I instructed Mingo and Dingo to use the pressure washer and clean the truck, filthy after the beat to death run over the part of the AlCan we missed going into Alaska.  Going back an hour later to check progress ... you guessed it, they hadn't done a thing.  Been trying to understand just what good these two are other than good conversationalists.

We parked the trailer in Whitehorse and made a run to Skagway on the coast.  Amazing vistas and awe inspiring views ...

Cousin Janet complained I don't smile enough in the pictures sooo ...

Our day in Skagway was one to put on the postcards in the gift shops, warm & sunny and gorgeous. 

Downtown Skagway ... lots of shops for the cruise ships, but a pretty cool old town.

For the non history buffs out there, the 'stampeeders' had to carry over the Chilkoot Pass 1000 pounds of supplies, which meant hiring some locals or making an incredibly hard climb as many as forty times before they could move further into the Klondike.

This is the Slide Cemetery where over 70 of the would be miners were killed when an avalanche came roaring down the Chilkoot Pass.

Heading back up to Whitehorse, the scenery and rock formations changed continuously.

A roaring river alongside the road, it appears that neither of the individuals viewing can remember the name.

For those of you convinced that a certain individual is totally and uncontrollably afraid of heights, please observe this photograph carefully, note the confident posture and the assertive stride as he crosses a suspension bridge ( the damn thing was moving all over the place and I was scared sh*tless)! 

We came across this glacier on a side road that wasn't supposed to be a side road.  Someone had inadvertently driven past the turn off while the navigator slept, but the glacier and waterfalls in the area were very cool.

That night, after finding an RV park much later than anticipated, Miss Cyndy gives Mingo and Dingo lessons in reading maps and navigating the proper routes should backup navigators be required.  Not a  bad idea given that the driver could obviously not be trusted to follow the road on his own.

Pioneer Park in Fairbanks is a great park with a lot of history, including a huge stern wheeler that used to run the rivers, restaurants, kids play area and a really laid back atmosphere.

They've moved a lot of the old cabins from the area in and rent them out as shops to locals.

On Wednesdays the local antique car club meets up in the park for a show and get together.  This Rat Rod belongs to my friend Thomas Smith.  Its a 29 ford shell sitting on a new frame and running gear.  The thing is loud and obnoxious and draws more crowd than the restored muscle cars.

Cyndy and Thomas with his tattooed mustache on his finger.  Thomas took her for a ride and for hours she smelled like exhaust fumes.  It seems Thomas forgot to put in the side windows and the exhaust comes up straight out of the engine.

The real Santa in North Pole, Alaska.  We had a very nice conversation with him, turns out he is very familiar with Central Oregon.  He says it's because he flies over and into all the towns every Christmas Eve.  Someone sat on Santa's knee but decided not to include that photo ...

These are pictures from inside the Ice Museum at Chena Hot Springs Resort outside of Fairbanks.  The temperature is kept between 22 and 24 degrees constantly.  The tour takes about half an hour and was worth the admission price.

For $ 15.00 extra you could sit at the ice bar and enjoy an appletini served in a martini glass mad of solid ice.  Glad we did that although turns out they were fairly strong ... then to the hot springs.

These are ice carvings of two life size knights on horse back in a jousting match ... way cool.

This guy has two ice martini glasses (empty).  It appears he consumed many adult beverages and is unsure of what to do with the melting glasses.  They ended up in the cooler and lasted maybe an hour.

The hot springs at the resort.  It's so hot there are jets out of the rocks to cool people off.  This is like Shangri La for the Japanese for some reason.  There are even Japanese interns working in the resort so they can communicate with the quasi mongol hoard.

Our second moose siting, this one along the road between Fairbanks and Tok.

A suitable for framing art shot by our resident photographer displaying her keen eye for a great photo.

This is our previously clean truck and trailer after doing the one section of the AlCan highway we didn't complete on the way to Alaska.  An interesting note might be that this was taken shortly before we discovered that the roof access ladder we had been using to haul our bicycles had sheered 7 of the 8 bolts holding it to the trailer and was ready to launch onto the highway with our bicycles still attached.  

