6-27-04 Prudhoe Bay Oil Field

The Prudhoe Oil field tour started at 8:00 today. The gal I met yesterday Mary was in Dead Horse she drove all night to get here. we took the tour together and it was just us and a family of 3 from Portland who had flown in to Anchorage and rented a car then they exchanged the card for a F250 in Fairbanks and driven up to Dead Horse. I was surprised to hear this as I thought that no rental companies would let there vehicles go up the Haul Road but evidently you can. I think they said they rented from National. Once we got to the absolute end of the road we drove out on to a spit of land that extended out in to the water there I waded out in to Bering Sea / Artic Ocean (surprise, surprise, it was COLD!!!) to get some sea ice that was close to shore, then I skipped some rocks before getting back on the bus to warm up. If I had known that the next stop was back at the hotel I would have dove in all the way as the tour driver had towels, but I did get wet to my waste which was COLD as HELL! After changing in to dry clothes at the hotel I drove around town some more checking out all the bazaar equipment being readied for the winter drilling season. It is kind of quiet here as all of the drilling and exploration is done in the winter when the tundra is frozen. it's the only way because the tundra would swallow any thing driven out on it in the summer in the permafrost. I had some lunch at the hotel and then shopped in the store and mailed a post card before hitting the road back south. I really want to come here in the winter (I know I'm nuts)

Today's Map