head in the clouds. That is how I felt when we went to the Arctic Lightning Airshow at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks AK Saturday the 13th https://www.eielson.af.mil/ArcticLightningAirshow/. We got up early for us to head out to the base beat traffic. 
You can see the vendor tents and people moving around here This was a good thing because the amount of people who were stuck in traffic at the start of the show was amazing. Front row parking and basic front and center on the bleachers for the airshow. Sitting front and center allowed me to wave to the pilots as they did a slow roll down the runway. 
The static displays had helicopters, fighting vehicles 
, the warthog (also known as Thunderbolt II), and a B52. 
Also on the ground was a plane that could carry large tanks in their belly. 
The same plane also doubled as the best seat in the house for these Airmen earlier in the day. I do not know how they got on the tail section but I bet they enjoyed themselves. 
I did not see the Air Force’s flying gas station a KC-135 Stratotanker on the ground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_KC-135_Stratotanker
I did see it participating in the simulated war game refueling planes in the air.
The first plane up in the air was the F-16, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon 
I did realize trying to take pictures of these jets is like trying to take in focus pictures of birds in flight only on steroids. 
I am also glad that earplugs were being given out for free. 
(I forgot how loud planes can be).
The treat of the afternoon was being able to have a demonstration of the F-35 fighter jet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II The treat I had when watching this plane do the climbs and dives 
I was able to catch the wave of sound right before it would have broken the sound barrier, this link explains what happens. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-happens-when-an-airc/
This jet will have a home here at Eielson AFB in the near future 
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/06/02/alaska-communities-prepare-for-incoming-f-35-squadrons-at-eielson-air-force-base/ I was amazed with how impressive this new jet fighter is, the announcer said we saw everything the jet has to offer except it’s fire power. 
After seeing the new we experienced the old.
Next up a T-33 subsonic jet trainer. One of my thoughts after seeing the speed of the F-16 and the F-35 is wow how slow is that plane moving.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_T-33 It may be old but it can still climb with the best of them. 
Finishing up the day the Air Force joined with the Army to show how both branches work together to retake an airfield when they can’t go 
in and just bomb it out of existence. The team work is done to minimize collateral damage.
Air support makes it safe for the ground forces to capture the rocket launcher held be insurgents, 
a bomb tech also was needed to clear any booby traps to make it safe. 
The whole day turned out to be relaxing and exciting at the same time. I am glad I was able to get a glimpse into the power that is at the hands of our military in the event of an attack.
Fairbanks for 8 nights. Mother Nature had some different plans. That picture was one of the nights you could see smoke in town, it also helped us make the decision to stay in town for the next few weeks. We are still planning on driving up the Dalton and leaving the trailer in Fairbanks (baby still needs a rest). As far as driving to circle this might be out of the question because it’s a little far for a day trip. There is still a fire burning by Chena Hot Springs which was in the plans at one time. This past weekend did help some of the fires because of the rain it also cleared the air for the airshow at Eielson Air Force Base. I am ok with this 3 weeks in Fairbanks it will give me enough time to explore plus eat at some good restaurants that we discovered on our last time here.
ou can see smoke in the pictures. The park itself was large we were able to rent 2 scooters for $10 an hour what better way to get around. Each of the buildings were moved from other areas of Fairbanks and each building has a plaque with where it was originally located. 
The brown building with the white trim was a house of Ill Repute. The park has a train but due to smoke in the air Roy had to settle on this to get his train fix. 
There is also an aviation museum on the grounds of the park. We did not go inside though we are here long enough I think it is worth a trip back. 
and she texted ok now I know it’s legit. I sent back Roy assures me it’s legit so please send money. This is what I got from her 
So the lemons we acquired have already been made into lemonade.
I will say I really thought Roy having two spares for the Jeep was overkill. It wasn’t. The second day up the Dempster started with a little bit of drizzle not bad at all. We made it passed the Artic circle even got a picture. Then we had just mentioned that the tire monitoring system on the RV had not beeped. Side note this system had been beeping over nothing. All of a sudden we hear a beep and see on the dash that our right rear tire of the jeep is going flat. You know how you just get a feeling, I knew the minute I saw the rock standing up and we hit the it that one of our tires were going to go flat. I hate it when I’m right :).
It was hard packed and worth the bumpy ride. I did see a caribou he had a nice set of antlers although you don’t get the full effect from the back side picture. 
I was surprised to see this guy, we stopped by the side of the road I got out to look for him. The guy gave me a chance for a headshot but I was surprised to see him looking at me so I missed the opportunity. The result was butt shot. At least I’ve seen a large animal on this trip. Someone posted a herd of caribou crossing this same area the day before. People we met on the road came through the day after we did and were stopped by the same herd. I think our timing is off. 🙂
The rolling hills and vast views can be almost as striking as having animals in the scene. (my story). We made it through customs at Poker Creek which is the farthest northern US border crossing. That’s what the sign said it also stated that the population of Poker Creek is 3. After a brief stop over at the Walker Fork BLM campground 
and the side trip to Eagle we headed to Chicken Alaska.
The chicken is above the actual town they do have three chickens of their own. We stayed here three years ago and the town seems to have stayed the same. The place Chicken Gold Camp 
.
that we drove through when we were on the Dempster. 
