Left is straight road and on the right is one section of the pipeline.
Here we are at the Artic Circle sign.We had to catch the bus at 5:45 a.m.---way too early. We went in a van over to the airport where they put us on a nice tour bus. The rain started even before we got on the bus and it rained all day until about 6 pm on the way home. It cleared up great then. The bus driver/tour guide was terrific and has lived here for almost 40 yrs so he was very knowledgeable. He threw out a lot of facts of which I will give you some so hold on to your seats. The airport here is international but beside runways it has a large pond for float planes to land on. Alaska is actually an artic desert which seems strange to me. In 1967 they had a massive flood in Fairbanks--6' of water was running thru the city. The soil is glacial silt and it is not very rich at all. The railroad belonged to the federal government at first but they turned it over to the state and it makes money and is the most northern railroad in North America. It is the last remaining flag stop railroad in the nation. Which means that if a person gets off in the middle of nowhere he can later get back on just by waving down the train. They don't get a lot of rain and last year not a lot of snow. Their 1st freezing frost is near Sept. 1 and the ground thaws by mid-May. About 67% of the state is underlayed by perma frost. The moose up here are the largest anywhere about 1600 lbs. and their are more caribou than people in the state.
One of the stops we made was at a place called Joy which was only a gift shop with also cold & hot drinks and huge fresh cookies and muffins and outhouses. These people had 5 children and 18 foster children at one time. We also stopped later for lunch at a place that was used highly when the pipeline and road was being constructed. It was all metal buildings. They had put them together and one area was still being rented for $99/night. There was just a very long narrow hallway with doors on each side--didn't get to see the rooms. We ate in their dining room with our sack lunches. A lot of this road was dirt but packed down pretty good. The tour bus got filthy and we saw a number of truck and pull campers and motorcycles--all of them filthy. I don't know how the cycles did it.
We stopped to see the pipeline up close and also walked out onto the perma frost--its spongy on top of the perma frost and down it is stone hard frozen. We also found blueberries there and picked and ate them. We kept driving within sight a lot of the time of the pipeline. It is not straight much of it zigzags and about half is underground and the other is on arms above the ground. There were only 7 construction workers killed during its building. That did not include truck drivers. The oil comes into the pipes at 185 degrees but gets down to 145 thru its trip to Valdez. The amount of oil being pumped has dropped significantly. Each resident who applies each year to receive whatever amount the state oks--it is the same for everyone but it depends, I think, on how much was made from the states investments. One year they received a $3300 payout. The state receives money from the oil revenue that goes into a permanent fund which just accumulates for the use of the state when the oil money is gone. There is no state sales tax--it is left up to each municipality as to whether then want one or not. They do have property tax but no state income tax--they did away with it. Prices are significantly higher on most everything up here. They grow very little of their own food due to the lack of good soil and a very short growing season unless people have their own gardens or greenhouses but they fish and hunt and trap. People live out in the woods everywhere and love it.In the rural areas the state pays 100% of school costs:home school, books, study by computer or correspondence but if you live in town the state pays 75%. People are very strong and independent up here it seems.
On the way back the sky was very blue with beautiful white clouds and when he stopped at a pull out he showed us where Mt. McKinley (Denali) should be and told anyone with binoculars to check. I took my spotting scope so I checked and we could see it so I took out the spotting scope and set it up so everyone could get a view. It was about 120 miles as the crow flies. Just the very tip was covered with clouds. Other than that I saw a rabbit and a raven. We arrived home about 9pm and we were all tired. That's all.
One of the stops we made was at a place called Joy which was only a gift shop with also cold & hot drinks and huge fresh cookies and muffins and outhouses. These people had 5 children and 18 foster children at one time. We also stopped later for lunch at a place that was used highly when the pipeline and road was being constructed. It was all metal buildings. They had put them together and one area was still being rented for $99/night. There was just a very long narrow hallway with doors on each side--didn't get to see the rooms. We ate in their dining room with our sack lunches. A lot of this road was dirt but packed down pretty good. The tour bus got filthy and we saw a number of truck and pull campers and motorcycles--all of them filthy. I don't know how the cycles did it.
We stopped to see the pipeline up close and also walked out onto the perma frost--its spongy on top of the perma frost and down it is stone hard frozen. We also found blueberries there and picked and ate them. We kept driving within sight a lot of the time of the pipeline. It is not straight much of it zigzags and about half is underground and the other is on arms above the ground. There were only 7 construction workers killed during its building. That did not include truck drivers. The oil comes into the pipes at 185 degrees but gets down to 145 thru its trip to Valdez. The amount of oil being pumped has dropped significantly. Each resident who applies each year to receive whatever amount the state oks--it is the same for everyone but it depends, I think, on how much was made from the states investments. One year they received a $3300 payout. The state receives money from the oil revenue that goes into a permanent fund which just accumulates for the use of the state when the oil money is gone. There is no state sales tax--it is left up to each municipality as to whether then want one or not. They do have property tax but no state income tax--they did away with it. Prices are significantly higher on most everything up here. They grow very little of their own food due to the lack of good soil and a very short growing season unless people have their own gardens or greenhouses but they fish and hunt and trap. People live out in the woods everywhere and love it.In the rural areas the state pays 100% of school costs:home school, books, study by computer or correspondence but if you live in town the state pays 75%. People are very strong and independent up here it seems.
On the way back the sky was very blue with beautiful white clouds and when he stopped at a pull out he showed us where Mt. McKinley (Denali) should be and told anyone with binoculars to check. I took my spotting scope so I checked and we could see it so I took out the spotting scope and set it up so everyone could get a view. It was about 120 miles as the crow flies. Just the very tip was covered with clouds. Other than that I saw a rabbit and a raven. We arrived home about 9pm and we were all tired. That's all.
No comments:
Post a Comment