{"id":2003,"date":"2013-06-26T06:42:52","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T06:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2003"},"modified":"2014-01-26T23:42:13","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T23:42:13","slug":"june-23-25-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2003","title":{"rendered":"June 23 -25, 2013 Fairbanks Antique Auto Museum\/Leaving Riverview RV Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cottonwood<\/a><\/p>\n

We have left Riverview RV Park behind and moved to the Fairbanks Elks Lodge for the next few days.\u00a0 Cottonwood trees are blooming and their cottony covered seeds are flying through the air like snow.\u00a0 The view out our window is the peacefully flowing Chena River.\u00a0 Dozens of rafts, kayaks, canoes and speed boats travel down the river until the wee hours of the morning now that the sun is up most of 24\/7.\u00a0 The river is a much more enjoyable view out our front window than the row upon row of RV\u2019s covered with the constantly blowing dust that we saw at the RV park.<\/p>\n

\"Elks<\/a>\u00a0\"Out<\/a>\u00a0\"Down<\/a><\/p>\n

Ventured out today and took a drive to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks.\u00a0 Air conditioning and being indoors were my primary concerns with dust and pollen still blowing everywhere so the museum fit into the plan. \u00a0For a small fee, we spent the next two hours learning about automotive history in Alaska, watching short clips from the 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s, viewing beautifully restored auto\u2019s and period clothing replete with striking jewelry and a full assortment of accessories.\u00a0 The self-guided tour was interesting although lacking in any comic relief.\u00a0 It was easy to move through the 3,000 square museum and chairs were placed every so often to sit and reflect while watching the silent movie clips.\u00a0 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s music played in the background.\u00a0 A glass enclosed office and workshop was located in the back of the museum.\u00a0 You could see an auto being restored and many parts from other restored pieces were spread out on the counters.<\/p>\n

\"1905<\/a>\u00a0\"1934<\/a>\u00a0\"1912<\/a>\u00a0\"Touring<\/a>\u00a0\"1933<\/a>\u00a0\"1904<\/a>\u00a0\"1933<\/a>\u00a0\"V8<\/a>\u00a0\"1907<\/a>\u00a0\"1890's<\/a>\u00a0\"1910<\/a>\u00a0\"1932<\/a>\u00a0\"1910<\/a>\u00a0\"1908<\/a>\u00a0\"John<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle is the earliest known American made four cylinder gas powered automobile in existence. This pre-1900 automobile never made it into production due to its flawed engine design.\u00a0 Every piece of this proto-type was completely handcrafted except for the tires.<\/p>\n

\"1898<\/a><\/p>\n

Alaska\u2019s first automobile was built by 22 year old Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Sheldon.\u00a0 At 18, he had never seen a car but believed he could win the heart of a young lady by building one giving him the edge over her other suitor, a doctor\u2019s son who drove a horse and fancy carriage.\u00a0 He earned recognition in Ripley\u2019s Believe-it-or-Not from the adventure.\u00a0 Armed with only pictures from magazines, he built a wooden frame, attached buggy wheels, used bar room chairs for seats, salvaged an engine from a sunken boat, added gears and built a chain drive.\u00a0 He built a tiller from sections of gas pipe, tin and oil cloth was used for a hood and trunk cover.<\/p>\n

Although he took the girl for many rides, he did not marry her.\u00a0 \u201cNo\u201d he said, a number of years later, \u201cbut three other fellows have married her since then.\u201d\u00a0 He became Alaska\u2019s foremost automotive transportation pioneer.\u00a0 In 1934 he donated this car to the University of Alaska Museum.<\/p>\n

\"1905<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1932 American \u201cBaby\u201d Austin was the car of choice for W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton, the \u201cOur Gang\u201d kids and was featured in one of Mickey Mouse\u2019s earliest movies.<\/p>\n

\"1934<\/a><\/p>\n

My favorite was the long low swanky looking front wheel drive Cord.\u00a0\u00a0 Frank Lloyd Wright and Mary Pickford owned one of these impressive looking auto\u2019s but unluckily for the manufacturer, it came out only two years before the 1929 crash so not many were sold.<\/p>\n

\"1927<\/a><\/p>\n

A very enjoyable afternoon and well worth the cost of the entrance fee.\u00a0 The museum is located at the back of a huge conference complex, the Wedgwood Resort, and has a nature path, examples of early settlers bush cabins and a bush plane on the property as well.\u00a0 We plan to return to see the balance tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Next afternoon we headed back over to view the most popular bush pilot plane in Alaska.\u00a0 This 1946 Model 7A Aeronca Champion was better known as \u201cthe Champ\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Used by Alaskan miners and trappers in the 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s, it was designed to take over the post war trainer market from the Piper J-3 Cub.\u00a0 It was the longest selling, most popular light plane design of all time because of its ability to easily take off and land in Alaska\u2019s wilderness and could be fitted with wheels, floats or skis.\u00a0 You can still find variations of this plane today.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Alaskan Bush Cabin was next to the area where the plane was tethered.\u00a0 It had a storage cabin and a sled dog house out back. \u00a0The three were constructed with the same tools and supplies that would have been used in the 1900\u2019s.\u00a0 None of these bush cabins were accessible from roads.\u00a0 Supplies were brought in by sled.\u00a0 They were built in less than a week and used for stop overs for traveling trappers and miners along their routes.\u00a0 The roofs were made of canvas placed over the log roof and dirt piled on top for insulation from the winter snows.\u00a0 Can\u2019t imagine how they ever kept these little cabins warm in minus temps.<\/p>\n

\"Bush<\/a>\u00a0\"Storage\"<\/a>\u00a0\"Sled<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have left Riverview RV Park behind and moved to the Fairbanks Elks Lodge for the next few days.\u00a0 Cottonwood trees are blooming and their cottony covered seeds are flying through the air like snow.\u00a0 The view out our window … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lilypad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3119,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003\/revisions\/3119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}