Day 15 - I'm dreaming of a White Christmas On the Road Again!
We are packed up ready to do the Dalton Highway but first we must buy new tires for the Little Guy Camper and get rims put on a 2nd spare tire for the Little Red Truck. We decide to backtrack just a little before we head to Fairbanks for tires and go to the Santa Claus Store at the North Pole. It is a lovely store with all sorts of ornaments, presents and other delights to tempt you to spend money. We took a good look and yes we brought a few things. One of the special things we found was a candle holder made out of a wine bottle with the phrase "Come Away with Me" etched on it. This is our song, and certainly the way we live with our little adventures we take. It comes with a one of those electric candles but I think it would take a real one too.
We ate lunch at the coolest little diner. It is called Little Richards and it is in a railroad card and billed in the Milepost as the Northernmost Railroad Car Restaurant. The meal was delicious and the service was outstanding.
In Fairbanks, getting tires proved to be a little tricky but with some perseverance and some shopping around we found what we were looking for, got them mounted and then got the rim of the truck spare. We dropped by the visitor centre one more time for last minute advice, download pictures and check on e-mail before we would be out of range for several days.
With all this going on we did not leave Fairbanks to head to the Dalton till about 6:30 p.m. We headed on the Steese Highway, then connected to the Elliot Highway. On the Elliot Highway, there is a little place called the Arctic Circle ??? where we met the Carlson's. They homesteaded there and raised 23 children (18 adopted) - WOW! They were the most interesting and kind people and we had a lovely chat with them about our plans to go up the Dalton. We promised to stop by on our way back and let them know how we made out.
We arrived at the start of the Dalton and took the appropriate pictures in front of the sign with a clean vehicle and trailer and smiling faces! We were not sure how far we would go as it was already getting late. This part of the highway is a good road but we stopped at Mile 20 and took pictures of a beautiful sweeping valley and the sun was setting - looked gorgeous, there was a little breeze so there were not too many bugs - we decided to stay the night there. Earl got some fantastic shots of the sunset and flowers and I started reading the book I bought from the Carlson's written by their daughter about their life. It is a good read. A good night's rest will prepare us for the drive ahead. We will have to make many miles if we are going to be in Deadhorse by 3:00 on Sunday.
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