Fairbanks

Wednesday, July 17.

After retrieving my raincoat at 49th State Brewery, we headed north up the Parks Highway to Fairbanks. Nice scenery and pretty good road.

View of Tanana River valley from 344.3 Parks Highway

Fairbanks is just a quick overnight stop for us before we continue on down the Richardson Highway to Valdez. Thanks to posters on Trip Advisor, I was able to change our reservation to the newly remodeled Best Western Pioneer Park. They are a bit hard to find, but the location is actually very convenient -- just a short walk on the River Walk over the Chena River to Pioneer Park. The hotel is in great shape and has the most comfortable beds we slept in the entire trip. I was seriously tempted to go buy us a new mattress after sleeping there. :)

Since we were so close to Pioneer Park, we decided to walk over and check it out, then have dinner on the grounds at the Alaska Salmon Bake. We just happened to arrive in Fairbanks at the start of their community celebration of Golden Days commemorating the gold rush, so we got to enjoy free entertainment and a car show in addition to the regular park attractions.

Ron "had" to spend $5 on a garter to stay out of "jail"

The salmon bake was better than I expected. It's buffet style in a mostly open-air environment. Included in the price:  grilled salmon, prime rib, fried cod, baked beans, potatoes, rolls, salad bar, soft drinks and dessert. The atmosphere was a lot of fun and we enjoyed perfect weather.

Click here for more Fairbanks photos.

Next up, the Richardson Highway, with stops at Copper Center/Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Chitina before arriving at Valdez.