LAST DAYS IN ALASKA…

Chena River

Up the parks Highway through muddy road breaks and rough patches in the pouring rain leaving a wave of sludge in our wake.  By the time we arrive in Fairbanks at the River’s Edge RV Resort, both Dave and Dimples are covered in muck and road tar.  Thankfully the resort has a vehicle wash station and twelve dollars and sixty minutes later most of the filth from Denali and the Parks Highway are but a memory. However, it still takes Chris half a day and almost a whole canister of WD40 to clean off all of the tar on the front of Dimples the next day. 

Clean at last!

Our space at River’s Edge is just that, right on the Chena River.  Across the water are luxury homes. We feel like we are in an upscale neighborhood.  Of course those luxury homes look across the water to an RV park, but at least Dimples classes up their view for a bit. 

A short stroll from our campsite along the river is Chena’sAlaskan Grill.  The menu is intriguing and there are wine recommendations with each dish. We dine here twice with varying results.  Our first meal is wonderful.  We start with cocktails and an appetizer of Coconut Shrimp.  The drink pours are generous and the shrimp succulent and fried perfectly.  The Coconut batter light and the Apricot Horseradish dipping sauce a perfect accompaniment. For our main course we share the Seafood Fettuccini with wild salmon, shrimp and king crab, garlic, shallots, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and artichokes in a white wine herb cream sauce. The seafood is fresh and the sauce brings out all of the flavors in the dish.  The recommended wine, J. Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay brings out the flavors in the dish. It’s simply stunning!  We finish with a desert of crème Brule and fresh fruit and a glass of port.  The port is lovely but the Brule is ordinary. 

On our second visit we start with the Seafood and Artichoke Bruschetta: King Crab, shrimp, red onions, green peppers, herbs and roasted garlic on toasted crostini drizzled with olive oil and a sweet balsamic reduction. This dish is heaven on a plate.  For our entrees we choose the special Bourbon glazed New York Steak and their Grilled Stuffed Pork Chop.  The steak was ordered medium rare, more rare but arrived medium well. Very disappointing.  The Pork chop was also over cooked and dry.  We notice a nearby patron push aside what should have been a lovely grilled halibut, but it also was obviously way over cooked.  Maybe the chef was having a bad day, but it’s just not right ruin perfectly good food. Since we hardly touched our entrees we order the daily special desert: Fresh wild berry shortcake.  The cake is delicious with lots of assorted succulent berries and the cream lightly sweetened. The beginning and end of this meal are so wonderful, it’s too bad the main course in the middle failed miserably.

Yes, there really is one!

A.C. Photo Op

There are only two roads in North America that cross the Arctic Circle and since one of them, The Dalton Highway, starts near Fairbanks, it’s a no brainer to head up to this spot on the continent.  Now the point where the road crosses the earth at the 66.33-degree latitude is nothing spectacular. It’s the journey not the destination! The Dalton Highway is partially paved, the unpaved parts actually in better condition than most of the pavement.  It follows the Alaska Pipeline. We share the road with commercial truckers who neither slow down nor wait for anyone.  Dave with Chris behind the wheel handles everything with aplomb the drive is fun and exciting. What’s not to like about a road with sections named: Beaver Slide, The Roller coaster and our personal favorite the Oh Shit Corner?  The scenery starts with sub arctic spruce forest that transition to barren tundra. Just across the Yukon River we visit the Visitor Center and pick up our Arctic Circle Certificate. We stop at the circle for the obligatory photo op and have a picnic lunch then drive a bit north and stop at Gobblers Knob where we take some photos and pick a few wild blueberries.  On the return trip we stop at the Hot Spot Café. It’s one of those post zombie apocalypse style road stops with great burgers and pulled pork sandwiches frequented by the infamous Ice Road Truckers. Well, we can now check off Drive Across the Arctic Circle from our bucket list.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North is externally a work of art.  Inside the installations are mixed.  The Natural History wing is divided into the regions of Alaska.  Lots of taxidermy and artifacts, but it has display and continuity issues.  Fortunately we visited the regional museums so we could overlook this museum’s shortcomings in this area. The art here however is world class; a great collection of multiple medias, paintings, sculptures, photography and more. Again in the main salon there is no continuity as all of the medias are mixed but somehow this works with such an eclectic collection.  There is another small wing dedicated to fine art oils done by Alaskan artists or well-known artists who painted in Alaska. It feels a bit stogy compared to the art in the main gallery.

Now that's a cabbage!

The Tenana Valley Farmers Market is open three days a week.  We stop by and pick up some wild blueberry jalapeno jam and grab a pork taco and taco soup from one of the food vendors.  The produce is pretty limited to cold weather crops but they are all huge and beautiful.  Unfortunately we do not have room to store a twenty-pound head of cabbage.

Ice Bar

Chena Hot Springs is sixty miles outside of Fairbanks at the end of Chena Hot Springs Road.  They have a resort with a beautiful dry camping RV Park.  It’s similar to State Park campgrounds with spaces surrounded by forest. Chena Hot Springs Resort was founded over 100 years ago and is one of the most developed hot springs destinations in Alaska. It is World famous for it's legendary healing mineral waters, beautiful Aurora Borealis displays in the winter, renewable energy projects and Ice Museum. Although no Aurora during our visit we enjoy a tour of the Ice Museum complete with an Appletini served in a carved ice martini glass.

Chena Fresh

A second tour of the resort takes us through the geothermal energy plant and green houses where they grow both hydroponic and traditional greenhouse produce.  They have plans to expand their food production with chickens, reindeer for meat and a fish farm.  After the tours we relax in the outdoor hot springs.  Dining here is a greenhouse to table experience featuring "Chena Fresh" lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and herbs. Chena is listed as one of the 1000 places to visit in North America before you die… one more thing checked off the bucket list!

Well Winter is coming and it’s time to head back to the lower 48, time to hook it south…
 k