Day #15 June 11, 2008

This is Ila writing Phyllis' thoughts. Wake up call 4:30 am. Arrived at tour place for 6:30 tour to the Arctic Circle. There were 20 plus in a mini bus but it was nice -- good ride and able to see well. First stop was at a little place called Joy where we discovered the owner was from Red Oak Iowa originally. We rode and rode and rode and rode -- some of the road was good and some nasty -- we rode and rode and rode. The driver was very informative but he never shut up. We stopped at various places ie the pipeline (several times), the tundra (where we got out and walked). We took sack lunch but ate at the Yukon River Lodge. Then on up the mountain. Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy we reached the Arctic Circle where the driver put out a red carpet for us to walk on, got our individual pictures taken and served us cake & topping, which he called something else but we can't remember what. Back down the mountain. Made several more stops. Supper was at the Yukon River Lodge -- Phyllis had some kind of chicken with noodles, Ila had salmon w/rice and veggies, Linda had salad, pie/w ice cream. Good but too expensive. Continue on and stopped again at Joy. Now this was a "pit" stop and the "pits" were wooden outhouses but OH SO WELCOME! Finally back to Fairbanks about 9:30 pm where we got our certificate. It was a long day. Every time the door of the bus was opened, there were hordes of mosquitos who migrated inside. They seem to be larger than Iowas' and a little sluggish so sometimes you can kill them.