Sunday July 4, Fairbanks, AK

Independence Day, and we decided to stay put and celebrate in town before going North.

Last year we were in a small town in Iowa and went to their parade which was a huge event, but the celebrations here were not on the same scale, but still fun to be at. They held the event at Pioneer Park and quite a big crowd was there to hear the speeches and the display by the military. There was a ceremonial shooting of guns as each of the States was read out followed by a parade of their flags. The old paddle steamer was the focus for it and she was decked out in red, white and blue.

They had a “Dog Pulling” competition which obviously is a popular event, the huskies were harnessed up and pulled a rubber tired sled which was progressively loaded up with more and more concrete weights. We watched the lightweight dog section and they were pulling over 1000lbs. The handlers were as much fun to watch as their dogs, as they tried to get them to put the weight on to get the cart moving.

Then out to Santa’s house at the North Pole and to see his reindeer. A really popular tourist stop with every xmas decoration you could possibly want. 

Last night we had a knock on the door and it was a chap from Tauranga. Jack and Yvonne McLean had spotted our NZ signage, and they were also staying in the carpark. They had flown to Vancouver 3 months ago, and spent the next 10 days buying an RV. They will be on the road for about 6 months, we spent the evening swapping notes.