Chaos Leaves Town

At the RV park where I was volunteering, the office manager and I discussed the possibility of me staying here in Fairbanks through the winter. There are several reasons I’d like to do that. The first is that I’ve always wanted to test myself in very cold weather…I have an internal furnace that really is spectacular…and over the years, I’ve applied to work at McMurdo Station in Antarctic many times. I’ve not gotten hired yet and the last time I applied was just last year. I’m very interested in doing something like that. I’m hopeful for my chances if I show up in person at their main office. Just sending in applications hasn’t done anything except get me a couple nibbles by HR. Fairbanks is my next choice as a cold place to live and work. It has a reputation as being one of the coldest cities on earth…getting down to -70 F in mid winter and staying at -20 F during the day for weeks at a time. Another reason I’d like to stay is I like the people here a lot, I like the community, and if I find a income property to buy here, I just might stay for years. Then there is the Ice Sculpture contest that will be running from Feb. 26th thru March 23rd. Art is cool, and this art will be downright cold…can’t wait to see the ice sculptures in person. Last year they ran over 45,000 visitors through the park to see nearly 40 sculptures, and those don’t count the kids park sculptures. And I’ll be putting pictures here of the whole thing since I’ll be volunteering to help out with the Web camera system. Meanwhile, you can check out last winters sculptures at Ice Alaska

Anyway, she (the office manager at the RV campground where I’m volunteering – her name is pronounced ‘Wa’) and her husband had bought a cabin about 2 miles from the RV park as a rental and she offered it to me to stay in over the winter. I’d given up on my plan of living in my RV as not workable, so the cabin was a good offer. I’ll have to pay rent but anywhere I’d be staying would cost something. During the summer I helped get it fixed up, I changed some bad plumbing and replaced the hot water tank. No more leaks.

So last Friday (Oct. 5th) I moved over here to the cabin. I drove my RV and one of the guys helping at the RV park followed in my car. As I was backing into a spot next to the cabin, I see I’m leaving a trail on the road. Jump out and inspect and find that I have a fuel leak from the engine. Now I have a new problem with the rig. Damn. This thing has cost me $10,000 in repairs in just 3 years. When is it going to end? When I sell it? Probably.

On Saturday morning, I wake up to find 2″ of snow on the ground. I timed that just right, I didn’t have to drive the RV in fresh snow. Now it’s the next Tuesday and I’m pretty well moved in, and the snow is still on the ground, with no signs it will be melting, until next spring.

I built a stand for the TV I bought at the local thrift store and made cushions for a hide-a-bed and sectional sofa I’d found at the dump, both in excellent condition, except they didn’t have cushions. Wa and I had spent a lot of time making the cushions with material I’d found on 1/2 price sale. It was worth the $60 for the material because the hide-a-bed was in such good shape. I’ll be sleeping on it and I appreciate the fact that the mattress looks brand new, as though never used.

We dump our own trash from the RV park at the public dumps and since we were there so often, we’d get a good chance at the usable items dropped off by the public. If you’re lucky enough to be there when it happens, you can get some good stuff. So far, I’ve gotten a nice stuffed chair, a computer table, 10 computers I’m fixing up to sell, the hide-a-bed and the sectional couch, and a few small items like pots-&-pans.

Here’s a look at the cabin before it snowed:

And a shot of the new to me car I bought…it’s a Subaru with 207,000 miles on it. Runs great, has all wheel drive, all power accessories, sun roof, etc., hopefully, it will give me good service into next year:

A look at my ‘rescued’ hide-a-bed, these things are $900 new and I needed something exactly like this in this 3 room cabin so I feel lucky to have found it at the dump in such good condition, it’s clean and the bed is in excellent condition…doesn’t seem like it was ever used:

Here’s the sectional piece:

And here’s what it looks like now that I’ve replaced the missing cushions. There weren’t any back cushions either but I was lucky enough to find three clean & large pillows at the dump that work fine, and one of the RV parks renters gave me her blanket when she found an apartment:

Here’s a few shots of inside the cabin after I’ve gotten a lot of stuff moved in-my computer station and the TV stand I built out of scrap lumber:

The cushy chair that was given to me:

The kitchen:

The only closet in the cabin:

Then the only corner in the cabin where I could fit a chest of drawers, it’s a little bigger then I need (there are two empty drawers), and it’s a loaner so if I find a smaller set, out it goes…:

And the bathroom, there’s the water tank, that seafoam colored thing, though you can’t see it here the pump is next to it on the left, and the hot water tank is on top of it:

A look out the front door, snows going to stay:

And a look at the neighborhood:

More of the kitchen, see the water jugs? This cabin doesn’t have city water, just the water tank and a pump setup in the bathroom, the tank holds about 200 gallons I think. You can pay a service to bring you out a couple hundred gallons of water, or you use a friends water tank, you see them all over Fairbanks in the beds of pickup trucks. Buy the water at a local supplier and pump it into your tank at home before it freezes:

And a shot looking at how everything will be for the next 6 months, except the snow will get deeper:

I’ve been living here a few days now and the neighborhood is nice and quiet, no barking dogs, no kids, no teenagers, or people speeding down the roadways nearby making a racket. Only complaint, and it’s a minor one, is the business right behind the cabin leaves a large parking lot light on all night, and it casts it’s light into my windows. I’ll need to get a bigger curtain to block it.

My brother came up here to Fairbanks to visit after he spent a week hanging around the southern part of Alaska. He hiked the Chilkoot pass, visited Juneau and other towns nearby and then flew up here. There are tons of things to do around here…it’s a tourist mecca. The first day we rode the bikes into town and visited the Visitors Center trying to get a handle on what we should visit by perusing the brochures. Outside of the center was a giant statue of the ‘First Settlers’ so we had a passerby take our picture. We also rented a pedicab ride around town visiting some of the earliest buildings around downtown. It was great fun, especially since someone else was doing all the work peddling us around.

Just a shot of Dan next to the RV before we left:

Then a shot of us at the statue, this thing has a history, seems back in ’67 there were all sorts of big shots here, including the president, celebrating Alaska’s statehood. This statue was part of all that. And then the whole town flooded after days of heavy rains:

A shot of the Chena river, very picturesque:

Here we are on the cab:

Pretty girl with friendly guy, note she is wearing a sweater in the middle of August:

You can’t really see it but every car has an electrical cord hanging out of the front that caught Dan’s attention, they power the oil pan heaters, battery blankets, etc. so the rigs will start during cold weather:

One of the older pioneer cabins still in the downtown area:

And a bunch of other pioneer cabins scattered all around Fairbanks:

This one is unique in that it’s not only a pioneer cabin but it’s also the only place where there is still a section of the boardwalk that use to be all over town before the roads were paved:

Some of the millions of flowers that are all over town:

Dan enjoying the weather:

This church use to be on the south side of the river but the town had changed enough by that time that most of the people were living on the north side (they have since shifted back to the south side). Not wanting to pay the fortune the moving company was asking ($3,000), they waited for winter and had a bunch of volunteers push the building over to where it is now using skids and skis:

Flowers at the church:

And the little park there:

Another of the things we decided to do was to take a van up to the arctic circle. Just to say that we’ve been there. Although my goal has been to visit and work at the Antarctic Circle for 25 years or so, it looks like I’ll have to settle for just visiting the Arctic Circle. I have friends up in Barrow Alaska now so maybe I’ll get up there someday but I doubt it, except maybe to visit but not to live and work.

Anyway, we hired this tour guide to take us up there. He has a large multi-seat van and since it was only four of us with the guide, I had a full bench seat to myself. First stop was just 9 miles out of Fairbanks where we stopped at an Alaskan Pipeline viewing area, like a rest stop but with a giant pipe overhead.

One evening, I was sitting on my couch and I glanced out the window to see a moose, eye level with me. She was interested in the good munchies near my RV I guess. She stayed around long enough for me to quietly get a few pictures but then a women up the street screamed when she saw the moose so it trotted off. Note that we are only 2 & 1/2 miles from city center here:

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I was told that this one was the mom and her baby was nearby. Also that it is very dangerous to get between the mom and baby.

I’m staying at Ice Alaska RV Park & Campground here in Fairbanks and it is one of my favorite campgrounds. It’s not all that beautiful, but I like the fact that it’s centrally located within biking distance of Pioneer Park, downtown, several places to eat, a couple nice bars, etc. There’s plenty for me to do since I’m the ‘office staff’ now. I check people into the park and once in a while have to get tough with people to get them to pay up or to keep quiet. Lots of fun. Anyway, I thought you might like to see what the park looks like, so here are a few pictures.

