Friday, February 23, 2018

Sunny Day for Sightseeing, Fairbanks Ghost Town, Sandhill Cranes


It was a few minutes after 7 when I got up this morning, Friday, Feb. 23rd, after laying awake for almost an hour. I was happy to wake up though because one of my dreams was about work. Both Bill and I were entangled in that web, dealing with that crap, so wakefulness was like a fresh retirement all over again! It was 32F and Black Beauty’s windshield had been visited by Jack Frost.

Nice quiet drive on Az 82 to Fairbanks
Because of the later night last night and downloading my pictures seemed to take forever, I had no patience to publish. It was 10:30 when I went to bed and that is late for me. I know I dropped right off with my warm little snuggle bum leaning up against me. The sheets felt cold so I curled up into a ball for a while, circulating the heat.


I made my tea and sat to finish my post from yesterday. Downloading was better was not as fast as it has been here. That meant no early walk, my toes say ‘thank you’. Bill was up before 7:30 and made his coffee before joining me. We read blog posts and comments before I halved our grapefruit. I’m glad we have friends here to help me eat the lemons I brought from the KOA. I gave Laurel 2 last night.

We walked back into Fairbanks along this short lane
I should take her suggestion and put them in my water for a change in taste. Bill was doing some banking online and I went up to change our sheets. We have one nice warm fuzzy fitted sheet so it went on. Now that our nights are cooler, we/I will appreciate it more. We only have a sheet and a duvet on top and that seems to do the trick for us. I may be able to snag a washer tonight around 6 to wash the sheets that I removed.


Around 10:00 I began cooking our bacon and eggs for breakfast and then we cleaned up the dishes. As we were about to head out the door, Scott came over to ask Bill if he had a hose or something (things I don’t get involved in) to help him solve a problem with his trailer. Then we hopped in the truck and drove to see the Fairbanks Ghost Town we’ve heard about.

The only building that was accessible
O-k-a-y……….it wasn’t quite what we expected and have to admit that we were disappointed. Only the Schoolhouse was accessible and as nicely set up as it was, maybe I’ve seen too many already. The things for sale in there were a ridiculous price so other than walking the grounds and dropping a donation in the post at the gate, it was a ‘been there, done that’ kind of thing for us. There was a bulldozer and lots of pylons laying around which really took away from the ‘ghost town’ it was supposed to portray.

Historic town of Fairbanks
Occupied from 1881 to 1973
This town was founded during the Tombstone silver rush
It is interesting that in 1884, 74 male residents populated Fairbanks
1910 - 40 households/242 residents
1920 - 37 households/177 residents
1930 - 72 residents

now that is one old sharpener
and yet this type really hasn't changed much
This isn't new to me
I attended one room school houses as a child
Although we weren't allowed to wear a hat
I don't know why, but this gathering of trees appealed to me
From there, Bill surprised me by asking for the directions to see the Sandhill Cranes that Ken gave me yesterday. We drove through Tombstone, which we saw last winter, without stopping today and followed the directions to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area. Well, let me tell you………that rough dirt road was totally worth it. As we’re driving close to the turn off, we could see 100’ of cranes flying off in the distance. Hurry, hurry!

This first impression was as jaw dropping for me as Dante’s View, Death Valley and perhaps even the Grand Canyon. I couldn’t stop saying “Oh my God, OMG!” We walked as close as we could and we both began snapping photos. Bill with his telephoto lens and me with my camera phone. Darn it! I wish my camera was fit to use, I would have loved the zoom feature for this. We hung around for at least 30 minutes before heading back home.

The sandhill cranes spend the nights standing in the shallow water to evade predators
During the day, they fly out for food
They return to Whitewater Draw in the afternoon again
Each winter more than 20,000 cranes frequent this area
The winds have picked up and although it was reading 60F and total sunny skies, it seemed to go right through me. Oh, and it wasn’t a good hair day. I took my cowboy hat but no way was it going to stay on my head. Back home, Bill and I took a walk around the park and on the way back I meant to check out the laundromat here. I forgot. Now that I’m inside again, with a nice cup of hot creamy tea, I may wait until tomorrow to do a load of laundry.



