University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum

We have wanted to go to the U of A Museum for some time. But, we have always been in class with only Sunday off and the museum is closed on Sundays during the winter.
Today we got out of training at 1:00pm so a group of us went to the museum. Turns out they were having an open house and admission was free. Free is good.

A very nice building with a modern design. Rumor has it that Bill Gates was visiting a few years ago, heard they were wanting to expand the museum so he pulled out his check book and wrote them a check for $3 million on the spot!

Anyway here are some pictures of what we saw.

 A Polar Bear

Mother Brown Bear and her cubs. Brown bears live in many places in the world. In Alaska they are known as the Kodiak Bear or Grizzly Bear. The Polar Bear is larger.

Bottom center and middle and top center...really big gold nuggets

A piece of solid Jade.

A really big copper nugget. Over 1000 pounds.

Fish traps made from strips of birch trees. Put them in the river, the fish swim in but cannot get out.

A kayak and an open boat made with animal skins

An Alaskan Brown Bear (The one in the back...in the back!). Eight feet nine inches tall , weighing over 1200 pounds and can run as fast as 35MPH for short distances, like when they are chasing a tourist. This is the closest I ever want to get to one

The mandible (jaw bone) of a Mastadon. Note the teeth are big and sharp. See the Wooly Mammoth below.

Skull and tusks of a Mastadon and tusks of a Wooly Mammoth.

Mandible (jaw bone) of a Wooly Mammoth. See the Mastadon jaw bone above. Neither the Mastadon or Wooly Mammoth were meat eaters but the mastadon ate trees thus the big sharp teeth for crushing and breaking. The Wooly Mammoth ate grasses like a cow, and had flat teeth to mash the grasses into pulp. Both went through six sets of teeth in a lifetime.

Nenana Ice Classic Update

No, the ice still has not melted.
But...they announced the winner's prize. $338,064!! One of the bigger prizes in this contest.
Who will win??

Back Into History

Today while driving our motor coach around the outskirts of the fair city of Fairbanks, we went out to the University of Alaska's Large Animal Research Facility to see their herd of Musk Ox. They have a herd of about 20 but we only got a close-up view of two.

Musk Ox migrated to North America as long as 200,000 years ago and were contemporaries of the Wooly Mammoth. They became extinct in Alaska in the late 19th or early 20th century, but were reintroduced into Alaska in 1935.

The average weight of a Musk Ox is 600 pounds. Females reach a height of about 5'2" tall and males about 7' tall. The ones we saw were smaller. They get their name from the musky odor emitted by males during mating season.

The Musk Ox produces a wool, call Qiviut (spelling is correct) which is highly prized for its softness, length and insulation value. Prices for this wool range from $50-$90 per ounce.

A Visit to Our New Home

On Sunday, three other future Princess Denali drivers and I rented a car and took a day trip to Denali National Park.
It was an absolutely beautiful day as you can see from the blue skies in the pictures. The temperature in Fairbanks was 60 degrees, the temperatue at Denali was 41 degrees (higher altitude).
We stopped in Healy, which is where we will be living for the summer. It is about 10 miles north of the Park entrance and the Princess lodge. We saw the building where we will be, but could not get in to see rooms. Checked out the nine hold golf course, then went on down to the Princess lodge.  It was also locked up but we drove around the grounds and saw the general area.
While there we drove up into Danali National Park. The only road is paved for the first 15 miles then turns to gravel. The tours drive up to mile 55, some tours will go to the end of the road at mile 90. We drove about 20-25 miles then turned around.
It was very picturesque. There was still a lot of snow, especially on the tops of the mountains.
We saw one snowshoe hare, but no other wildlife. It is really too early for bears to be out because there is still nothing for them to eat, no moose, wolves, lynx, dall sheep, or caribou. Bummer.
We headed back, stopped in the town of Nenana (see previous post) then went back to Fairbanks.
All in all, it was a great day.
In the pictures note the tree line, the point where trees stop growing. In Alaska it is about 3500 feet. In the Rocky Mountains it is at about 10,000 feet. The difference is that Alaska is further north, the shorter growing season, and that much of the soil above that level is permanently frozen (permafrost).
Training is going well. With luck, I will be finished training by the end of this week. Then have to take the skills and driving tests for the Commercial Driver's License. I have driven a little over 100 miles, learning to turn the coach, maintain lane placement, change lanes, have gone around some traffic circles, etc. Fun, Fun, Fun.

