Solstice Weekend in Fairbanks

So this weekend I was up in Fairbanks. I like that city a lot more than Anchorage… but it is still a city nonetheless. I went up Saturday morning because it was raining cats and dogs in Northway… I packed for that type of weather. Man was I wrong. It was SO HOT in Fairbanks and even worse I probably haven’t showered in a week or so. Oops.

 I love this quote. I LOVE IT! I had never heard of Michio till I came up here but he was a photographer. I have read a lot about him and find him very interesting. He has some beautiful photographs. Here is a link to his photography portfolios if you are interested: http://www.uaf.edu/museum/exhibit/galleries/hoshino/portfolios.html

I went to the UAF Museum of the North. I bet my parents don’t even know this but I applied to go to college here, Winona and UAF were the only two schools I applied too and got accepted to both. The museum was sweet! When I showed up barely anyone was there and it was cheap too- $10 admission and $5 movie ticket. I love cheap! I realize now that I am trying to upload everything that I took way too many pictures- mainly of rocks and used-to-be-real animals. The movies were really interesting. The first one I watched was on winter in Alaska and how people cope and the science behind it. This may ruffle a few feathers but I think I could live up here- I will suffer through the winter so I can bask in the short summer weather. The other movie I watched was about the Aurora Borealis and that was really cool! Very sciencey and I liked it- many of the other people didn’t. I heard so many complaints after it was over on how they didn’t get it. I learned that a lot of the pipeline was built underground because the magnetic force in the aurora screws with the oil- it can even corrode the metal of the pipeline. I also didn’t know this but there is the southern and northern borealis’- southern you have to be on Antarctica to see but it is actually the same borealis. They sent two planes out to the poles to take a picture of the borealis at the exact same time and the pictures came out as mirror images. Too cool.

I seperated everything into groups. Scroll to whatever fascinates you.

ROCK PICTURES:

Fellow Rock nerd friends- this is a 3,550 pound hunk of Jade... oh you know just found up the river.

 Gem Collection.

 Epidote.

Rock collection. 

Beautiful sample of Malachite!!!

ANIMALS THAT USED TO BE REAL:

 Mammoth skull!

 Mammoth tooth and my sausage fingers for comparison.

 I am terrified of polar bears.

 Part of a whale. Huge.

 Caribou Skeleton.

 WOLVES! I want one. They are so pretty!

 Lynx. If you ever get to feel a Lynx skin... it is so soft!

Black bear with a more cinnamon color.

RANDOM:

 I LOVE totem poles. They are so so so cool!

 Called a pig. This is used to clean out the oil pipeline. When the oil shoots through from Prudhoe up north all the way down to Valdez the temperature changes and creates a wax buildup on the inside of the pipeline... this pig thing takes care of that wax. Whatever floats your boat I say.

 All the guns. Took this one just for my Dad because even though I spent like maybe a minute looking at them and over an hour looking at the rocks... it would have been the other way around if he was here. HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

ARTWORK:

 An outhouse. In a museum. Only in Alaska.

 Beautiful bead work!!

I needed somewhere to camp so I was going to go to Chena River SP in town- drove through there and totally changed my mind. 1) they charge too much for very little camping 2) it was loud as heck and 3) I don’t like people really and there were too many of them. So I drove towards Chena Hot Springs and ended up camping at Rosehip SP and loved it! It was gorgeous woods and very quiet and cool little sites (and cheap). Only issue- mosquitoes. I probably set the world record for setting up my tent… you see I don’t have bug spray… I made a mental goal when I came up here to tough it out and not use it. Regret it. But… it is now Sunday and I am back at my cabins and I still haven’t used bug spray… so I did it.

 Campsite.

 I thought it was raining when I woke up... nope just these guys being a pain.

 Chena River along Rosehip SP

Now it was time to go run my 10k. Remember how I said I packed clothes for rain and cold… it was SO HOT! Yuck! I got sunburned sitting in my truck, reading and waiting for the race to start. Well needless to say I still ran it, got sick to my stomach around mile 5 but still finished 6.2 miles. This is my first 10k (I have done a 5k and a 10 mile before) and I am proud to say I have done it in Alaska. It was cool to be running at 11pm and have it still be daylight out! Everyone was pretty intoxicated though that we ran by and sometimes that stinks because it makes you second guess why you choose to run, get sweaty and feel your joints hurt instead of sit down and have a beer or some wop. Oh well. On that note I have a 5k in North Pole, AK in July and it is to raise money to find a cure for Arthritis- something a lot of people have and I will soon be included if I am not already (thank you track and field, ballet, volleyball and especially… rugby). Here is the link to donate (no pressure): http://NorthPoleJingleBellRun.kintera.org/vej1689

 Yup that's me. I finished. I felt ill. But I still managed to make a stranger take my picture.

 The drive home (my tent)- mind you it is about 12:45.

 What a beautiful night to celebrate the solstice!

Ummm otherwise that is all I really got. I got to have Wendy’s and go to Walmart so I was pretty stoked about all that. Not that I like Walmart but it reminds me of Winona… weird I know. Well now that it is past my bed time since it took like 2 hours to upload all this... I will leave you with... BUSH PLANES!

 Moon Lake SP- some planes landed. SO COOL!

 Bush pilots are some of the coolest and craziest people I have ever met. They have huge cahonas.