June 17, 2013 Fairbanks, AK

Monday, June 17

Woke early for the Riverboat Discovery Tour which had a shuttle from our campground. 

After boarding this paddlewheeler, the first event was watching a bush pilot who took off from the river, buzzed over us and then turned and landed beside us. They had a video screen and the pilot told us a bit about himself and his plane.   In the winter when this river, Chena, freezes over they just switch the pontoons on the plane for skis.

There were many gorgeous homes along the river and our riverboat captain told stories about the people who lived in some of them.

  The next stop was at a Sled dog company where Susan Buchard (who won the Iditarod four times but died of cancer a few years ago) and her husband  and family raise their dogs.   From the boat, we listened to the trainer talk about their dogs while several people played with puppies, then hooked up a team which pulled an ATV around a course.

Next stop was at an Athabascan Village  where we exited the boat and were given a tour by a native youth.  It was set up with several areas including a fish camp, with a fish wheel with which they harvest the salmon.

a cabin with sod roof,  some reindeer,  and many  artifacts like this birch bark canoe,
 snow shoes,  various animal hides and clothing made from them, etc.  Extremely well done and interesting.

We stopped at Creamer’s Field, a local birding spot,  and saw some geese and sand hill cranes – and lots of mosquitos.

Then went downtown to the Visitor’s and Cultural Center which had a lot of interesting displays and films pertaining to the establishment of Fairbanks and the native population. 

  Also walked  to a nearby plaza with interesting sculptures and a Monday Market , which was an assortment of people selling crafts, vegetables, etc.  One lady who was selling a few vegetables explained that most of their things are grown in green houses, since they still were getting snow in mid-May.  The long days make for rapid growth though and we are surprised by the beautiful flowers all over town, mostly petunias, gorgeous orange and pink begonias, blue daze, geraniums.  We are having a heat wave, with 88 degrees, but it’s a dry heat (hah!), and actually not bad unless you are in the sun for a while.  We joked at dinner about us all getting Alaskan suntans.

Then back to the campsite and a shower to get rid of that bug spray!  A few more of our group arrived and 13 of us gathered by the river and walked to a nice nearby  restaurant called Chena’s where we sat outside on the covered veranda on a perfect evening, with a light breeze rustling the wind chimes.

Greg had salmon and I had crab cakes. – Yum! Things to try later include the halibut and reindeer sausage.