Fairbanks and Arctic Circle

August 14 – 18, 2016 Fairbanks, Alaska – Arctic Circle, Dalton Highway

We arrived in Fairbanks on Sunday and spent the night in the Walmart parking lot along with about 30 other RVs.  Some of the RVs are using this parking lot as their permanent residence. We left for the Arctic Circle about 12:00 P.M.  after Lynne’s nail appointment and spent the night at a BLM campground near the Yukon River. The Dalton highway is a gravel road that is coated with calcium chloride to control dust. It is very slippery when wet and, of course, we ran into a ferocious rain storm. At one point, while climbing a steep hill, the motor home started to go sideways. The next morning we continued the 299 mile round trip up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle. The road was created to build the Alaska pipeline and the pipeline can be seen from most points on the road.  The BLM se tup a tent at the Arctic Circle and gave all those who made the trip a Certificate of  Accomplishment. We walked on the tundra and observed that it was very soft like walking on a plush carpet. We also saw stunted trees caused by the absence of light during the winter.We were going to stay at the Arctic Circle BLM campground but were concerned about another rain storm and slippery road so we came back to Fairbanks. We spend the next two nights in the Walmart parking lot. While there we washed the motor home and restocked our supplies.