Dalton Highway to Arctic Circle

The "Haul" Road was our mission for today. First item was to secure an off-road vehicle, after we decided last night to rent an alternate vehicle since we were forbidden by Hertz to take the minivan on a number of rough roughs, including the Dalton. We headed over to Alamo to get a Jeep but all they had were Ford Escapes. The one we got was full of dings, scratches, and chips. Obviously this vehicle had survived the trip to the circle a few times in its 23,000 miles. After we were on our way I noticed the tires looked a bit worn and knowing I had to take a dirt road in the rain was cause for concern. Regardless, we trudged onward, covering the 63 or so miles out of Fairbanks along the paved Elliott Highway. We passed a moose snacking by a pond and arrived at a trading post. H and A used the fancy outdoor facilities while I hid in the car before we all went inside to hear a customer tell the proprietor his strategy on how to prepare for fast-approaching winter. "I got to start thinking about snow!" he repeated to them over and over. In fact as you read this I'm sure they're already buried under 20 feet of it. This place was one of the last vestiges of humanity in the area, besides the road itself and the hide-and-seek pipeline, of course. By around noon we reached the start of the Haul Road and we carried onward, with around 100 miles head of us to reaching our goal: The Arctic Circle. Unfortunately we saw someone fixing a flat tire bringing us the true realization that this was no place for a flat. Another 8 miles down the road and we pulled over to inspect our hardware only to find that our tires and spare were looking too rough to attempt to complete the ride so we reluctantly turned around. After our hasty and early return to civilization we had explored the bookstore and the University of Alaska Fairbanks and headed into town for an ealy dinner at Soapy Smiths. This was the same placed we bailed out of last night but figured we'd give it a second chance. The service was the charm here as "Bill" our very eccentric and politically charged left-O-meter entertained us with great conversation. He scolded me for complaining of all the rain and I think he had a crush on A. We seemed to fool Bill into assuming we lived in AK as he claimed to spot a tourist a mile away. Our relaxed attire and lack of a new parka and Holland American Tote bag is what kept our cover down. The food came straight from the grocers freezer and wasn't worth the $83 it cost but I would come here again and again to talk the state of the universe over Alaskan Ambers with our new freind Bill the eccentric Alaskan! Farmer! Patriot!