985 July 14, 2023 North Pole

It was sprinkling this morning when I went out to walk. 

Anyone looking to relocate? We were told that the average salary of men and women working at Prudhoe Bay is $150,000.

We were ready to leave early.  Our first destination was The Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska.  We got there at 9:30 and they didn’t open until 10am.  I took a walk to the property next door. 

The Antler Academy is the home of Santa’s reindeer.  Caribou and reindeer are two different names for the same animal.  For an admission charge, you can go on a tour, learn more about the reindeer, and feed them.  Or, you can stay outside the fence and take pictures! 

Big guy.

Little guy.

When The Santa Claus House opened, Tim and I went in with all the other grandparents who were waiting.  I had read that you could have a letter sent from Santa to your little loved ones.  We picked one out and then went on search of postcards.  As I walked through the shop, I could smell the aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and brewing coffee.  I resisted and walked past.  As I wandered, I found Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Santa was doing a video with a grandfather for his grandchildren.  I went to get Tim and we stood in line.  This Santa was the real deal.  He had the perfect manner and personality and he made this amazing video with us!  By the end, both Tim and I had tears.  Such joy!!! We could hardly wait to get outside to send the video to David and Dre.  We were thrilled later in the day to get a video back with the kids’ reactions.   What a fun time.  This was definitely something we haven’t done before…and probably wouldn’t have…except for those two boys!

We traveled south on the Richardson Highway.  We saw this guy running with a cart. The message on the back : Walking around the world from Alaska to Argentina…WOW…just WOW!

The road parallels the Tanana River for a while.  We could see parts of the Alaska Range in the distance.

Crossing the Tanana River. There is also a suspension bridge for the pipeline.

We continued on our way to Delta Junction.  There was a Harvest Host site at Delta Meat and Sausage.  We called and they told us to come on in!  We arrived in late afternoon.  We purchased some elk sausage, some buffalo summer sausage, and some ground buffalo.

We passed a quiet evening in the parking lot, riding bikes, walking, and relaxing.  Home for the night!