Bill took many really nice pictures with his zoom
So, I'm borrowing these 3

again a picture does not do it justice
If you haven't been, GO!
We sat with our books and dozed a bit and soon enough it was time to start making supper. Again, with the winds, we changed our original plans of barbecuing. Instead we agreed on a poor man’s supper. Tube steak and pasta. I steamed some fresh spinach and cooked some corn for Bill. It was filling, fast and worked in a pinch. With the dishes cleaned up, I sat down at my laptop to sort through the many pictures I took today.
Bill reads about the area and I'm still amazed at the background of gray
Tube steak and mac and cheese
If you haven’t seen the Fairbanks Ghost Town, you won’t hear a recommendation from me to see it. If you’re driving past, yes, stop in. Otherwise, between October and February, keep on going and find Whitewater Draw instead. You won’t be disappointed. We had a great day today and saw some very cool birds! We hope yours was a good one as well.



Thank you for ‘flying’ in. I’d love to hear from you.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like I can cross this ghost town off my to see list. The cranes look like they would be fun to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It just wasn't what I expected, Tom. You might like it and if you're going that way anyway. We didn't take the hikes they suggested to the cemetery, just weren't encouraged enough.
      The cranes were very cool to see!

      Delete
  2. Wow, that's a lot of birds. Interesting place to see I'm sure.

    Too bad about the Ghost Town. Oh well, at least you can say, been there done that.

    Nothing wrong with a poor man's supper. Good, filling food, that's what counts.

    I went to school in a 3 room school house, we couldn't wear hats either.

    Nice pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tons of birds, we really were glad we went.
      Supper was filling for sure. I hope they do things to make that Ghost Town more inviting. What do they do with the donations when it isn't visible.

      Delete
  3. I am catching up again...:) Yesterday's sunrise picture between the trees is great and loved the ways the clouds looked like they were resting on the mountain. The picture of Bill and the kids was so cute...the only problem is I now have the words to the Pied Piper stuck in my head...lol What a nice way to end the day getting to know that young couple.
    Thanks for the warning we will not be stopping at Fairbanks Ghost Town. The Whitewater Draw that we will be looking for how beautiful to see all those Sandhill Cranes in one place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I seem to have to do a lot of catch up. It does take a lot of time to keep up with everyone!
      Sing it, Deb! :) Or maybe we don't want you to? ha ha
      Just not a recommendation for ME about the ghost town. I want a stop to be worthwhile and it wasn't for us.
      You'd love the cranes, Deb, with your camera. Take your tripod. There are benches to sit at if they are free.

      Delete
  4. There were lots of Cranes. The video was neat with them making their calling sounds.

    Nice to enjoy a day seeing new places even when they don't meet expectations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lots of gray on the horizon there for sure. I loved it!
      It was a beautiful day for a drive and at least we can cross Fairbanks off our list. :)

      Delete
  5. We enjoyed the ghost town and the train station platform back through the bush. made us think about life that must have been with all those people that used to live there.
    The cranes are amazing birds we have seen a few but not like that and the Whooping cranes in Rockport Texas were awesome.
    Enjoy more great days there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed the ghost town, we expected more, I guess.
      We loved the cranes and even though the road was dirt and would not be good after a rain, it was worth it for us.

      Delete
  6. It's amazing the noise sandhills make when together like this. There is a refuge about five miles from my California home where they stay in the fall. It's crazy how many of them there are!!

    I'll cross Fairbanks OFF my list!! Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I couldn't imagine (like most places we've enjoyed) what 'seeing the sandhill cranes' would be like and I was so impressed!
      Fairbanks just wasn't our thing, now George enjoyed it so you never know! My pictures pretty much covered the buildings.

      Delete
  7. Another wonderful day! Fairbanks looked cute, it's just too bad more of the building weren't open. Ca has Bodie State Park, it's a big ghost town, but again you look in the windows and walk around, we've been a few times, but I always wish they'd open more buildings. The cranes are really something..gotta say. Beautiful blue skies and a quick but yummy dinner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The days are getting longer, the sun now in the sky later.
      Everyone is different so our thoughts about Fairbanks are just that. You take from them what you can. :) I would have liked to get into more buildings there too.
      The cranes made the trip worthwhile.
      It was a good day!

      Delete
  8. We had the same sentiment as you about the ghost town when we were there. Forgot about the crains they are amazing. Back home our supermarkets usually sell lemons in bunches in a net and I only want one, so started to freeze them squeezed, peeled and zested in separate containers. Works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think I've only seen maybe two Sandhill Cranes ever. That is awesome to see so many in one place. Bill took great pictures of the.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to choose from Bill's many pictures, they were all so good.
      It was such a treat seeing them all together like that.

      Delete