Thursday, May 31–A new water pump and Nenana

After a night in a roadside pull off outside Healy, we waited for a call from the mechanic…..the truck’s water pump started leaking yesterday so waited for new one to arrive along with a serpentine belt.  Happened at a very convenient time and place.
If you ever need a mechanic in Healy, Alaska, call Mountain Mechanics (Sean) at 907-683-4509.  It’s a backyard shop down a bumpy dirt road, but it is well equipped and he did a great job.  He’s familiar with Ford and GM – I have a Dodge.
Stopped at the Tatlanika Campground with the idea of spending the night, but paid the $5 to dump tanks and get water.  Didn’t seem worth an additional $20 to camp when you had to sit on an open deck to use the Wi-Fi!
We headed on north and stopped in Nenana at the Visitor Center and the Cultural Center.  The gift shop owner was on the porch playing the accordion, but I’ll save her for next month when we come back through here!
The Cultural Center on the Tanana River.  Enjoyed visiting with a couple of the women plus I bought 2 guesses for their Tanana River annual ice break up.  This is a tradition since 1917.  For $2.50 a ticket, you guess the date and exact time (hour and minutes) the ice will break up on the river.  There was one winner this year – $350,000.  I’ll be watching next May – though it can happen the end of April as it did this year.
There is a lot of history here including the 1925 sled dog run began here with the diphtheria serum needed in Nome.  That run is now commemorated by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.


We are at another roadside pullout, this one well off the highway, about 30 miles south of Fairbanks.