A cold, foggy day greeted me when I stepped outside the hotel. From the hotel, we went to one of the other two hotels in the area to depart for the Arctic Ocean and oilfield tour. What I would learn later was that the co-owner of NATC had been one of the cooks the previous night at the hotel and helped run some of the hotels. There is normally not enough tourists going to Coldfoot and Deadhorse for private investment to open and operate hotels so the tour companies run the hotels along the Dalton, often at a loss. Water at the hotel in Deadhorse was $0.35/gal, so it’s easy to see how difficult it is to operate a hotel in the region.
Unfortunately, there were no sightings of polar bears. During the ride up the previous day, I had learned that polar bears making an appearance near the oilfields would have armed guards “escorting” them to protect the bears and the workers. While this sounds like an interesting job, the bears sleep the majority of the day after reaching Prudhoe Bay which means you would have to guard a sleeping bear.
After a short video at the second hotel about oil exploration on the Arctic Ocean, we boarded the bus to tour the oilfields. We only got to see the east side of the find, but we saw the drill site which kept the field from being abandoned.
The oil companies knew there was oil but had been unable to find the oil up until that point. There were several finds since then on the 80 x 100 mile site. While there is oil flowing year round down the pipeline, areas that are underneath the tundra are only drilled once the ground freezes. Care is taken to make sure the tundra is not damaged. All the roads are gravel and buildings sit on gravel pads. Ice roads are created in order to move equipment to drill sites which have drastically decreased in size requirements since initial drilling began due to improvements in directional drilling technology. The bus driver had told us that drill rigs had starting slowly moving into position the previous day as the oil companies get ready for winter which was fast coming to the area.
The tour around the oilfields and the Arctic Ocean lasted about two hours in total. We drove out to the Arctic Ocean where we were given the chance to take pictures. 
After initially dipping my finger into the water, I decided to wade out into the water since the guide had brought some towels to dry your feet if you waded into the ocean. I waded out into the freezing water, had my picture taken, only to realize the first set of pictures didn’t turn out well. So, I waded out in the water again and sank in the mud for the second time. 
The second set of pictures turned out better and I was able to put my shoes back on and attempt to let me feet warm back up. I wasn't thinking at the time, but it didn't dawn on me to have one picture taken without the WKU red towel. Anyway, I can now say I’ve stood in three of the four oceans with only the Indian Ocean to go. The sky had clear up somewhat by this time, but would cloud up again as I left the oilfields.
We drove back to the hotel, I got my Polar Bear Dippers certificate, and went to the airport. The airport sits next to the Carlile Transportation yard. Like most of the parking lots at Prudhoe, there were rows upon rows of electric receptacles to plug vehicles in during the winter. Our plane was late getting into the airport, but eventually would make it in incident. I bid farewell to the Blairs who were going to Barrow later that day and the tour guide that was driving the last tour of the season back down the Dalton. While waiting for the plane to arrive, the tour guide told me that the hotel where the Arctic Ocean tour originated would be closing down at the end of the calendar year. Sad to say, this puts the Arctic Ocean tour I went on, in jeopardy for others to go on. I’m hopeful that one that one of the other hotels will work out a deal with the oilfields to keep the tour operating.
The flight from Deadhorse back to Fairbanks was largely uneventful and there were not the views I expected due to the cloud cover. 
This gave me time to reflect on all the tidbits of Alaskan history, geography, geology, and miscellaneous trivia that Ben had told the group during the previous couple of days. The part that fascinates me is the geologic mishmash that is Alaska. Supposedly, there is not a good theory on how Alaska how came to be since due to the differences in rock types. Surprisingly, parts of the interior of Alaska were untouched during the most recent ice age despite a good chunk of the rest of the world being covered by glaciers. Another interesting tidbit is the finding of sea fossils at the top of mountains in the Brooks Range. A little south of the Yukon River, the skies finally cleared allowing us to view the ground below and its beauty.
I was taken back to the Fairbanks River Edge Resort to spend the night. This was the same hotel that I had stayed at on Sunday night. It was a beautiful location along the Chena River on the edge of Fairbanks and I highly recommend staying there should you ever stay in Fairbanks. 
I ate lunch at the hotel's restaurant and took a nap to catch up some sleep. Later that afternoon, I learned that the University of Alaska-Fairbanks was a short 3 to 4 mile hike from the hotel and having nothing else to do that day, I walked over to the university and bought some ice cream on the walk. Unfortunately, the campus bookstore closed moments before I got there, but luckily, the Museum of the North was still open till 9 pm. It was a fascinating a museum and made the walk to and from campus well worth it. There were fascinating Eskimo and Athabascan Indian artifacts. One of the pieces that caught my attention were a pair of goggles that were used natives when seal hunting that look like modern swim goggles/goggles used when in a tanning booth. There were narrow slits in the center to protect the eyes of the individual while seal hunting during the long days of summer. Art exhibits, animals, and European artifacts and exhibits completed one of the better museums I’ve been in. The picture below is of an ancient steppe bison called "Blue Babe."
This sofa is partly made of moose antler, dall sheep horn, caribou antler, and wood.
As I left UAF’s campus, what it lacked for in architecture, it made up for in scenic beauty.
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