June 5 - in Fairbanks again

Today is our last full day in Fairbanks.  We visited the Visitor Center and the auto museum.

David took this of a mosquito on his hand a few days ago. 

It stopped raining this morning, so I walked to the office to take care of some business.

It seems the brown RV's are almost like having camouflage.    

It is pretty windy out.  David is standing under the Interior Alaska Antler Arch.  Made up of more than 100 moose and caribou antlers.

We liked this "tandem" bike rack.

The Visitor Center had nice displays.  Here are a couple ceremonial masks.

Daily living items.  The baby carrier on the left would generally be used to tie the baby to the mother's back.  Moss or other natural substances would be placed in the seat area before the baby.  It would absorb baby waste like the first disposable diaper.

Sewing kit.

 They had lots of info on about gold mining and the Alaskan Pipeline.  One fact we haven't covered before is that when working a gold mine it could take 240 tones of rock to yield 5 to 8 ounces of gold.

We parked near the Immaculate Conception Church.  It was built in 1904 and was the first Roman Catholic Church in the interior of Alaska.  In 1911, the decision was made to move it across the river to its present location.  They rolled it across when the river was frozen over.

I liked the message in this window:  "In memory of the early Catholic mothers in Fairbanks, Alaska"

Very attractive, SIMPLE altar.

Can you see the flags over the bridge in the background?  They are straight out, due to the wind.

Later this afternoon we came out to this.

We got under cover at the museum's back door.  We tried to wait it out, but it wasn't abating.  We did get to wear our waterproof pants (I was glad I had brought them).  David did a great job getting us back to the mh safely.  Considering he doesn't really like this bike, because it isn't as nimble as his; the rain was hitting his glasses, visor, & bike windshield; and the roads here are full of pot holes and gravel.  I think you can call it a real thrill ride. 

This afternoon was spent at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.  Adjacent to the walkway they had this carcass from an old Dodge.  Someone found it in a dumpster a couple years ago.  There wasn't enough car to "restore", so they made it into yard art.

They display period clothing aside from cars.  This was Lady bicyclist wear in the early 20th century (1905-1910).  I am sure glad the styles have changed.   I hoped we would do more bicycle riding while we were here, but there was so much to see and the weather got cooler each day we were here.  It was only 51° when we took off this morning, and not much warmer later. 

This iron framed bike with wooden spoke wheels and seat was called the Sawyer Boneshaker and built in the late 19th century (1865-1869).

Political message on T-shirt in the gift shop.

Incredible shop.  With windows so visitors can observe.

They had this 1910 Chalmers-Detroit Model K "30" Roadster out for a drive.  Almost all of the cars in the collection are drivers.

This 1917 Ford Model T Snow Flyer was one of the most unique.  An early snow mobile.  They take this one out to one of their snow/ice festivals annually.

This one was pretty trick too.  It was built in 1905 by a young man who had never seen an automobile in person.  He used an old boat engine and built the body, modeled after pictures he'd seen in magazines.  His motivation was to "woo" a young lady.  This runabout was the first auto built in Alaska.

This 1911 Everitt Model Four-30 Touring car was the only one they'd let us try.

This cloak attracted my attention.

The bead worked pretty ornate until I realized those weren't beads.

The outer wings of jewel beetles provided the sparkly decoration.

 One thing that was quite interesting were the hood ornaments.

 Nice collection, but no MG's on display.  We happened to be near the shop area when Willy Vinton, the Museum Manager came out.  He was extremely welcoming and spent several minutes answering questions about the flooring, the display and acquisition of the cars.  He helped assemble the collection over the last 5-6 years and is the master mechanic keeping them running.  He said he has worked on and restored cars for years, but that what he is doing now is a dream job.  One of the things they've been experimenting with is lighting.  They are in process of converting to LED's.

Our friends Gene & Brian met us at the museum for awhile this afternoon, so we had a social event too.  We got to speak to the newly 13 yr old Justin then Karen and Marissa Facetimed.  I don't think Marissa was near as excited to see us as I was to see her.  We made our reservations for Denali, so tomorrow we head there.