Delta Junction
Alaska - USA 
Airstreaming  2006

Arrive:   July 18
Depart:  July 20
Road Conditions:  Good
Weather:  Sunny
Miles:  188

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Junction is the perfect title for this town. A good place to stop on the way to somewhere else. The official end to the Alaska Highway  lies here with the appropriate monument. We took a picture and headed across the street to a small but interesting farmers'  market. There were some interesting homemade items including a wonderful hot pepper jelly that has since spiced up a few happy hours. Kathleen had an interesting discussion with a few ladies regarding winter conditions. For example, how did they tolerate the weather and darkness and when did they cancel school? Home in Connecticut just the threat of snow could lead to school closings while here in the North country only fifty below zero will do it. Most every Alaskan we have spoken to looks forward to the winter months and welcomes the solitude, the quiet, and the snowmobiles. Alaska and the people here remind me of  days gone by. Any idiot politician (we have one in CT) proposing a law to regulate movie start times would be laughed out of the state.

The road here, by the way, was quite good. Just outside of Chicken it turned to pavement making travel easy. There was a great deal of  burn damage from  a 2004 fire that almost reached Chicken. They do not fight wilderness fires here unless human life or towns are threatened. The burned area seemed to go on for miles and often jumped about leaving some trees untouched. Some of the fire statistics point out just how big the state of Alaska is. The acreage burned in 2004 equals the size of Vermont and the amount burned in 2005 would cover both Connecticut and Rhode Island but the state is not in ruin, burned areas are springing back to life and green trees roll across the hills like a carpet.

We got our first look at the pipe line, a section crossing the Tanana River and visited the Rika's Roadhouse which I think is a requirement for lack of other attractions. Kathleen tried on, and I must say a very beautiful and soft, beaver jacket. With scratch pad out the sales clerk offered a special reduced price. I think it was just under four thousand dollars but I was choking at the time and couldn't see her figures clearly. Sandy left with moccasins and Kathleen with the dream of visiting her beaver jacket again in the future.

Smith's Green Acres Campground was our home for two nights complete with wifi. There we met a born and raised Alaskan, Michele Stevens who brightened our evening with stories and information that only a native Alaskan can furnish. She has and loves Airstreams so the friendship was instant. She toured ours, we toured hers then she presented us with a bottle of preserved moose meat and also suggested we take a ride out to see her house in Petersville. Michele said she owns the town and has mining claims in the area then presented us pictures of the access road while asking if our cars were four wheel drive - I smell adventure. Ted and Lois gave Michele a blue beret from the Wally Byam Club and she wore it proudly. We decided to treat Michele to dinner the next day "What would you like Michele, how about a nice moose dish?" We let her choose, so t-bone steak it was and grilled perfectly by Mike while we had moose fajitas.  OK - it tastes much like beef  but a little tough and stringy.