 Along the road in Denali National Park.

Mount McKinley (or Denali) is the mountain in the middle that you can barely see
It is 80-100 miles from where the picture was taken

The road into Denali National Park

Proof that I saw Mt. McKinley, but you can hardly see it.

A sign along the road.

Mount Healy near our new home. Only about 2800 feet high.
More later.

The Nenana (AK) Ice Festival

The little town of Nenana (Nee nana), Alaska is about 55 miles south of Fairbanks and lies at the junction of the Nenana and Tenana (Tee nana) rivers.
During the winter, both of these rivers freeze solid with ice about 3 1/2 to 4 feet thick.
Each year since 1917, a lottery has been held to see who can come closest to the date and time when the ice will have melted enough for the ice to break up on the Tenana River.
To determine the exact date and time, a tall tripod is placed on the ice out in the middle of the Tenana. A cable is attached to the tripod with the other end of the cable going to a tower on the shore and is attached to a clock. When the tripod on the ice moves enough to pull the cable enough, the clock will stop. That will be the winning day and time to the second.
Tickets can be purchased for $2.50 each in various places around Alaska, or you can mail your entry in to the Nenana township. By law, tickets cannot be sold over the internet or any other automated means.
The tripod is placed on the river about April 1. Ticket sales end on April 11.
Historically, ice breakup will happen sometime within the next week.

Last year's winner took home a little more than $260,000.
Stay tuned.

Trip to the Hot Springs at Chena, Alaska

Sunday is our day off so a group of ten of us took a day trip. We went about 55 miles north and west of Fairbanks to a place called Chena Hot Springs.
Chena Hot Springs is a natural hot spring. The water is 106 degrees. Although I did not go into the water, they say it is wonderful for what troubles you. You can only stay in about 20 minutes at a time, then get out for awhile, go back in, etc.
We also saw the Ice Museum at Chena. Excellent sculpting by two men who have won several international ice sculpting contests (in Fairbanks, the last winter olympics, etc).
There is apparently a Japanese belief that if a couple has a child that was conceived under the Aurora Borealis the child will be blessed throughout their life. Well, it turns out that Chena Hot Springs is a wonderful place to see the Aurora Borealis in the Alaskan winter. So each winter the place is inundated with Japanese couples. Signs around the lodge and springs are in English and Japanese.
On the way back to Fairbanks we saw a moose, with it's winter coat still on, eating next to the highway.

All in all a very nice trip. It was good to get away from the hotel and the books for a few hours.

Finally I Drive a Bus (Oops, it is a Motor Coach not a Bus!)!

A few things have happened since I wrote last. First, I had to take my physical over. When the doctor in  New Jersey filled out the health certificate he overwrote a number, changing a 2 to a 3. That did it. The health certificate was rejected and I had to go to the clinic and get another physical so I could get a new certificate. That threw me behind by a couple of days.
Some of this time was spent learning to do pre-trip inspections. This is an inspection of almost every aspect of the motor coach (buses are for school kids). It is a 312 item list of things to check and requires us to look at everything from the engine to the rest room and the brakes to the lights. It is good because there will be 55 souls on the bus (@%*/# motor coach) that we are responsible for, so we want to make sure all is safe. So we have been outside walking around a bus for a two and a half hour training session, walking on ice and snow, putting your hands on all of these metal things and it is 16 above!
We also had two evening sessions with lecturers from outside the company. One was from the University of Alaska and was an expert in the Boreal Forest. Very interesting stuff, explained a lot about why the ice cap is melting, permafrost, and bugs that attack forests.
The other was by a columnist for the Fairbanks News-Miner (local newspaper) who talked about the history of Fairbanks. For example, did you know that 30% of the houses in Fairbanks do not have running water? (Read no sewage system, no water in the kitchen, no hot water, no washing machines, some have no electricity). If you look in the want ads for houses for rent there will be postings for "dry" cabins or houses. This means no water. Many are out on the fringes of Fairbanks where they have not run utilities, often because the permafrost makes it hard to keep the pipes in the ground, since the ground is frozen, the water in the pipes tends to freeze also.
Both were very interesting.
But today, finally, I got to actually drive a motor coach (some people call them buses). We (my instructor drove) went over to the parking lot of a defunct K-Mart. They have set up what they call a skills course with lots of little red cones around to simulate things like parallel parking, a slolom course, turning corners, backing into simulated alleys...things like that. I got to practice stopping so my front bumper was exactly lined up with a cone, then we did it backing up and making the rear bumper exactly line up with the cone. And we tried the slolom. I never got over 5 miles per hour! The biggest problem of the day is that this parking lot is really an ice rink. And there have been buses (even motor coaches) driving over it so it is even slickerer. Even at 5MPH when you want to turn you slide all over.
But even at 5MPH it was still fun to get behind the wheel of the coach and make it do things, even if it was sliding on the ice. We will be driving in most of the training sessions from now on.
More later.

