The Leonids meteor shower of 2001 was expected to be the best in 50 years, as the Earth passed directly through the cloud of debris left by the disintegrating comet that spawns them. So, we found ourselves traveling northward on the Elliot Highway, north of Fairbanks.
There was a saturation cloud cover, which had covered the sky for most of the past 1 & 1/2 weeks. We didn't expect it to clear, so after an hour's travel northward, we started back.
Generally, if we are sitting in the truck, waiting for something interesting in the sky to happen, it starts just as soon as we start leaving. This was no exception.
About 1:20 A.M., the skies (miraculously) started to clear. The display was amazing: Several strikes per minute, lasting "trails," and at least _three_ "fireballs." (I had only every seen _one_ before in my life. I was watching for the aurora on the southern shore of Lake Ontario; I didn't see any aurora, but I did see a fireball with a green tail so BRIGHT, that it lit up the dash. (That's how I knew it was there, 'n stuff.))
The best views were afforded by standing outside of the truck, but I was unable to do this--as it was soo cold, that it felt like my PAHNTS! were being dipped in liquid nitrogen--while I was still in them.
Then, about 1:50 A.M., the clouds closed over again, and the display was no longer visible. As cool as the display was wherever you were, imagine it with aurora. :) There was this enduring "tall ray," just east of north. It was there for almost twenty minutes; I had never seen anything quite like it. Without question, this was the best meteor display I have ever seen. :)