We started this final full week in July in 80 degree weather and then traveled to where we needed our winter jackets and clothing.
We had sometime before our son & his family met up with us so we decided to drive the Denali Highway.
We drove as far as Tangle Lake Campground. We hiked up to the lake overlook.
The oil pipeline snaked across the state.
There are pipes over places where the pipeline is buried.
Our first stop with the grand-kids was North Pole. We had to play in the sleigh & check out the big Santa.
The reindeer were having breakfast.
We ran into NOMADS! Jim and Betty Posz were at the Santa Claus House.
We got our picture taken with the sleigh.
The grand-kids had to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
Our son Jason and wife Amy also got into the picture!
Santa gave the grand-kids a job. They handed out candy canes to everyone waiting to see Santa.
Our next adventure was the Dalton Highway.
We are part of the 1% who travel north of Fairbanks.
We stopped at the Arctic Circle.
At the visitor center in Coldfoot the grand-kids got their junior ranger badges.
We saw animals along the road by the pipeline. This was a Caribou.
Most of the traffic on the road was truckers.
The mosquitoes were everywhere! You couldn't go outside, this is the picture of them on the truck window.
Musk Ox were along the road.
All of the buildings in Deadhorse are built on permafrost. Nothing is touching the ground.
We saw trucks from Carlile trucking. Just like the Ice Road Truckers show.
We made it to Deadhorse! The End of the Dalton Highway!
Fuel prices are a little bit high up there.
We made it to the Arctic Ocean! It was about 34 degrees there with wind & rain but we had to touch the ocean! It wasn't too cold. We stood in the edge of the water for this picture.
When they build roads up there the put in a layer of foam insulation under the road.
On our way back we saw a Musk Ox just off the road.
Road construction, mud, potholes, & frost heaves are all part of the highway! Our trucks and campers became coated in the mud.
We stopped at Finger Mountains on our way back. They are an out crop of mountains of rocks. That helped to point the earlier pilots back to Fairbanks.
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