Beginning Life in Fairbanks

Have been here three days now. Not too much to report but here is what has happened so far.
Monday I did nothing but sleep. Did not adjust to the time zone change very well at all. Not very exciting.
Tuesday I moved to the hotel where we will be for the rest of April. It is very nice, small fridge, microwave. I will eventually have a roommate but he has not shown up yet. To add to the excitement I went to a clinic where I had a drug test. Then went to the Department of Motor Vehicles where I took four tests. Managed to pass them all so I now have an Alaska drivers license and a Commercial drivers license learners permit.
The lady that was taking pictures said I could have do-overs if I wanted so I told her that I wanted to keep taking them until I came out looking like Johnny Depp. That did not work out very well and I had to settle for pictures that look similar to me. Very disappointing...
Wednesday it was supposed to be cold and snow one inch. Made it all the way up to 20 degrees so we got the cold, but it has been sunny all day. Just goes to show you that the weather peeps are the same all over.
My manager came up from Denali today. She picked me up and took me to WalMart. Talk about excitement....
The story is that when this WalMart opened in the 1980's, people came from all over this part of Alaska and bought out the store. Literally. They had to close for a week to restock.
Anyway, I bought a screwdriver. We have to provide our own screwdriver. I guess that is so if something falls off of the bus we can put it back on. Also bought some food to put in the fridge.
I have figured out how to watch the Phillies games on my computer. Watched the good half of today's game then had to go to WalMart so missed the bad inning. The Cubs afternoon game was on local TV today. It started at 10AM. Crazy.
So that is what is happening so far. Hopefully things will pick up.
Later.

I Am Here

I am here. Nine and one-half hours of flying and boy are my arms tired.
All went right on schedule.
The last leg of  the trip was on Alaska Airlines who flew me from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Now, the Anchorage airport is not a very big place. If you have ever been to the Oklahoma City airport, well, Anchorage is a lot like that. But...
We all get on the plane, they do all the welcome aboard, safety talk, etc. The plane is backed out of the gate, the engine starts and we take off. I mean we take off!! I will swear we did not even taxi out to a runway, we just took off. We climb for about ten minutes and the pilot comes on and says "We are now at our cruising altitude. We will start our descent into Fairbanks in about five minutes". Meanwhile we are flying along when over on the left side there is Mount McKinley (Denali as the native Alaskans call it, meaning The Big One). Unfortunately I am in an aisle seat so did not get any pictures.
We continue on and swoop down upon Fairbanks, land and seemingly park at the first empty gate we come to. We were in the air a total of 32 minutes. It is supposed to be a 54 minute flight! I paid for 54 minutes...they owe me 22 minutes of flying around.
It was one of the more unusual flights. The stewies didn't even have time to finish handing out water and juice. They owe me a bottle of juice and some pretzels.
Now I am at the Princess lodge in Fairbanks for two days. Then they are moving me to another hotel where I will be for the rest of the month. Four other people came over from the airport when I did and I think we may be the only guests here.
More later.

It's Time

It is late Saturday night and tomorrow I leave for Alaska (finally!!).
All of the anxiety, waiting, and the wishing is over. It is time to go.
I have two suitcases full of Alaska clothes and various electronic devices. I have my bear whistle, hip flask (for those bus trips on cold rainy nights) (Thanks Dave), my beef jerky and I am set to take on Alaska!
I am scheduled to arrive in Fairbanks about 8pm on Sunday night (midnight in New Jersey). On Monday morning I am supposed to take the written test for the CDL, get my physical taken care of, pee in a bottle, the the CDL permit (so I can drive a bus with a licensed driver accompanying me).
So, thanks to all of the folks at Between the Covers, my daughters, my wife (most of all), my dentist and a host of others for all the encouragement and support.
I'm off!!! Uh, maybe I should say I'm on my way!!