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.