Mr. Toad’s wild ride to the Chena Hot Springs outside of Fairbanks is a dead end to an interesting location – its an out and back trip (see Chena Hot Springs post here), so after our visit, we returned to Fairbanks and spent the latter portion of our day at the Museum of the North.
This museum is located on the campus of the University of Alaska. It’s not a huge museum but it takes some time to get through as it covers so many different topics.
There’s an art exhibit that included everything from modern art to Scrimshaw, good luck Billikens to ivory cribbage boards, and modern bronze sculptures to gut parkas.
There’s a natural history portion whose entrance is guarded by an 8’9” grizzly weighing in at 1,250lbs. Information on permafrost and native plants are here along with information about the native Americans in the area, the Athabaskans.
There’s information about the gold rush starting in the late 1890s, established train routes, the influx of the military and subsequent building of the Alaska Highway as a result of WWII, and the Alaskan oil pipeline.
There were quite a few things I did not expect.
- I had no idea that the natives were forced into internment camps during WWII. There’s a lot of information and a short film about this dark period in our history.
- There’s a wonderful film on the aurora borealis and the fact that Fairbanks is one of the top places to see these colorful northern lights, which I didn’t realize are always present in the area – it’s just whether or not they can be seen!
- An immerse experience called “The Place Where You Can Go and Listen” which draws on wind patterns, seismic activity, and the electromagnetic activity of the aurora borealis to create light and sound patterns.
- They have a creepy but scientifically significant mummy of 50,000 year old steepe bison referred to as “Blue Babe”.
- More information than I cared for on dinosaurs and the state’s largest public display of gold.
It’s a wonderful overview of Alaska’s history and some of the key events that have shaped the 49th state!
We boondocked at the Kiwanas park / baseball field and woke the next morning to the sound of loud engines arriving for the “Dad Bods and Hot Rods” car show being held on Father’s Day.
We wandered the parking lot as the participants arrived. There was an eclectic mix of restored classic cars, some new models with supped-up engines, the actual car used in the Stephen King classic movie “Christine” with its hood signed by the actors, some motorcycles, and a riding lawn mower. We haven’t been in Alaska that long but the cross-sectional representation was interesting and there was no judgement. All who wanted to show off their pistons were welcomed.
We were back on the road before the crowds bustled in.
A busy beaver near our boondocking spot.
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