North Pole

This morning we left our Buckshot Betty’s cabin and headed toward the U.S. border:

We stopped at the Welcome to Alaska sign for a picture:

 

Just over the border, we stopped to fill up – we were thrilled to pay $4.20 per gallon after filling up a few times in Canada for $1.40 per liter.  We also eagerly took our phones off airplane mode, but we had no coverage for miles.  We stopped to take a picture at the end of the Alaska Highway:

 

This map shows the whole Alaska Highway:

 

Our next stop was the North Pole!  The town is actually not at the north pole, but it’s officially named North Pole – it’s the place where all the letters to Santa are delivered.  Streets have names like St. Nicolas and Mistletoe; the streetlight poles are painted like candy canes, and they have a huge Santa:

 

  a Christmas House:

And reindeer:

From North Pole, we drove 15 more miles and got to Fairbanks, where we stopped driving for the day.  Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, and it’s only about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle.  Tomorrow, we’ll get some food, fill the gas cans and make sure the jeep is all set for the drive to the Arctic circle. Tonight, sunset is at midnight, then twilight lasts until sunrise at 4:00 – I’m thankful for blackout curtains!