When the signs say road narrows it does. In fact in a couple of spots it is one lane. No worries you can see for miles and the dust cloud warns you that someone is coming. We only had to pull over once to let someone go by that was coming towards us. We drove over a earthquake fault you could not see but you could tell the difference in landscapes. It’s 78 miles from the campsite to Eagle we did it in a whopping 3 hours getting there and 2 1/2 hours coming home. (the extra time was stopping to take pictures I have been working on framing my landscapes). 
I did mention the views didn’t I. 🙂 Side note still no animals 
(unless you count the dog Roy saw) hopefully Yellowknife will be beyond our expectations.
They still worked and he even pumped the gas for us. $50.00 netted us 11 gallons $4.49 a gallon not bad for the middle of nowhere. In town it was $4.69 a gallon and we would have had to pump it ourselves. It was also cool to sit and chat with him about the local color. When asked how many stay for the winter; he said, ‘there are 78 diehards and 2 freeloaders from California.’ He was definitely outspoken. In small rural backwoods this can still be done. 
We wanted to continue onto town and see the end of the road. It dumps right into the Yukon River, 
in 2009 there was a flood that wiped out at least three city blocks. They have recovered but not all the shops came back.
I am so glad I stopped because it was a cute shop that also had t-shirts, she starting doing these last year because the store that had carried t-shirts and hats was wiped out by the flood of 09 and no one picked up the torch.
The good news is they were able to get it extinguished Dawson City will never get a McDonalds as it is a historical site. 
these were built on permafrost before people realized the building had to be raised. This is a replica of Jack London’s cabin 
which also benefits from Gerties profits. Here are some other buildings around Dawson 
It is starting to become a boomtown again, with the edition of a Westmark Inn 
.
is worth making the trip to Dawson. It was also enjoyable to shop in the only grocery store in town. 
. Some of the snowmobiles had pallets leaning up against them others had sleds attached to them. Roy kept mentioning he was surprised that the vehicles were left alone, I was surprised at how many there were. I was impressed with the winding of the road and how it hugged the water, no animals though. As we were pulling into Tuk there is the Parks Canada Pingo National Landmark. The area contains 8 pingos. Ibyuk Pingo is the tallest one in Canada and the second highest the tallest Pingo is in Alaska. You can actually paddle out to the pingos it is only a 45 minute paddle. Maybe next time. 
e the rolling landscapes were on. You can also see the road that we were headed on a few minutes later. The white you see is the cottonweed. The r
oad itself looks wet and it was. 🙂 This picture shows how close to the road the clouds were at one point. We kept driving in and out of the clouds all the way to Eagle Plains. I thought it was cool watching the clouds engulf us then we would suddenly be out of the clouds. The funny thing about pictures and promises they can almost not happen. I know I said I would get pictures of the Northwest Territories (NWT) sign, as we approached the clouds just engulfed the signs. Have no fear Roy came through. 
I think the pictures look great in the clouds.
which are believed to be the Northern most point of the Rockies. Speaking of the rockies we crossed the divide 3 times. Water was flowing into the Artic ocean and the Bering sea. I had a hard time watch water flow basically north.
This fox has been fed before he was almost begging for food. In fact the trash cans were overflowing and when we pulled in he had already been feasting on the trash. I wish people would think before they do. He kept coming by and sitting down looking like PLEASEEEEEEEEEE!! The fox did finally leave when more people pulled in. He was pretty scruffy because he was wet.
occurs for 25 kilometers here is just one picture. It looks like it is mud but that is actually a burnt orange color. It is mentioned that you will sometime smell sulfer I did not.
Tuk is 69 degrees N just barely above tree line which begins at 69 degrees N. The contrast between these two cities and the rest of Canada is interesting because it seems that Inuvik is still in what I would think the 60’s were like, Tuk I feel is probably more like the 40s. Just the vibe I got.
This picture shows the view of the town with a utilidor in the foreground. If you ever thought there was no Walmart north of the artic circle we found the twin sister to those stores. It is called Northmart and according to one local just like Walmart only more expensive and less quality (I cleaned this up). The store itself even had a food court. 
I guess when you have a captive audience. The town itself is still growing but like any struggling town you have your closed up businesses. One place everyone said to eat at was Alestine’s I think every northern town has to have a restaurant that uses a bus somehow for a restaurant. The food was great locally caught white fish and for desert a piece of tail (Eskimo Doughnut with hot fudge and honey) . 
and where you used to dip your toes in the water and get your certificate.
This drive had so many vast views and you felt like you could see forever. When we got to Tuk it was a strange feeling for me as I was truly at the end of land, you walk out to the edge of land and there is nothing but water in front of you. I’ve been to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean but I can’t put words on how this was different but it was. The Artic Ocean was at the top of the world maybe that was it. 
I did not put my feet in the water just my fingers. I have to say it was a tad chilly but warmer then I expected. I had my winter hat on and just a sweat shirt, not too bad though. The sense of accomplishment kept me warm. (ok my story). 
I was greeted by three friendly enthusiastic young adults. I asked how they felt about all the tourists coming up this year. They answered it gives them the ability to share their culture with the outside world. It was well worth the trip to get here. I thought you would like to see the cemetery, the reconstructed sod house, and a landscape.
First thing first we had to give the car and Lancelot a bath (or the important parts).
and how it is one of the few buildings not built on pilings, because of the permafrost and ground shifting. The most interesting part of the night I took the tour was the story behind the woman who after a hunting accident painted all of the paintings inside the church.
On the Road with Buki-6 