Day 01 - 06/28/22 - Fairbanks

 Today is technically the first day of our trip as it's the day we are scheduled to arrive in Fairbanks and be transported to our hotel, the Westmark Fairbanks.   Fortunately for us we were able to fly in yesterday. So today we all slept in until 9am.  For me last night was the best night of sleep in many months.  Last night at 11pm, I took a photograph of outside and it was as light as noonday.  But the wildfire smoke continues to be thick and oppressive.  

 

We headed out of the hotel walking north on Noble Avenue towards Griffith Park and found the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center near the Antler Arch. This museum is very good with lots of interactive exhibits.  Our granddaughter pronounced it "Cool!". We even was able to acquire her a National Parks book in which to collect stamp impressions from parks that she visits.  From there we continued walking NE across the Chena River; visited an upscale sporting goods store and an underground hardware store before stopping for lunch at Costco for a $1.50 Hotdog and soda for us and a slice of pizza and a smoothie for our granddaughter.

 

Continuing on our walk, we turned south on Illinois Street where we encountered a "Very cool" (our granddaughter's pronouncement) antique store called the Blue Door Antiques.  The yard in this historic residence was filled antiques and the house was filled on three levels with even more. We spent about an hour there,  There was construction on the northbound Illinois Street Chena River Bridge, but there were a number historical signs in the little park.  After re-crossing the Chena River, we found a gift shop we spotted yesterday and I purchased a nice Alaska souvenir dress shirt.

 

We headed south and checked out the Children's Museum, but it was geared for much younger children, so we passed on paying the $8/pp entry fee and continued walking south to the ice cream/espresso stand in the parking lot of the furniture store and across the street from the Veteran's Memorial.  There was quite a waiting line to get served and when our ice cream order was delivered, the clerk said, "Your order was paid for by the lady who just left the stand."  We didn't have a chance to thank her for her pay it forward action.  We finished up the ice cream sitting in the Veteran's Park, and during that time, not a single vehicle showed up for an espresso order!  All the while, the forest fire smoke was thick and oppressive. It continued even into our hotel room.

 

Back at the Westmark, I picked up our Welcome Packet and quickly learned that our existing room keys would no longer work.  Our granddaughter's room key worked, but our old ones and new ones wouldn't work. A number of HAL guests were waiting in the lobby for outgoing flights.  My wife learned that for seniors, bus transportation is free.  If we had known that, we might have taken the bus to North Pole which is about 13 miles away.  But we all agreed that what we did was fun and a good way to see Fairbanks.  For the remainder of the afternoon and evening we spent the time in our room reading, practicing Dual Lingo (our 11 year old granddaughter is quite proficient in it), and eating left over pizza from the prior night.  We also prepped our luggage for a 6:30am luggage pickup. The smoke from the forest fires continued to seep into the hotel.

 

It was a very good and relaxing day.  Tomorrow will start early At 7:55am with a riverboat cruise until lunch, lunch, and then transit by motor coach to the Chalet at Denali.  Our granddaughter is thoroughly enjoying the trip and is a delight to have along.