Alaska - Part Two

Ok. Part two of my Alaska trip.  My good friend from high school was getting married and I was in the wedding.  Although we hadn't seen each other for quite a few years, we still get along fabulously.

Here's the two of us:

At the reception they had a photo booth which was the coolest thing ever.

They also emailed her the photos afterward so here's a bigger version of one:

Hehehe.  The next day we toured around Fairbanks and just had a little bit of silly fun.  Here we are at the Pipeline.  Back in the day there was no fun sign.

Or tourist shop. What?

Here's a pig.  If any of you are interested in the pipeline's technology.  If not...moving on.

Then we went fishing.  If you are in Alaska you must go fishing.  I didn't catch anything but I still had fun.

The water was super cold.  To get to where we were going we had to wade a bit - I borrowed some waders for that.  But my friend's new husband carried her, isn't this adorable? I'm glad she's got a good guy.

We also had to avoid the gross dead salmon that had swum upriver to spawn and die.

We were a little worried about bears but since we didn't see tracks or any signs we figured we were ok.  That, and like any sensible Alaskans, they had a gun.

Later that day my friend's son played in the mud.  I love that she lets him be a kid.

The next day we went to Alaska Land - uh hum, I mean Pioneer Park.  They changed it years back, I think, because too many tourists thought there were amusement park rides. 

This face on one of the buildings just cracked me up:

We rode the Salmon at our own risk:

Saw a gorgeous flower with a huge bumble bee:

Ok. Let's have more flowers:

Alaska Land has a ton of historic homes from back in the day.  For instance this one which was Kitty Hensley's home:

Alaskans love to grow their own food.  Here's the plot here:

Even though it wasn't winter, I thought I'd give a try at dog sledding:

Just kidding!  I've only been on a dog sled once but I did get to see the start of an Iditarod race.

I also saw the Northern Lights:

Again, just kidding!  This was part of a display at the vistor's center in Fairbanks.  I've seen the Northern Lights a lot but the best time to see them is when it's dark and clear.  Yep, on a cold winter night.  Alaskans might have to suffer forty below temps but they are blessed with many views of the Northern Lights.

Here's a cabin in the vistor's center where you can pretend to have cabin fever and see those lights.

Let's head outside.  It's far too nice to be indoors.

Because of the many hours of sunlight plats get, they can get quite large.  Here's one such specimen:

Yep, I'm 5'8" and on my tip toes and can just reach it.  We were both trying to figure out what these flowers were, anyone guess? (Thanks Dawn M! She thinks they are painted daisies.)

I also snagged a photo of an Interior raven.  Raven's are big in Native Alaskan cultures.  They are also BIG during the winter when their feathers poof all out.

Anyway, we decided to go for a walk and on the way saw these...how fun!

If you notice in the background, Alaska has a lot of dead animal parts lying about everywhere.  Antlers, bones, stuffed animals...just letting you know.

I also learned something new.  Has anyone heard of this during WWII?

Here's the plaque:

Interesting, huh?  I love historical stuff.  Does anyone know of any books on this?

Moving on, we checked out this new bridge (well new to me).

There was even people kayaking down the Chena River:

When I was in high school, we had some friends who owned a boat and it was one of my favorite things to go boating on the river.

Fairbanks also has this iconic statue:

Fairbanks had changed a lot from when I lived there over eleven years ago.  Back then, there was no Walmart, Petco, Home Depot, and this was the vistor's center:

Yeah, it has a sod roof if you didn't notice.  Look at the one now:

Yeah.  Uh huh.  Moving on, in case you want a reminder of how far you are from everything, here you go:

Here's downtown Fairbanks:

And:

Last but not least, I'll leave you with a beautiful flower (is this a mum?): (Thanks Michele at Reader's Respite for letting me know it's a dahlia.  She's from Alaska herself, yay!)

Come back soon for more Alaskan photos!