Saturday, July 2, 2022 - WE drive from Tok, Alaska to Fairbanks, Alaska. The road to Fairbanks is in pretty good shape compared to the last 200 miles we had driven only with many large potholes to avoid. When we arrived in Fairbanks, we went to American Tire to get two new tires for the RV. We want to keep the RV tires in good condition. We also had to contend with the high level of smoke in the air from various fires in northern Alaska. The visibility was very limited and you could smell the smoke continuously. We stayed at the Riverview RV Campground at North Pole, Alaska. This campground is about ten miles southeast of Fairbanks on the banks of the Chena River. The river is pretty calm with lots of floaters and rafters. The Chena River flows from near Eielson AFB past us and into Fairbanks.

Sunday, July 3, 2022 - Today, we decided to go to Fairbanks to drive around the town and explore. We went to the museum that is located at the University of Alaska campus and spent about an hour and a half there. We then decided to go to North Pole to check out the town and the Christmas Store that is located there. North Pole is trying hard to capitalize on its name and the Christmas Store has lots of Christmas items, but it is, basically, a tourist location . We then went back towards town to visit the Pioneer Village in the middle of town. The Pioneer Village was a series of small cabins or historic buildings that had been assembled in the middle of town and converted to small shops where you can buy tourist items. We went for a long walk along the river an then returned to Pioneer Town to get some soft serve ice cream. After the ice cream, we returned to the RV where we prepared a very good hamburger dinner.

Monday, July 4, 2022 -- On this day, we drove to the Chena Lake Recreation Area to kayak on Chena Lake. This lake was created by the U.S. Corps of Engineers when they built the flood control project to protect Fairbanks from the floods on the Chena River. The kayaking was fun and the lake was pretty. We kayaked for about two hours and then returned to the RV in North Pole. We then pulled the kayaks from the truck and loaded them in the RV. We had to prepare to depart for the town of Cantwell (near Denali National Park) in the morning.

Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - Depart for Cantwell RV Park in Cantwell, Alaska which is 30 miles south of Denali National Park.

FAIRBANKS AREA; Our appraisal of the Fairbanks area is that we were not impressed with it. The streets were pretty dirty and there was a lot of smoke in the air. There is not a lot to see there and they are trying to profit from the tourist trade. It is a long way from Tok to Fairbanks when you can take a shorter route to Denali and skip Fairbanks all together. We have decided that we would bypass Fairlbanks on the rest of our travels and certainly would not go there on the way home.