Alaska 2018 – Yukon Quest Feb 1 – Feb 13, 2018

Introduction

This trip began with a phone call from Cal’s brother, Wilbur, in the summer of 2017.  During the summer of 2015, Wilbur went to the village of Eagle, Alaska to build homes for Native Americans whose homes had been flooded by the Yukon River after an ice dam formed on the river.  While in Eagle, Wilbur became aquainted with Burr and Sandy Lidic who live in Eagle.  They told him about the Yukon Quest dog sled race and invited him to return in February of 2016 to watch the dog teams as they come through Eagle, which is one of the check points for the Quest.  Wilbur decided to accept their invitation. At that point Wilbur asked Cal if he would like to join him.  Cal decided to decline the invitation.

Now fast forward to the summer of 2017.  Wilbur decided to return to Alaska to watch the Yukon Quest and return to Eagle.  He again invited Cal to join him on the trip.  This time Cal was ready to go with him.  During September 2017, while Cal and Rachel were in Alaska, we drove 65 miles one way, on gravel, to the village of Eagle and had coffee with the Lidic’s. This gave us a preview of Eagle, AK.

Here we are, on February 1, 2018, on our way to Alaska.  Our plans are to fly into Fairbanks on Thurs. Feb. 1, and watch the start of the Yukon Quest Dog Sled race in downtown Fairbanks on Saturday.  On Monday, Feb. 5, Wilbur and Cal will fly on the mail plane to Eagle, so they are there when the first dog sled teams come through early Tuesday morning (in the dark).  During the time the guys are in Eagle, Rachel will stay in Fairbanks and see the sights of Fairbanks.  Rachel made arrangements for us to stay at a PEO B & B in Fairbanks. She will continue to stay there while Cal and Wilbur are in Eagle.  On Thursday, Feb 8, Cal will return to Fairbanks.  Wilbur will stay in Eagle a week.  After Cal returns we will drive the rental car around Alaska for 5 days.  On Feb 13 the 3 of us will return to Iowa.

In addition to watching the Dog Sled race we are looking forward to seeing Denali - our third try, the Northern Lights and Alaska during the winter.  During the night of January 31, the temperature in Eagle was -39 F, so we are taking all our warmest winter clothing with us.  The forcast calls for the temperature to moderate slightly, so that the lows are to be in the negative single digits, which will still be cold!  It is supposed to be -19 F in Fairbanks when we arrive on Thursday night, Feb 1.

According to the weather map, on Feb 1, the sun comes up at 9:42 and goes down at 4:23.   This trip is about experiencing Alaska in winter!

Our flights today are from Cedar Rapids, IA to Chicago, to Seattle, and on to Fairbanks.