny being pulled over by a State Trooper who suspected he was driving while intoxicated.
As you may recall from our last blog Nenana was the location that President Harding visited and drove the golden spike to signify completion of the Alaskan railroad.
The actual location where history took place is now closed to the public. Prior to 911 it was open but not any longer. Now the walkway across the railroad bridge is closed and restricted.
Just to the left of the Railroad Bridge above is where the golden spike was driven by President Harding. The north bank of the Nenana River in Nenana, Alaska July the 15th 1923.
The railroad still operates a passenger service from Fairbanks to Denali and return as well as from Anchorage to Denali. The Fairbanks to Denali route goes thru Nenana.
This railroad bridge is said to be the largest single span railroad bridge in the world. Built in the states when Alaska was not yet part of the USA and statehood. Shipped to the interior of Alaska and then transported by rail to it's final destination, where it now stands. The bride was an engineering marvel, build on rollers to allow it to move back and forth.
The old railroad station museum was closed for renovation when we were there. Looking much like it did in the 20's. There were plaques denoting events and times. It was due an update and in need of repairs.
We ventured into the Nenana Culture Center and gift shop. There we learned much about Nenana and it's history. I ran across some old posters of Dog Mushers, pictures and dates.
Notice the name on this next poster, Dick Mackey. He is the father of Lance Mackey. Lance holds the record for the most consecutive wins of the Iditarod.
I was intrigued by the many early pictures of the native residents of Nenana. You can see the influence made by the white men in the early days of involvement by the US.
During the early days of discovery the natives moved about and lived in tents or makeshift housing. Once the white man came they discovered log cabins and banded together like the whites to form villages, settlements, towns and groups living together for convinces and the benefit of supply and resupply.
The introduction of the railroad and airplanes did much to help supply and settle the vast regions that were unreachable except by overland trails and dog sleds.
The Nenana River was a great location for the native tribes to gather and hunt moose and fish for salmon. The entire family would move and relocate for the duration of time spent in this area. During the summer the river was filled with birch bark canoes. Today the Nenana city is filled with full time residents year round.
A little known event that is big here in Alaska is the Ice Classic. It started in Nenana and is still carried on today. For a $2.00 price per ticket you can guess the actual day, hour, minute and second the ice breaks up and starts flowing down the Nenana River. It's a big event all over the state. A watchman's tower and clock was built to control the event and take notice of the actual time of break up. Right down to the very second. I'm buying my tickets now for the 2015 break up.
A little hint to you. Notice the tickets are sold until April the 5th. Break up occurs during May :) Just in case you wanted to take a two dollar chance.
Leaving Nenana we ventured on down the road to Tatlanika. Located at mile post 278, this would be our stay for the next six days waiting out the rains. Like all small community's the campground had a grassy runway and a small single engine plane. There were 10 acres to walk about and a small general store/trading post.
We enjoyed the best steaks in Alaska at the Clear Sky Lodge, located 4 miles north of the campground in Anderson AK. The home of "Just One More I Swear Saloon." Those were some great tasting steaks. The price was reasonable as well. As we were leaving I noticed this cool beer poster on the wall. It was advertising the 2014 Iditarod. I asked if they had any that I could have for a souvenir. The waitress/bartender took it down, handed it to me with a smile and a thank you for our visit. The people we have meet here have been some of the best, friendliest and doing whatever it takes to give us a pleasant experience and enjoyable stay. Outside Kathie pointed out the many useful items used as flower pots. Nothing goes to waste here, everything has many different useful applications. Rednecks take notice, haha.
After almost a week we packed up and headed south towards Denali. We had been waiting for the rains to pass, hoping to spend a few days exploring Mt McKinley. Again the clouds were low and it was also raining at Denali. Mt. McKinley is over 20,000 feet in elevation and has it's own weather system. It will rain or snow there when it's sun shinning everywhere else. We decided the only option for us was to bypass it for now and return later in August. Perhaps that would prove to be a better time for us. As it turns out our decision was right. The Denali road inside the park flooded the next day stranding and trapping many visitors. This would be the second time we avoided flood waters by leaving ahead of the pouring rains.
Once we got to Denali the cloud cover was between 800 to 4,000 feet actual ground level. No way we would see the 20,338 ft. Mt McKinley. We did manage to get some great photo's of the mountains that we could see and the cloud cover surrounding them.
We drove to Trapper Creek, mile post 114 on the Parks Highway. Again we are in the mist of heavy rains. It has been a solid down pour for the last three days. We are hopeful that Saturday will bring sunshine and we can continue our travel towards our next long stop over in Anchorage. Plans are to stay in Anchorage for two weeks before moving on to Homer and the southern shore line.
The last contest was won by Heather Blauvelt. As you may recall Heather has won two out of three. I shouldn't need to say this but I will. The contest is open to anyone who has a viable e-mail address, regardless of age. It is open to friends, family and anyone who wants to take part. The rules are simple and the contest fair with no one having prior knowledge of the contest subject or the answerer. With that being said, Heather is Kathie's daughter. She had no unfair advantage. She determined the mistake by rereading the time line in the previous Blog "Gnome to Alaska (Part 5)." The mistake was at the first campground in Canada (Old Man River Bridge). I reported we left after two days, arrived on Sunday and departed on Wednesday. Wednesday was the mistake, we left on Tuesday and not as reported on Wednesday.
I'm not sure if there will be anymore contests, not sure if it's something that you as a reader is interested in! Perhaps the blog is just too long, less narration and more pictures is what you'd like?
If anyone is receiving the Blog and would prefer not to. Please let me know so that I may remove your name and e-mail from the bulk mailing list. I don't wish to offend anyone and your asking for removal won't offend me :)
Heather your check as the Blog Prize winner goes out with Saturday's mail. Thank you for taking part, and thanks to the others who also took part.
Hugs from Dutch and Kathie, somewhere in Alaska and loving it.
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