On the Road, Again...

Less than 24 hours from returning from Utqiaġvik, I am heading off again. Since there is very long (over six hour) layover in Seattle, we opted to try out the new Alaska Airlines lounge in the South Terminal. It has only been open a week. It has a great view of the runway, lots of comfy chairs, free food, and drinks. I had pancakes and veggie chili for lunch and a chicken salad for dinner. Plus a couple of “healthy” oatmeal raisin cookies. A latte in the afternoon as I thought that it may ease my throat. This cough and cold is lingering on. The next flight is a night flight arriving in Atlanta at 5:15 in the morning. Ugh… at least we have been partially upgraded. Something that Alaska Air calls “Premium Class”. Free drinks, a bit more legroom, and more snacks. It’s something.

South Terminal Alaska Air Lounge

Golden Spike Reenactment

I flew back into Fairbanks this afternoon and we headed to Pioneer Park aka Alaskaland. They were having a reenactment of driving the golden spike for the Tanana Mine Railroad, a narrow-gauge railroad serving the Tanana Valley. Engine No. 1 has been completely restored and is the original steam engine for the railroad. The "golden spike" was made of brass and kind of slipped into a prepared hole in the wooden tie.

This reenactment was part of Golden Days here in Fairbanks which celebrated the towns mining background. This old car has been in the parade for as long as I've lived in Fairbanks. It smokes and stalls its way along the parade route but always starts and runs when needed. I didn't attend the parade as I was still sitting in the airport around that time.

Northern Beach

After the wind and the cold yesterday, this seems to be pretty nice. This is looking north from the BEO towards the NARL campus but the most notable thing (barely visible) is the radar dome located about a half-mile east of NARL.

The next two pictures are from the beach. The whale bones have been there a long time but I'm not sure what the concrete thing is. It wasn't there before. It really is a pretty nice day here though the temperature is still in the mid-40s (°F). I guess summer was a couple of weeks ago when the temperatures were into the mid-70s (°F).

No polar plunge for me. Not even tempted. The beach here isn't sandy but sort of gravel. Smaller than pea gravel. And, I believe that’s fog on the horizon.

Out on the BEO

It was kind of dreary out on the BEO (Barrow Environmental Observatory) today. This is the beginning of the boardwalk. I didn't have very far to go to check out the connection at the SledShed. In prior years, I had to venture quite a ways out and the nice boardwalk disappears into the water and mud in quite a few places.

Configured multiple radios including one that will need to be installed out on the BEO. Hopefully, UIC Science will be able to get it installed out there. They moved me into their newest housing unit that was recently remodeled.

There was a community science fair going on at the BARC so there must’ve been a hundred people running around the building this afternoon. They provided hamburgers and hot dogs and had a series of presentations scheduled this evening. Lots of people on the Internet so service is a little slow. This is just a view from the BARC looking north towards the NARL campus.