Our final day in Fairbanks ended up being a busy one since we left everything for the last minute. We were having too much fun catching up with friends at the campground that we didn’t do much exploring of the town…until today. 😅
Our first stop was the Morris Thompson Cultural Center. It was a nice way to start our time here by learning about the relationship between the people and the environment of Alaska.I hope the grizzly bears we see along the hiking trail are more docile than this one. 🤯The theme of this exhibit about winter was how Alaskans “don’t hibernate, we celebrate!” You do you, Alaska. I’m not sure I have it in me to survive your winters. 🥶I feel lots learning about the Trans Alaska Pipeline…coming down the pipe for us. 😆This beautiful exhibit was to honor the legacies of Native peoples who have been in Alaska for over 14,000 years. There are at least 20 Alaska Native languages and it was interesting to be able to hear some of them.Adler, of course, enjoyed learning about the arrows and spear points that have been found in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve as the glaciers have melted.The kids completed the Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center Junior Ranger together but only Elleny was up for the pledge. The ranger surprised her and let her wear her NPS “flat hat” to be sworn in. Very official! An astonishing eighty-five percent of Alaska is public land, which means it is owned by everyone in the United States.The Interior Alaska Antler Arch is made up of more than 100 moose and caribou antlers that were collected and donated by residents in the area.Next up was an errand to find these boys some XtraTuf boots.Boots were secured but not before checking out all the other hunting, fishing and assorted outdoorsy items in the store.Everyone was hangry by now so we combined dinner with a field trip to the Fairbanks airport. East Ramp Pizza is in a hanger next to the control tower and overlooks the runway. Could it get any better?!Then it did get better when planes started landing right in front of us as we ate our pizza.Found my new favorite soda! 🫐Getting to watch Flight Tracker after we ate dinner was the icing on the cake.We share East Ramp Pizza’s passion for pizza and planes. Such a fun dinner experience! 🛬Matt spotted the exact same Cessana 152 that he took flying lessons in 26 years ago. Being surrounded by all things aviation here in Alaska is making him feel very inspired to start lessons again.Matt’s next goal: Alaskan bush pilot 😲Our final stop was to see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Some 420 miles of the pipeline are elevated and outside Fairbanks is the place to see it.Everett, who is a kinesthetic learner, wanted to touch the pipeline. It is one of the world’s engineering marvels so I couldn’t blame him.The Trans-Alaska Pipeline starts in Prudhoe Bay and travels 800 miles over mountain ranges, river and streams before it ends in Valdez. We read that over a million dollars of black gold flows through it every hour! 💰
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