North Pole, Alaska

North Pole Alaska was a big disapointment. I expected an entire town of North Pole but the only North Pole Christmas stuff was the North Pole Christmas Store, complete with reindeer and the Santa Land RV Park next door. It is what it is!

BBFN, Karen and Don

Creamer's Field, Fairbanks, AK

Don spotted this "home made" sprinkler system as we drove in. It seems that the small wheel has water being sprayed up to it; gears inside the small wheel turn the wheel when it is hit by water, which in turn causes the top larger round wheel to rotate around and water comes out of it watering the lawn. A true "Rube Goldberg" was Don's comment, but he loved the system.

Creamer's Field was once the site of Creamer's Dairy Farm, the largest and most successful dairy in interior Alaska. Because migratory birds had been stopping each spring to feast on the fallow fields, when the dairy farm went up for sale the community of Fairbanks raised funds to secure the lands for migratory and local birds The farm today is known as Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and owned by the State of Alaska--managed for the Department of Fish and Game.

The white building was the original Creamery and now houses exhibits of birds and their amazing migrations, teaching areas, and a nature store.

During my couple of visits geese and Sandhill Cranes were the dominate birds. A duck was seen here and there.

Sandhill Cranes cover over 4,000 miles annually in their migratory runs. These Lesser Sandhill Cranes of interior Alaska are about 3 feet tall with a wingspan of 6 feet and weigh 6-8 pounds. The central flyway they use during migration often has an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 birds flying the pathway.

Both sexes are gray however they "paint" their feathers with mud and rotting vegetation creating rusty highlights (above).

The red cap on the head of the crane comes after the first year and can increase or decrease depending on the birds mood.

Watch these cranes for awhile and you have to laugh at their antics. They fluff themselves to appear bigger and extend their wings in preparation to protect or fight, or stand beak to beak posturing. They are comical birds.

The cranes gather (staging) until there are perhaps 50 to several hundred. Taking off the cranes wheel and call while flying high overhead in great circling columns, or "kettles" as they fly over the norther foothills of the Alaska Range heading southward for the winter.


BBFN, Karen and Don

Georgeson Botanical Gardens - Fairbanls

After visiting the Museum of the North, Judy, Jerry and I moved on to the Georgeson Botanical Gardens, which are also a part of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The gardens belong to the School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Department of Plant, Animal and Soil Sciences. Just about covers it all, I'd say. Being from the farming country in Wisconsin originally, Funks were really excited to see the farm buildings at the garden center because they were exactly like the ones they grew up on, in and around. Ah, a touch of ole home...

It appeared to me that a large part of the gardens were used for experimental purposes, creating different colors of existing flowers (i.e. lavender daises) and ruffles on pansies. Even the bugs like the one on the geranium plant looked a little different. Note white spot at top of body (below).

Much of the garden has been given to specific people and organizations to plant and care for. Bob Wheeler from the Cooperative Extension is studying how well composite wood products made from local white spruce hold up to long daylengths, frigid winters and contact with garden soils, using accessible beds and composite wood raised beds. This is a GREAT idea for gardeners who can no longer bend down easily.

The cabbage may not be as big as they grow them in Anchorage and Palmer, home of the Alaska State Fair and giant vegetables, but it looks plenty big to us.

Somehow I don't think the original color of the flower left was a soft pink leading to the darker pink with a bright yellow stamen and pistils.

I know I have never seen a pansy with ruffled edges before. I like it though and the flower
looks more delicate.

Left is a sampling of a portion of the garden area, which now covers several acres with potential for more planting space. 300 annual flowers are being trialed this year. Truran Memorial Herb Garden volunteers experiment in growing annual and perennial herbs. The Ohlsen Family Food Garden has a variety of trials on coriander and comparisons between heirloom and hybrid produce. Peony flowers in Alaska bloom in July and August and varieties are in trials to determine which ones might be useful in a cut flower industry. The Weavers & Spinners Guild plant a garden with annuals and perennials that may be used as natural dyes. There are shade gardens, pond and wetland gardens and a children's garden.

This daisy to the right almost looks like it has the head of a sunflower and it will pop out is sun flower seeds any time now.

