Fairbanks, Denali, North Pole (and a little bit of glacier thrown in for good measure)

With only five weeks left up here, things are getting down to the wire, but this past weekend -- just in the nick of time! -- I made it to Fairbanks.  One of my roommates has relatives in Fairbanks (OK actually his relatives live in North Pole . . . OK actually his relatives live in the suburbs of North Pole), and we decided at the last minute to invite another friend and take a trip up there.

 

That's our view of Denali (the highest peak in North America) on the way up.  Once we arrived, my roommate's aunt and uncle were SO hospitable.  His aunt Dana made us homemade fish and chips -- fresh caught and fried halibut and salmon, and fresh French fries -- delicious!!  Then we had cheese cake for dessert.  I'm spoiled, I know.

It just so happened that someone else we knew was having a BBQ/picnic out at his lake house that weekend, so we all had the chance to eat eat eat at that as well.  There was fried turkey, salmon, and homemade ice cream and pie.  Pictured below is a close-up of the lake, followed by an overall view of the festivities.

We also made it out to Chena Hot Springs, where the warm, brackish water gave me a mild case of flesh-eating bacteria, but then the water's healing powers cured me.  It was a close call, but I'm out of the woods now. (Note: I didn't actually get flesh eating bacteria.  I'm just irrationally terrified of it.)  I don't have any pictures of the springs, but I did get a cool shot of the open road on the way back.

Finally, we took some time to check out down town North Pole, as well as a nature preserve in Fairbanks.  You won't have a hard time telling which of the following pictures were taken at which of those two stops.

 This parking is only for the disleighbled.

Pretty sure I do NOT want to be on this guy's list.

I call this one "Squash In Repose."

On the way back to Anchorage we stopped in Talkeetna for lunch (home of the infamous Wilderness Woman Competition and Bachelor Auction).  The food was so yummy and the town was so cute that I've decided to take my parents and sister on a day trip out there when they come to visit next week. 

In conclusion, here's a cool pic of some sun peaking through the rain on the drive back to Anchorage:

 

P.S. Several weeks ago some friends and I took a trip out to Matanuska Glacier.  I now present the photographic evidence.