Alaska #5: Countryside, Hernings, UAF museum
News ·Sunday August 24, 2008 @ 22:25 EDT (link)
20080824: (Denali National Park, AK, to Fairbanks, AK: 130 miles.) As I said, it was cold, so we got up very early: before 0600, and we were packed at 0630. The tent was a little damp, so we'll need to dry it later. We slept an hour by the roadside at about 1100. We found a chapel, Countryside Bible Chapel, and attended services there until 1330. Their numbers were few but their hearts were open; we had several offers to come for dinner and even stay overnight. We took up Bill Herning and his wife on their offer, and went out to a Chinese buffer (Mayflower) with them 1400-1455; we insisted on paying since they were letting us stay the night.
We had to run some errands: our first stop was to return to Beaver Sports to return our stove that melted. I wasn't sure how they'd take it, or even if they'd accuse us of damaging it on purpose, but they were very accommodating: they too were surprised that a Snow Peak stove would bend like that (our other stove is Snow Peak too, an older model but still sold, and we've never had any trouble with it); they gave us a full refund. We picked up some camping plates and cups there and some more fuel.They have excellent selection and service and I would highly recommend their Fairbanks store to anyone going up that way.
We stopped for gas at Safeway then headed out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) museum. We spent most of the afternoon there, looking at various artwork: paint and sculpture, and the huge Alaska Room with history and natural wonders of Alaska exhibited. Alaska has many amazing artists in all sorts of media, and natural wonders abound.
We left UAF at 1920 and headed to the Hernings' place, which wasn't far from the church. I took the opportunity to clean out the car, and we did laundry, until 2036. We read the Our Daily Bread together; we tried to call Whitehorse to book a hotel, but didn't have much luck. Slept @ 2230.
20080824: (Denali National Park, AK, to Fairbanks, AK: 130 miles.) As I said, it was cold, so we got up very early: before 0600, and we were packed at 0630. The tent was a little damp, so we'll need to dry it later. We slept an hour by the roadside at about 1100. We found a chapel, Countryside Bible Chapel, and attended services there until 1330. Their numbers were few but their hearts were open; we had several offers to come for dinner and even stay overnight. We took up Bill Herning and his wife on their offer, and went out to a Chinese buffer (Mayflower) with them 1400-1455; we insisted on paying since they were letting us stay the night.
We stopped for gas at Safeway then headed out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) museum. We spent most of the afternoon there, looking at various artwork: paint and sculpture, and the huge Alaska Room with history and natural wonders of Alaska exhibited. Alaska has many amazing artists in all sorts of media, and natural wonders abound.