7-26-2010 Fairbanks:

I have continued hanging out with Francine, since the last post. I guess I have enjoyed having a travel partner. It is always much more enjoyable when you have someone else to travel with. Fairbanks doesn't have a whole lot to do, so we kind of scrounged. I suggested we do a scenic

drive on the outskirts of Fairbanks. The drive started on Chena Ridge road, a road that follows the top of a mountain in the western suburbs. From this view we could see down on the river that goes through Fairbanks and some of the major buildings in the city, like the university. It was amazing to see how big the river was and how it merges from three smaller rivers. The Alaskan pipeline is something the seems to be one of the many things that defines Alaska, so

we headed over there. Probably one of the first things I thought when I looked at it is, "I wonder how many people have tried to shoot this?" The second thought was, "What would happen if someone shot this?" I have no intention of doing anything like that, but I could not help my curiosity. The pipe was somewhere between 36" and 48". Off to the side of the pipeline they had two different pigs. One was older and one was younger, though they were both about the same size. The pigs are basically an oversized pipe cleaner. They would be inserted in the pipeline and would move with the flow of oil. Their purpose was to knock off paraffin that would attach to the wall of the pipe when the temperatures were low.

Francine and I both seem to have a common appreciation for tea, beer, and ice cream. We debated on going to three restaurants that were known for one of the above. We ended up deciding on the Silver Gulch a local brewery on the outskirts of town. I had a burger with a cranberry wheat beer, it was all delicious.

Yesterday was much more low key, though it had its highlights. My friend Katie knows a family from Fairbanks who started a church called Radiant Church. The couple is Caleb and Tracy, they have two children. Katie had always spoken highly of them, so I wanted to attend the church. Unfortunately Tracy was in a run that morning, so she was not able to make it. I did get to meet Caleb and was very impressed with his teaching at his church. Everything was taught in a simple practical way and made me leave the service more in love with God. The rest of the day was spent planning for the next few days. I was trying to go to Denali National Park, but was having a hard time coordinating the buses and the hostel. I almost gave up and then decided to stay at the campground within the park. The problem was solved and I will be headed to Denali tomorrow at 9:15.

Today I didn't want to have another day like yesterday where I was on the computer for a long period of time which put me in a bad mood. Within an hour of waking up I was headed to the University of Alaska's museum of Alaskan History. It was quite amazing to see all the

history of the state. The number of events that brought the state to its current point seemed as if they were describing an entire country. The museum covered everything from mammoths to the Russians, salmon to oil, and tourism to gold mining. I may have been most impressed by

"Blue babe" the blue bull that the fictional Paul Bunyan rescued.

The UAF museum is right in front of a series of trails that the university oversees.

I decided this would be a good starting point for me to learn how to hike in the Alaskan

wilderness. I headed towards the lake that was about a mile away. It would be a good

opportunity to use the fishing pole I had bought a few days before. As I approached the lake I notices that the gradient leading towards it was low, this meant that the lake was not very deep. I casted a few times and realized I was right, since every time I pulled up some seaweed. It wasn't a major issue, I was enjoying the trees reflecting off the lake with the mountains in the background.

Just beyond the trails I was hiking was the UAF Large Animal Research Center. Before I entered in I found some cabbage growing, it was the largest I had ever seen. I placed a quarter on it to give a comparison. Here at the center they do research on musk ox, caribou, and reindeer. I can't remember what the difference between reindeer and caribou is, but it is only a slight difference. The musk ox were not as big as I expected. I thought they would be the size of bulls, but hidden under all their fur it seemed they were only the size of ponies. A pair of bull musk ox near the feeder started a small competition between the two of them. The both reared back and butted heads. I know this is how they compete for the females, but I didn't realize they

also do that for food. The caribou were a sight to see and had some very interesting facts to go around. The mature male antlers were almost five feet long and they grow in only three months. Did you know that there are almost twice as many caribou in Alaska than their are people? The western heard has over 450,00o members. I think this fact made me love Alaska even more. There is such bounty here and I could not help but to think of the joy that comes from feeding your family with meat that you hunted.