Tom and Carole flew into Fairbanks which is 450 miles from Cooper’s Landing.  Since roads are unpredictable, we left Monday to make the trek north in our Jeep to be sure we would have them at the airport in plenty of time on Tuesday.  So, we packed a lunch and started out.

First we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  There we drove through the park and looked at animals roaming acres of land as close to their natural habitat as possible.  Most had been rescued from somewhere like the eagle that had lost its wing.  My favorite was a bear who was playing with his feet in a muddy pond.  I wish I could have taken him home with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then drove to the little town of Whittier.  During World War II, Whittier was built by the US Army as a port where soldiers entered Alaska.  A spur of the Alaskan Railway passed from Whittier, through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, to the Seward highway south of Anchorage.  The first time we were here, Richard and I rode the train through the long tunnel to Whittier just to look around.  Since that time, they have set up a system to make the tunnel driveable.  On the hour, vehicles from Whittier drive to the Seward Highway.  On the half hour, vehicles make their way back to Whittier.  All traffic stops when the train needs to go through.  It is creepy going through the 2 1/2 mile tunnel.  In case of a catastrophy there are safe rooms along the way inside the tunnel complete with oxygen and thick metal doors. 

I’m happy to say we made it through the tunnel without incident.  Once there, we ate our picnic lunch out of the back of the Jeep.  Richard saw porpoises playing at the edge of the water.  By the time I got the camera there, they were gone so I took Richard’s picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made the return trip with no problem.  We met up with some old friends at the Wasilla IHOP (by this time it was dinner time and we’d barely gone 150 miles of the 450 we needed to go.)  Jonathan Rockey is the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Palmer.  His wife Kathy is a nurse.  Many years ago, they lived in Jacksonville near us.  We visit with them everytime we get up here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carole, Tom, Richard, Kathy, Jonathan

It was great to see Jonathan and Kathy again.  They are proud grandparents now.  They told us about the best place to possibly get a glimpse of the great Mt. McKinley (Denali).  We stopped at the pull-out and they were right.  It was a beautiful sight.  When you look at the picture, it is the gray shadowy looking mountain behind the snow-capped ones.  They tell us that 300 days a year you can’t see the mountain because of the clouds, but we got to see it.  The sun was shining directly in our eyes so it was hard to see if the picture was centered.  Carole climbed on the wall to make shade so Tom could take his picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 100 miles from Fairbanks, we decided to stop at a lodge and spend the night.  It was a log cabin structure.  Richard and I had a view of the lodge’s saloon and restaurant.  Tom and Carole had a view of a junk pile.  Richard and I slept peacefully with the windows open (no a/c).  Tom and Carole listened to a generator kick on and off in the maintenance room next to theirs.  For the first time in weeks, I got to watch a television with more than one channel and a clear picture.  All in all, I was a happy camper.

We went to the restaurant for breakfast.  We were trying to decide if we wanted a booth or a table when the waitress basically told us to make up our minds.  The morning air wasn’t the only thing chilly around there.

Tom wanted eggs benedict, but he’d had experiences with some that didn’t fit his idea of the perfect presentation.  So he asked the waitress (Miss Warm and Fuzzy) how they made their eggs benedict.  Here is how the conversation went from there:

W&F  We make it the normal way.

We are looked at her a little stunned.

W&F  We make it with English Muffins and ham.

Tom  Oh, I don’t want ham.  I wanted Canadian Bacon.

W&F  Well that’s what it is Canadian Bacon or ham.  It’s the same thing.

Tom  Okay can I get the muffin toasted and the Canadian bacon fried crisp?

W&F (She pointed to something else on the menu)  Why don’t you just get this if you don’t want eggs benedict?

By this time, I was in hysterics.  I couldn’t keep from laughing.

Tom settled for the eggs benedict–how ever they cooked it and we decided he’d better not complain because Warm & Fuzzy could knock him 9 ways to Sunday and he needn’t think he could look at us for help.  First sign of trouble and we would be running for the hills.

We dropped Tom and Carole off at the airport around 2 in the afternoon.  They had several hours before the plane took off, but we had 450 miles to drive before dark.  Since it doesn’t get dark up here, we were able to do that and made it back to Cooper’s Landing around 1 in the morning.

Until later, Dolores and Richard