The Nenana River runs just east of Denali National Park.  We booked a jet boat excursion and ran down river for a couple of miles.

Performing a sliding U-Turn, the driver headed up river where we saw this caribou crossing.

At the up river turn around we ran into this big guy and his buddy sunning themselves on a gravel bar.

After a really good presentation from a local trapper we were able to pan for gold.  Expecting to pay for our trip with the results, we did experience some disappointment but they had salted all pans with a few grains of gold flake ... back to the old credit card.

A lovely local model displaying the latest Alaskan fashion craze, the red fox.  This was actually a pelt, not a living fox intent on biting off her ever so close fingers.

After some discussion we decided to book the last bus in to the park, leaving at 5:00 pm.  The discussion centered largely around the return time of 11:30 pm.  Bed time be damned, we're going through the park!

A young couple at the turn around Toklat River, 53 miles into Denali.

A mountain range view like I've never seen!

Mature caribou, a rack you'd die for in the living room.

This grizzly was right beside the road eating with a vengeance.  They've got a long sleep to prepare for.

Finally a moose!  This cow was up on the hillside on our trip back out of the park.

Mt. McKinley!  Absolutely incredible, at 22,000 feet its the highest in North America.  1200 people attempt to climb it every year and about 50% actually reach the summit.  Access is by helicopter or plane to one of the glaciers where the base camp is located ... incredible!

Mingo and Dingo attempt to Hi Jack a school bus, no doubt in an attempt to flee captivity and return to Florida.  No hands, no steering wheel, no tires on the bus were all issues overlooked in their initial flight plan.  Needless to say, they've been recaptured and returned to their cell behind the front seats in the pickup.  Off we go to Fairbanks ...

 We went to the Port of Valdez on Thursday, hoping to see some wildlife and get a feel for the whole oil pipeline, shipping thing.  On the way these glacial waterfalls were incredible, lots of them and everyone different.

The Worthington Glacier, notice the blue colors in some areas.  We were able to get fairly close, then got soaked as the rain got heavy and the clouds dropped down.  Weather was so bad we weren't able to see the whole crude oil shipping facility that was on the other side of the harbor.  I actually had the best fish tacos ever at a little bar/restaurant called the Fat Mermaid!

 This is my friend Harry getting the Sonia B fired up.  He and Rick Burchell were gracious enough to take us halibut fishing out of Homer on the Cook Inlet.  Weather was great starting out and fishing wasn't bad, but soon went to hell and the halibut quit biting.  We did manage to freeze up about 40 pounds of fillets and filled the RV freezer.

A cool picture looking out off the Homer Spit.

This is a cool memorial on the Spit that pays tribute to all the lost fishermen from the area.  Names and dates on each of the supports bring reality to the dangerous life of fishing in Alaska.

At Harry's house in Homer, Mingo and Dingo try to communicate with this dopey duck in the garden. It's possible he wasn't receiving the telepathic transmissions due to the umbrella he somehow managed to hold up with no hands.  I'm thinking the umbrella might just be the next generation of the old standby tinfoil hats ...

 Having missed and opportunity to take a boat to the Portage Glacier, we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife conservation center where we got up close and personal with a couple of black bears.

And some well racked caribou ...

Some elk with a couple of huge bulls.  These guys were actually descendants from a group of 8 calves transplanted from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington that has grown into a huge herd. 

Remember the tin foil hat thing?  Obviously with no hats or other wave distorting gear, the communication between these two has reached the level of rocket scientists.  Are you my brother by another mother, they seem to be asking each other,,,

Two really cute baby mooses that had been abandoned by mothers and were being nursed at the conservation center.

We've made it to Denali National Park and took the short run private vehicles are allowed.  Extremely pretty and awe inspiring vistas.

More Denali ... tomorrow we're going on a jet boat down the Nenana River then hopefully catch a bus into the Denali Park interior.