Fairbanks, Alaska

Boy, this was a day we didn't expect....  as Tail Gunners, we were planning to leave camp in Denali this morning at about 10:30, however, you know the story of the best laid plans.  The Wagon Masters called at  9:15 and asked us to get on the road ASAP.  They were "stuck" about ten miles down the road with turbo problems, no power.  We caught up with them in Healy and they asked us to "take over", "you will do good" they said.  Ok, Ok...  we headed the 120 miles to camp in Fairbanks.  We arrived five minutes before our Wagon Master had told the rest of the group that they could come into camp. While Ken took our rig and got fuel at the campground fuel station and then got us parked, I went and met with Lezlie, the owner of the campground.  Lucky for us, she is terrific, she had everything ready for us. We got all 19 rigs parked in about an hour. Lezlie sets up all the touring for three of the four days we are here with one free day. Lucky for the Wagon Masters that they have that time to get their rig repaired. The bus is in camp by 4:45pm to take us to dinner.  It was a wonderful, all you can eat perfect prime rib, salmon cooked over wood fire and deep fried cod dinner. The difference was that they had cabins for the salad bar and desserts. Everyone rolled out of there and walked to the end of the property to the Palace Theater.  What a show, it was so funny and so good.  Remember the old joke about the names Who, What and I Don't Care??? Well, they performed that as it related to a dog sled setup.  The piano player could hardly contain himself. They also did a segment about outhouses, hysterical!! Was a great night.  On the bus back to the campground I got a text and Ken got a call from Jim and Darlene.  It had been 12 hours and they were still trying to get their rig towed. They were still in Healy.  OMG, they might get to the tow yard about midnight.  Not sure that they will make our river cruise at 9:00 in the morning.  Hopefully they make lunch. If we had to take over as Wagon Masters, this was the exact right time to do it... AND, we have wonderful guests who have been very concerned and helpful! ! Makes all the difference. Tomorrow, catch the bus at 8:00am here in the campground and spend all day having fun ! ! !   Long day, will be "home" about 4:30..

Update, Jim and Darlene were finally towed into Fairbanks at 4:30am.  Long night for them.  They will not be participating tomorrow.

Sunday, July 24th we start the day getting on the bus at 8:00am.  Heading to the Riverboat Discovery III.  This sternwheeler trip was on the muddy Chena River that also runs right behind this RV park. The "muddy" look is from many, many years of glaciers wearing down the mountains and the water flowing into the Tanana River which merges with the Chena.

 This trip was very well done and again, so different from anything we have ever done. First thing was coffee and donuts! The boat stopped at several places along the river and they had "life event stories" to tell us.  One was a float plane and the pilot had a mic on and talked to us about his flying, all the time taking off and landing right where we could get pictures.  

Another was of an Athabascan Village where they had two separate areas where they showed us the preserving of fish (salmon) for both humans and the dogs, the herd of caribou (reindeer to our kids) and then we "landed" and toured around three areas of the camp. One was how they processed the animal skins and a fashion show of different parkas, another was all the different animal skins and how they were different colors depending on the time of year and the last was the home.  The guide was a Athabascan, high school Junior and she described the home part as that they were the first RV'ers. Funny. She showed how they used birch tree limbs as the frame of a hut and then covered it with caribou skins since the hairs are like open shafts therefore they are very warm.  The Athabascan people followed the animals so when the migration occurred, they pulled up the hides and saved them and left the limbs.

 

Flower baskets are amazing!

Next stop on the river was at Susan Butcher's home.  Unfortunately, she died at age 51 of leukemia after having won many Iditarod Sled Dog Races.  Her husband is carrying on her legacy.  He did a run around the lake with his dogs. Soon as they got back they headed to the river to drink and get wet. They are very well trained and seem so happy just to run. They had puppies there as well. They use older dogs to teach the puppies how to act. Very interesting process. We watched as a trainer wanted the puppies to jump into a boat, she was generous with the treats when the pups did what she wanted.  This was a great trip. 

Beautiful houses all along the river...

Next was lunch at the Discovery Restaurant. It was another all you can eat, family style meal. Great salad, soup, grilled veggies and wonderful brownies ! !

From there we headed out to the Gold Dredge #8. First they took us on a train ride to see all the old dredge equipment. When we returned, we were each given a bag of paydirt and a pan at the water tray to find out how much gold we had. Ken and I had a total of about $33.00 worth of flakes which we had put into a gold necklace for me ! !  Fun, busy day...

The pipeline runs right through the gold dredge property.  Pretty amazing story behind it all. There is constant "watching" by helicopters and other things for security.  Did you know that the oil builds up in the lines like cholesterol in your arteries???  They have a process where they can detect it, push it through and then reintroduce it as oil again..  We were also told that there is no impact on the 700,000 plus caribou in the area.  They have all adapted well to it.  Miles of pipeline are underground and miles are overland.

Went well being Wagon Masters today but then we have a great group of guests. When we got back Jim and Darlene were in camp. We had been texting all day. They will find out tomorrow what can be done for their RV.  We went over a lot of things that are coming up, just in case they have to stay in Fairbanks a little longer. Tomorrow is a free day so will get our laundry done, finally....  

Laundry done, post cards mailed, rested... All ready for tomorrow.  Looks like Jim and Darlene will be back with us by tomorrow night ! ! Went out to dinner at a Japanese Restaurant.  Very good!

Our last day in Fairbanks...  Today is 7/26/16 and we are headed out on the bus to two museums.  First, we go the the University of Alaska Museum of the North. What an interesting place. We viewed a half hour video on the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights as it is also known. Kind of a scary phenomenon that takes place in the northern sky. Pictures of pictures are hard to capture the true look... green is the most common color but you can see red and pink as well.

The rest of the exhibit is of all the Alaskan animals and the history of the Athabascan tribes.

Outside was a great view of the Denali range, however, Denali itself was shrouded in the thick cloud cover still.  

Next, we move on the the Ice Museum. What an unusual place. Fairbanks holds an annual Ice Carving Contest every March. Our speaker has entered for the past 11 years. He did a carving right in front of us from a block of ice that he stood behind. That means he was carving everything backwards so that we could see what he was writing and carving.  Very nice.

Both sides contained ice sculptures in 20 degree rooms behind glass. I wasn't thinking and wore capris and flip flops, not really ready to go inside.  LOL  They also had an ice slide the whole way on one side.  Fun place.

 Ken found this sculpture in the nearby park plaza.

Another fun day...  Tonight we are having cake to celebrate everyone's birthdays and anniversaries ! and then the Traveler's Meeting for the trip back to Tok tomorrow.  We have a pizza party tomorrow night at Fast Eddies so no cooking when we get to camp ! !  YAHOO ! !   Jim and Darlene are planning to have their rig all fixed and into camp before party time tonight.  We are very happy ! !