Fairbanks

We are at River’s Edge RV park and it is full! 

Pete and I took off to Pioneer Park which is a little worn around the edges but nice and it's free.  We took a train ride around the park with Coco the husky-malamute mix…the” train loving dog”!  Went into the Pioneer village which were old authentic log cabins moved there and set to sell us memories for our journey.  President  Harding’s (first president to visit Alaska) private railroad car was on display also.  We are coming back here with our group for salmon bake and show.

Today we went on the Riverboat Discovery cruise and the best tour so far.  Family owned and perfectly run!  A Bush pilot flying a Piper Cub circled the boat and landed on the water next to us and he had a microphone and explained how important these planes are to the area.  This whole thing was so beautifully done and the tour guide on the boat had a great sense of humor!

There were lovely homes along the Chena River.  Then the Susan Butcher Sled dog center came into view and that was great.  Susan Butcher was the first woman to win the Iditarod (1000 mile sled dog race) and she ran it 17 times and won it 4 times.  She died in her fifties of leukemia.  Laura Alloway,  the new trainer who has run the Iditarod and will do the more difficult Yukon Quest this year, had on a mike and talked to us as she demonstrated dog sled training with puppies and more experienced dogs.  They were all huskies and just couldn’t wait to start pulling a 500 lb ATV around.    After the ATV pull, they all jumped into the river to swim.  Just wonderful.

Ready to pull the ATV and jumping with joy!

Continuing up the river, we saw reindeer (domesticated caribou) and an Indian fishing demonstration—trapping, prep and smoking.  This young girl was an Athabascan Indian and had a microphone so we could all hear.  The riverboat also had video monitors that would show how the scene today looked 150 years ago.  

Far left is fish trapping wheel

These reindeer made a timely arrival for the riverboat!

Off the riverboat to an authentic reproduction of an Indian village.  Our Indian guides took us around to three areas and explained life there.  The whole experience was just top notch.

Birch Bark canoe

Reindeer with velvet horns

Beautiful animal skin coat.

The taxidermist reconstructed two moose males that were fighting, got their antlers tangled together, were unable to disconnect and died of starvation. They were discovred with antlers locked.
They were found in the Spring when the snow and ice melted.

We also got to pet the sled dogs and question the trainer who has done the Iditarod  race with some of these huskies.  So much fun! 

A delicious lunch followed at the boat dock and we were off to the University of Alaska Museum.  Learned more about the Northern Lights at a movie there and then toured the neat animal and art exhibits.  Back to our RVs for a nice rest!

Today a beautiful bus picked us all up at the campground and took us to
"Gold Dredge #8 Tour"!  We dodged raindrops and onto the train that took us to an area to pan for gold.  So much fun!  Pete and I panned $15  worth of gold flakes and we all celebrated our fortunes with hot chocolate and outstanding cookies!  Another wonderful tour!

Our train to the gold panning!

Not getting rich but fun!

Our pan of gold--a long way from this nugget!

$75, 000 nugget found!

Along the way we stopped for an explanation of the Alaskan pipeline.  Another stop was at a gold mine with a demonstration. The porter on the train played his fiddle as we clacked along.  So nice to have all this planned for us--makes travel so relaxing!

After the pipeline we had lunch at Big Daddy's a Triple D place and went to an Ice Carving Museum run by Chinese artists.  Able to sit on the ice carvings (inside big cold room) and watch him carve ice. 

 

Chinese are very talented at this!

That evening we went to a salmon, cod and prime rib dinner at Pioneer Park followed by a funny saloon show.  A fur lined out house seat was the hit of the show!  It was raining but didn't matter--great time!  

All you can eat!

 

Lots of good laughs!

Some of our group are flying in a little plane up to the Arctic Circle and taking a tour bus back.  We decided to pass on that optional tour and sleep in, do laundry and get the dust out of our RV.

We have traveled 5,000 miles and are half way through our Adventure Caravan trip!  No more leaking in our RV thanks to Pete's caulking job.  We have not seen ANY police cruisers (except a fake wooden one in Canada) since we left Montana.  Canada especially is very clean but you don't see any trash cans around! The Canadian Rockies win the scenic award so far but Alaska is more interesting!  We are glad to be here on our 40th wedding anniversary!  What a place to celebrate!

Creamers Bird Sanctuary was our last stop for Pete and I on our day off.  It is a huge santuary for migrating Sandhill cranes from northern Alaska.  It had beautiful trails through the wet lands and a birch forest.  Due to Perma frost thawing and freezing these trees were losing the strength of their roots and bending over.   The most amazing thing is that so far...no mosquitoes or flies on our trip!
We were SO prepared too!

 Lots of red raspberries along the trail!

This trail must be used to train and exercise
dog sled teams!