This first shot is my rig up against a felt backdrop that is used to provide a dark background for the ice sculptures that will be here in March:

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Here’s the view looking west, it’s near sunset but it hardly gets dark this time of year (taken in middle of July):

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There’s the office. I get my WiFi from over there and it’s kind of weak but usually good enough, I’m also able to use the office computer most of every day:

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Here’s the view looking east, note that the park is so big, I hardly have any neighbors this direction:

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This is a picture of Hoa (pronounced Wa), she’s the office manager and runs the park. We hit it off right away and I’ve been working in the office since the 2nd week I was here. It’s her helpful friendly personality that convinced me to spend the winter here in Fairbanks, oh, and the offer of some spending money and a nearly free place to stay. She has a thick accent (she’s Vietnamese), but we manage to communicate. The guy is named Don, he is a volunteer and on the board of directors. He’s helping Hoa make a vinyl sign for the park:

I was able to do a tour of the local Pioneer Park and then visit downtown, so the following pictures are from my two visits to the park and during my bike ride into town. I found the bike path along the river to be interesting too. And the town itself is small enough that you can easily tour downtown in an hour. The population of the town is 32,000 and the surrounding area has a population of 56,000, which accounts for the WalMart, Sam’s Club, Fred Meyer stores (2!), etc. And they also get up to 425,000 summer visitors. It’s an interesting place with lots of things to do. When my brother gets here next week, we’ll be taking a van ride up to the arctic circle just to say we’ve been there. It’s $90 (but I’m free since I work here at the park and it’s complimentary), takes all day and late into the night and has plenty to see and do along the way. We could also take a bush plane up to the circle and then a van back but that starts at $285 so we’ll probably just take the van.

Then there are hot springs all around the area, river rafting or canoeing, animal watching, etc., etc. I’ve been to lot’s of places in the last three years but I’ve got to say that this place really is a tourists mecca, but it doesn’t seem crowded at all. And I’ve met people from all over the world here so I guess the word is out.

I’m planning on staying here for the entire winter and expect to take thousands of beautiful pictures of snow and winter fun and ice sculptures as they are created here in the park in February and March. I’ve reached an agreement with the staff and they are happy to put me up for the 8 months I’ll be here. And pay me a salary. The park itself closes on Sept. 15th, and doesn’t get busy again until November so that gives me lots of time to roam around and look at the sites…albeit with poor weather, but, so what.

Then in February, it’s gets real busy and thick with artists from all over the world. And on Feb. 26th, the kids park opens with lots of kid sized sculptures just for them. Designed to be climbed on and played in for hours. I’ll be taking pictures of all these things for you guys when it happens. Then the single block ice art for the grown ups is finished by Feb. 29th. And the double block follows shortly. The major sculptures are finished on March 9th.

Meanwhile, I’ve just arrived in Fairbanks (in Blog time), got settled into a RV park within 250 yards of Pioneer park, and the next morning I jumped on my bike and rode over there. Here are a few pictures:

These buildings are all original as far as I know. They were built during and shortly after the gold rush so the flavor is 1880’s and into the 1920’s. Nearly all of them were moved here in the ’70s and ’80s when this land was donated by the strip mining company that owned the land.

Here’s one of many log cabins built by original pioneers:

This paddlewheel plied the river for many decades, bringing many gold hunters up river:

It’s drydocked for the rest of it’s life, you can tour the thing if you want:

This train car was used by one of our presidents back in the 1800’s to come up and visit (or something like that):

Another shot of the paddlewheel:

There’s the train that runs around the park…it’s touted as being the most northerly steam engine still in operation:

One pioneers cabin, built very early during the gold rush:

Here’s where they stored their food to keep it away from vermin and beasts:

Then this is the home of a local lawyer, the kitchen reminded me of when I was a kid, the winter we spent in a log cabin in the mountains of Montana. Lot’s of fun for us, not so much for our folks:

These following pictures are all of that same house, it’s a museum now, but real people lived and died here, the addition was added after the lawyer that owned it married. I think he became a judge or something:

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The park has tons of flowers. The people that live here are so sick of winter when spring arrives that they go nuts and put flowers everywhere:





Some of restored equipment that was used way back when:

One of the few two story buildings, this one was a bath house. The original floors and staircase are still used:

A shot of some more flowers just outside the museum:

And in the museum, an old vehicle used in parades for decades: