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TRAMPER TRAVELS - JULY 8 - ONWARD TO FAIRBANKS

We had a shorter travel day today. We decided to have a leisurely start to our day with an approximate “go” time of 9:00 a.m. So we went to breakfast where, of course, sourdough pancakes were on the menu. You may remember that the name of the campground is Sourdough Campground, and no, we weren’t eating the pancakes that were tossed last night. LOL.

Interesting information behind the meaning of “sourdough” in Alaska.

Sourdough is an Alaskan term that refers to someone who has lived in Alaska for several winters. The term likely originated in the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th Century. It was used as the opposite of the term Cheechako, which refers to those who were newly arrived at the mining camps.

So we were on the road at a bit after 9:00 a.m.. It was only a little over 200 miles, so that wasn’t bad. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (boo), and there were only a few bad frost heave spots (yay).

We stopped at Birch Lakes for a quick lunch on the way into town. I took a few minutes to grab some photos (of course). Mary also got some photos while we were stopped.

Of course, we HAD to make a stop at North Pole. Santa reigns supreme here all year long. We did a little shopping and then headed on to our Boondockers Welcome host site, where we will make camp for the next two nights.

I found my Alaska hoodie at North Pole. Not only is it a cool Alaska hoodie, it also has the year I was born on it, which is also the year that Alaska became the 49th state of the United States. Love that.

We got settled in, ate dinner, and played some Scrabble before calling it a day. I haven’t played Scrabble in years, and it showed! Again, I got the loser chip! LOL.

It amazes me how light it is late at night up here. I was aware of it being that way, but it’s very strange to actually experience it.

The picture of the truck and Tramper was taken at 11:10 p.m. last night. It’s so crazy!

It’s been another great day on this journey of ours. Thanks so much for following along.