Fairbanks to Denali

As soon as you get across the border from Canada the price of diesel and gas goes way down, we paid as high as $6.25 a gallon for diesel in Canada, this is in Fairbanks It was raining when we left Fairbanks
We are getting on what is called the Parks Highway, all the highways, (their freeways) are better known by names, the Alaska Highway, comes up from the lower states through Canadaand ends before it gets to Fairbanks, the Richardson goes from Valdez north to Fairbanks, the Dalton goes from Fairbaniks to Prudhoe Bay, and the newest highway, the Parks Highway built in the 70's goes by Denali Park and connects Anchorage with Fairbanks

I'm interested in these power lines because they go from the town of Healy

(where Cindy lived for 2 years)

to Fairbanks, and were built to supply electricity to Fairbanks from coal mined out of the hills in Healy, they bill it a"Clean" Coal Power

This is the railroad bridge across the Tanana, railroads play a much bigger role in Alaska's transportation than anywhere else I have been, especially tourism, we've seen train load after train load of cruise passengers from every cruise line you can imagine all over Alaska, guess they don't have to put up with the roads that way and I am sure the scenery is outstanding

We are getting ready to cross into Nanana, and yes it sound just like banana, this is a very important town in Alaska, this is where all the stores for all the little towns and settlements get shipped by barge, propane tanks will have names of people on them and are barged down to Nanana to be filled, then sent back up the river to supply them with their propane and all their other supplies, the barges are self propelled and don't require a tug boat

The other thing that Nanana is known for is it's Ice Break Up Contest, a tripod is put on the ice when the river is frozen, connected to a clock, and everyone buys a $2.50 chance at guessing when the ice will break up in the spring, it's a big deal around here with the winner getting thousands of dollars

The Tanana River flows into the Yukon River

It's a very cute little town

Here's an update on the leg, blood is following gravity, down it goes, it is in my foot now, makes me wonder, where does it go now, to my big toe?

That was the front of my leg, this is the back of my leg

I really do have chicken legs, it runs in the family, this is like taking a picture of your fish, it's that big, but it shows the bruise going down

The bruise eventually went all the way around my leg, who knows what happened

We drove a little over a hundred miles to Healy, which is just north of Denali Park, was an easy drive, and pretty much rained and was overcast throughout the drive