When I was a young man and exploring the world vicariously via National Geographic, intriguing maps and endless travel books I always thought that Fairbanks was the type of place I would like to live.  The northern most major town of the continent, near the tallest mountains, starting point for explorers heading into the cold Arctic, big enough to provide all the essentials, it seemed like my perfect town.  Unfortunately the romance quickly ended after Julie and I arrived in Fairbanks and were told at Tramp’s regular service that he was seriously injured and we would need to spend a week there.

As I have previously written, the Chevrolet Colorado was a compromise solution to carry XP Camper’s V2 camper.  We originally wanted to put it on the larger Silverado but were told the camper wouldn’t fit over the taller Silverado’s cab.  We took the Colorado and camper to a suspension specialist before our trip and he installed extra leaves and larger air bags to cope with the heavier weight.  We later put on heavier ten ply tires to also carry the weight better.

The Colorado has proven to be a delightful truck to drive and much more economical than alternatives.  We’ve also been very happy with the comfort of the ride it has given us.  So all good there.

Anyway…we picked up some new sounds on the Dempster Highway in the Yukon the previous week and knew we had to get it checked once we finally got to Fairbanks.  That’s when we learned that seven bearings in the rear axle, as well as other related parts, had failed, quite probably due to the rough roads and extra weight.  To get parts shipped from the ‘lower 48’ plus the weekend plus the time to install the parts meant we were going to spend a week in Fairbanks.  My dream of living in this northern town had unintentionally come true.

Fairbanks lacks the colour and movement of other towns its size but it is highly functional for residents and visitors plus it has a couple of worthwhile attractions for those who need to fill a day or so (but perhaps not a week!).  We explored the downtown area, such as it was, for most of the day before picking up Tramp and driving to a nearby spot to camp.  He was drivable for short distances while we waited for the parts but that’s it.  So, Fairbanks it is.

As timing would have it, our extended stay in town also coincided with the Tanana Valley State Fair, the annual town carnival and a regional horse show.  We visited the weekend farmers’ market and spent most of a day at the state fair where we saw families enjoy the kids’ rides, watched judging for 4H goats and sheep, ate typical fair food and saw how the good people of Fairbanks enjoy themselves on a warm cloudless day.

The highlight of the day was attending the Tanana Valley State Rodeo, one of eight rodeos in Alaska and the northern-most one in North America.  This was great entertainment – bull riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, barrel racing and many other events on the small arena, including little kids as young as two holding on for dear life as they ride a fat woolly sheep.   The quality of the rodeo participants may not have been up to national standards but the stands were packed, the cowboy music was blasting over the speakers, the locals were having a blast and it was super fun to watch Alaskans at play.

We spent another day up around the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, a modern and impressive campus on the hill above town.  We visited their Large Animal Research Center to see the musk oxen, a large furry beast with the odd horns draping down on both sides of their face like a bad hair part straight down the middle.  These unique animals are perfectly designed to live in the coldest and farthest north parts of the continent.  On a rare day in Fairbanks when the temperature was 88F (32C) these poor guys must have been baking in their super-insulated layers of fur.

We also spent more than four hours in the University of Alaska Museum of the North, probably the stand-out attraction of Fairbanks and an outstanding representation of the history, culture, geology, flora and fauna of this huge state.  This was excellent stuff, hats off to the Uni and its supporters.

And to celebrate our 34^th wedding anniversary we ate at the highly recommended Alaska Salmon Bake Restaurant where it was all you can eat of a buffet salad, salmon, cod, prime rib and endless deserts.  We raised our glasses to ourselves and our beautiful children who also sent us their best wishes from Oz.  And we ended the big day by camping in the large car park outside the restaurant, thick trees to our back, fellow campers to our side.  As you do.

On another day we ventured 12 miles south of Fairbanks to the town of North Pole.  Named by an enterprising property developer in the 1950’s as a way of attracting business and tourists, the town has embraced the concept by turning its street lights into giant striped candy canes, having elaborate Christmas decorations up year round and naming its streets things like Snowman Lane and Mistletoe Drive.  We hit the main tourist attraction, cleverly named Santa Clause House, a huge complex full of everything Christmas, and one of us may have bought a few items.

Our air compressor hasn’t worked for some months and we took Tramp to a small garage to see if they could figure it out.  Kahle, all dirt and grease and ponytail and sweat, toiled for some time and was able to eliminate quite a few potential problems but couldn’t nail the issue to conclusion.  We’ll try again when we get to Anchorage.

Based on a strong recommendation from a friend back home we also visited the Antique Auto Museum, an unlikely attraction for us, and were completely bowled away by the fabulous collection of old cars, the youngest having been made in 1936, and a great slice of Alaska history from the automobile’s perspective.  The museum also had a wonderful collection of dresses and men’s clothes from the era of each of the cars, particularly showing the high fashion of the women in addition to the styles and fashion of the automobiles.  What a pleasant and entertaining surprise.

We found many other semi-interesting things to do in and around Fairbanks, a town which grew on us a bit as the days wore on.  We used the drive thru coffee businesses that are so prevalent, we updated our inoculations (yes!), we walked places instead of driving, we managed to entertain ourselves quite easily.  We learned that most activity revolves around only a couple of streets – College Rd and Airport Way – and that the stock standard vehicle is a dirty four wheel drive pickup with tow bar.  People were friendly but we met very few that had actually been born there – most were implants, even if that implanting occurred in the 1950’s.

We finally got Tramp back from the dealer, the bearings of his rear axle all new and clean and shiny, and we headed out of town after a long, somewhat challenging and inevitably expensive eight days.  We’re heading north again, as per normal!