Family Fun in Fairbanks

Hi Blog! It's been a couple weeks since we last posted a blog entry. Kathy's sister, Eileen, and her husband, Tom, flew in from Philadelphia to join us here in Fairbanks. They arrived late on Saturday, June 11, 2016. Even though it was after midnight when we got back to the campground, we didn't need our headlights! Welcome Eileen and Tom to the land of the midnight sun.

While we had been in Fairbanks for a few days prior to their arrival, we saved the more tourist type adventures for when they were here with us. After a good sleep in Sunday morning, we headed over to the Riverboat Discovery. We traded in our buy one get one coupons for boarding passes and proceeded to shop. Here are tourists doing what tourist do. This was a tribute to the late veteran musher and 4-time Iditarod winner Susan Boucher.  Mush on, Tom!

The tour was really well run. It gave us a great introduction into the history of Fairbanks. As transportation systems changed, railroads and airplanes began to carry much of the freight. Large riverboats were no longer needed. In 1950, noting the coming changes in the freighting business, Captain Jim and his wife, Mary, began a river excursion business focusing on sharing their love of Alaska and its culture with visitors. Over the years, Captain Jim and Mary B’s business grew from the Godspeed, a 25 passenger vessel, to the Discovery III, a 900 passenger vessel.

As we got underway, a bush plane buzzed the boat. The pilot landed and taxied next to us giving us some history and background on bush planes. After he took off, we stopped at the home and kennels of Susan Butcher. Trailbreaker Kennels is located along the banks of the Chena River. Susan's surviving husband, David Monson, stopped to talk to us and demonstrate one of their dog teams. However, the best part was watching the husky puppies frolic about. Here the dog team is about to take off for a run around the kennel grounds.

At our next stop, we were able to get off the boat and walk around a reconstructed Athabascan Indian village. Our young native guides explained how their ancestors skillfully survived for over 10,000 years and how they adapted to village life and Western culture in the past century. As we prepared to dock, we learned about native fish wheels and watched a demonstration on smoking salmon.

On the way back to the dock, the crew of the Riverboat Discovery made a smoked salmon spread. Everyone was given samples and encouraged to go back for seconds and thirds. (Or, in Kathy's case, fourth, fifths and sixths!) It was sooooo good, we purchased several cans of their secret family recipe smoked salmon so we could make our own salmon spread.

On Monday, June 13, 2016, we planned a visit to Gold Dredge 8 to learn all about Alaska's gold mining history. Along the way we stopped at a viewing platform for the famous Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices. The 48-inch oil pipeline traverses 800 miles of frozen tundra, boreal forest, 800 rivers and streams, three major earthquake faults and three rugged mountain ranges. The corridor includes more than 550 wildlife crossings for moose, caribou and other wildlife. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company completed the pipeline in 1977 at a cost of $8 billion for the two-year project, the largest privately funded construction effort at that time. Here are tourists doing what tourist do.

Gold Dredge 8 operated between 1928 and 1959 and played an essential role in mining and the economy of the Tanana Valley. Described as either a floating workhorse or a mechanical gold pan, Gold Dredge 8 extracted millions of ounces of gold from the frozen Alaskan ground. Today, Gold Dredge 8 National Historic District serves as a monument to the hard working miners who built Fairbanks.

After a short train ride through the mining valley, we each got a bag of pay dirt and got a hands on lesson on how to pan for gold. Here one of the young gold miners shows off his mad panning skills. It wasn't long before we could see the little tiny flecks of gold collecting in the bottom of our pans.

The men folk turned over their treasure and the women folk promptly went into the gift shop to buy lockets to store their new-found golden treasure.

Panning for gold is hungry work. After leaving Gold Dredge 8, we drove back into Fairbanks for lunch at Lunch. Downtown Fairbanks is just across the Chena River from the restaurant, so we left Great White parked and walked over the bridge. We did a little tourist shopping while we waited for the next tour of the Fairbanks Ice Museum. Needless to say, it was a really cool place to visit.

On Wednesday, June 14, 2016, it was time to head to the North Pole -- North Pole, Alaska, that is. Just don't tell Eddie and George. They have been on their best behavior since seeing Santa. Here is our selfie with Santa on Flag Day!

After a quick stop at the North Pole Post Office to mail postcards to family, we returned to camp to rest up for our dinner at show at Pioneer Park. First opened in 1967 as the Alaska 67 Centennial Exposition to celebrate the centennial of the Alaska Purchase. After being given first to the state and then to the city, the park was renamed Alaskaland. The name was changed again in 2001 to its present name - Pioneer Park.

The park commemorates early Alaskan history. We started the evening with a Salmon Bake dinner and stayed for the Golden Heart Review. Here's another photo of tourists doing what tourist do in the theater.

The revue was well worth the price - the four singer-actors did a smashing job of telling the story of Alaska and Fairbanks with a generous dose of humor and song.

As our first stop in Alaska, we felt we got our monies worth, especially by using our Tour Saver Coupons. We learned about the history and culture of the Alaska Frontier. We are now ready to take on the wild side of Alaska - Denali National Park here we come!