Our Travels in a Nutshell: Fairbanks, Alaska

Sunday, September 13

Well, at 1.30 am we got the call from the Front Desk to say that the Northern Lights were visible above. Hallelujah! We dressed quickly and hurried out into the cold night air that seemed even colder after our cosy warm bed! We made our way, with several other hearty souls, to an unlit area and gazed heavenward. All that could be seen was the faintest wispy cloud and a brighter patch right on the horizon. We watched doggedly for about a half an hour as three wisps moved around above us but no colour was evident - very disappointing considering our effort! Tonight we have not asked for the phone call as we have to be up around 3.00 am ready for our 4.10 am shuttle to the airport ready for our 6.30 am flight - lucky us! You never know, we may see the Northern Lights then!

Waiting for our brunch in the only open diner in town!

After our disturbed sleep, we slept in until 8.30 this morning then got up to find it snowing. We went downstairs for the obligatory morning coffee before heading out to explore Fairbanks downtown. By now, it was drizzling only. What a sad and sorry place downtown is too. We concluded that there had to be another part of town not shown on our Visitors Map because no one in their right mind would want to live in or near what we were seeing. We found a diner for brunch and were the only customers - always a worry but nothing else was open. The meal was quite good and we all felt sated afterwards.

In front of a local Inuit Leader's statue

We then went to have a look at a Collectibles Shop that Tony was keen to see. It was quite interesting and seemed a reasonable thing to do in the weather. From there we headed to a coffee and fudge shop for a warm up drink then on to the Visitor Centre where we saw a movie on the Northern Lights and what we could have potentially seen! It only made us more disappointed. The Inuit displays were excellent.