Oh yes, and this delightful Lesser Weasel was so much fun to watch as he scampered in and out of
the gardens, then take off for gardens elsewhere
only to return again to the vegetables. Not easy
to capture a good picture of this moving target.

This waterfall and surrounding pond was design by 4-H children from Denali Elementary School. It is a great example of a small backyard wetland.

We come to the children's garden complete with a semi-quasi log cabin tree house. Excellent scare
crows to keep out all the ravens.

This beautiful bush is truly that, a trailing pine bush, not a fallen down pine tree. The needles are long and compact. It would make a very good planting for berms and gravel gardens such as this one.

Because the gardens are part of an overall farm, the domesticated reindeer was near the barn.








This is a great garden to visit when in Fairbanks.


BBFN, Karen and Don

Museum of the North - Fairbanks, AK

The Murries in Alaska, painted by their good friend, M.C. "Rusty"Heurlin. Having read the story of the Murries exploration of Alaska, "Two In The Far North", the picture is exactly how I pictured the couple.

Athabascan formal dress, beaded on hide.

Complete set of bone engraved knives depicting outdoor scenes of animals.

Left is the traditional Fox Forehead Mask, used in dancing ceremonies as a dancer becomes the fox.

Calyspo by Tamara Schmidt in 2003 (right) was modeled after a pure bred Morgan horse by the same name. The sculpture is made of Adler wood, steel and wire.

This bright and amazing piede of art by Donald Varnell was named Logic Board. It was made of red cedar, acrylic, chalk color pencils and graphite. Did you find any logic in it?

Sidney Laurence is a well known artist in Alaska and has many paintings hung in the Museum of the North. I liked his work and this one to me, camped in the snow, was all that needed to be said about early Alaska.

M.C. "Rusty" Heurlin (1985-1986), the artist did such an exceptional job of making the viewer feel the wind and bitter cold.




"Blue Babe" is an actual Alaska Steppe Bison. This is the reconstructed carcass, found in 1979 by the Roman family at their placer mine near Fairbanks. The Steppe Bison is one of several extinct mammals that roamed Alaska during the Wisconsinan glacial period 100,000 to 10,000 years ago. It was estimated this Steppe Bison died some 36,000 years ago by an American Lion, (determined through the claw marks on the carcass and tooth punctures in the skin. The bison died with all four feet under him, as they do today when captured by predators.

This bit of gold is Alaska's largest public display of gold.

The museum hosted a grand view of gems and minerals found around the world. This is one window out of 6 4-storied windows on display.

This is Epidote (left), composed of calcium, aluminum, iron and silica. This world class specimen of Green Monster Mountain was found on Prince of Wales Island. Found in 1982 this specimen has several large, dark green epidote crystals and numerous smaller quartz crystals.

As we found in many businesses throughout Fairbanks, abundant colorful flowers have been planted. The flowers everywhere seemed very healthy and well taken care of. These are found outside the entrance to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

In addition to all the art found inside the museum, there were several outdoor exhibits.



Perhaps difficult to understand, the form
to the left is a modern day Totem sculpture.

To the right is a very modern "Denali" sculpture.

It wouldn't be Alaskan art without the totem pole.
This has been named "Everyone's Grandfather".

In 2005 the University of Alaska Museum of the North opened its new, with a view to the modernistic future, wing, which doubled the size of the museum facilities. The design (by architect Joan Soranno) is meant to convey a sense of Alaska, evoking images of alpine ridges, glaciers and a diving whale's tail. OK!
Before we came to Alaska and traveling through the State, we were often told to be sure and visit the Museum of the North in Fairbanks if nothing else. This museum has become known as the premier repository for artifacts and specimens collected in Alaska and a leader in northern natural and cultural history research. There are 3 main areas of art: Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery from ancient ivory carvings to contemporary sculpture; Gallery of Alaska focuses on people, wildlife, geography and history of each of Alaska's five major geographic regions; and Alaska Classics presenting historical paintings from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries.

Museum of the North is well worth your time spent there. We visited the museum with the Funks and I believe we can say all four of us enjoyed the visit and were very glad we went.

BBFN, Karen and Don