Day 102 Tuesday August 9, 2022 We woke up at 7AM to heavy slushy snow falling fast and 34 degrees. The Jeep is covered but by 9:30AM when we departed for Fairbanks the snow had stopped and it was all melted. We had bright sunshine for our 111 mile drive to Fairbanks. We stopped at a pull-off along the way for a good view of Mount Denali off in the distance. It is said that only about 30% of the people that come to Alaska get to see Mount Denali.
As we got into Fairbanks we pulled into the Fred Meyer parking lot to unhook the Toad before going into the RV Park, get something to eat at Taco Bell and pick up a few grocery items. The WM had texted everyone to delay coming into the RV Park as they were not ready for us yet. We pulled in about an hour later and setup in site H11.
We boarded a bus at 5:45PM for a short trip to The Alaska Salmon Bake at the Pioneer Village. We had a choice of baked salmon or prime rib. We are not a big fan of salmon so we got the prime rib, salad and desert. Then the group walked over to the Palace Theater in the Pioneer Village for a humorous musical stage show about the beginnings of Fairbanks. Lena and I had seen the show in 2015 but they have tweaked it some and it was very good. We did not do the Salmon Bake meal in 2015. I think everyone was tired when we returned to the RV Park about 10PM.
Day 103 Wednesday August 10, 2022 We met the bus at 10AM for a city tour. We had the same driver as last night. He told us a little about himself. His name is Carl Eady (google him). He is a five time World Champion Ice Carver, now retired from competition but still does ice carving judging. He also is a chef, owns his own catering business, does art carvings of fruits and vegetables.
He took us up on the hill overlooking the town of Fairbanks at The University of Alaska with a great view of the mountain range covered in snow. The photos didn't capture the scene due to lack of contrast between the snow covered mountains and the skyline. Then we stopped at the Large Animal Research Facility that the University operates to see several very large Muskox. Carl said their hair/wool is worth about $400 per skein because it is some of the warmest material available anywhere.
Our nest stop was Creamer's Field to see the Sandhill Cranes that use the fields of the old dairy for their migration stop. The dairy farm closed in 1966 but the owners didn't want the land to be converted to a housing or condos. So he made it available to the Alaska Wildlife organization to manage as a wildlife sanctuary. There were lots of cranes out in the fields but the manager of the facility said there would be several thousand here in a couple of weeks as they begin their migration.
Carl dropped us off at the Fairbanks Farmers Market to get some lunch before he took us to Gold Dredge Number 8 for a talk on the Alaska pipeline, a train ride on a small gauge train to the gold dredge and a chance to pan for GOLD. We were each given a “poke” of dirt and a seat at the water trough to begin the panning process. I beat Lena in 2015 on the amount of gold we panned but she beat me this time. I got $13 worth and she got $29. Again I gave her my gold and she had it put into a pendant to match the ear rings she got in 2015. They had water, coffee and several types of cookies for everyone to enjoy before taking the train back to the parking lot.
We returned to the University of Alaska to tour the Museum of the North and then back to the RV Park.
Day 104 Thursday August 11, 2022 Back on the bus again at 8AM for the short trip to the Riverboat Discovery III trip down the Chena River to the replica Athabaskan Village. On the way we got a float plane demonstration by a local bush pilot taking off and landing on the river. Most of the bush pilots use a Piper Cub because they only weigh about 1,100 pounds and are very simple to maintain and very reliable. Then the Captain Wade Binkley (4th generation Riverboat Captain) stopped the Stern Wheel paddle boat in front of Trail Breaker Kennels which is owned by Dave Monson, the husband of four time Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher. Her lead dog was a runt dog named Granite in all four of her wins. Everyone told her that Granite would not be a good sled dog but he proved all of then wrong. Susan died from cancer several years ago but her and her husband wrote a book about Granite while she was fighting cancer. We bought the book for Jackson and Levi in 2015 when we did this trip. Dave talked to us about the dogs and then his crew hitched a team to a 4 wheeler (to simulate a sled) and gave us a demonstration of them pulling it. They use this type of equipment to keep the dogs in shape when there is no snow on the ground. The dogs are so anxious to run when they are being connected to the “sled” they have to tie the “sled” down until they get all hooked up.
By the way there are 11 dogs and 5 cats and 43 humans in our tour group.
Captain Wade took the boat on down to the village where we got off and was given a tour of the entire village by young people that are from the Athabaskan heritage. They explained about how they catch and preserve salmon, how their people use animal furs and other things from nature to make their traditional clothing, etc. Our guide even explained how the women use moss in the carriers they carry the babies in on their back to serve the purpose of diapers. You can probably figure that works. Moss gets messed up, dump it out, rinse the carrier, put in new moss and away you go. One of the girls modeled a coat that was made by their people that is valued between $18,000-$20,000.
Today has been a beautiful day, lots of sunshine and 70 degrees this afternoon. Sure is a change from the 34 degrees a couple of days ago in Denali.
After returning to the RV park we had our drivers meeting while we waited for the restaurant next door to get our dinner ready. The WM told us the sad news that the owner of the next to the last campground we will be in on the tour is missing. He was using his excavator near the river and it tipped over backwards into the river.
Day 105 Friday August 12, 2022 We had breakfast next door at the restaurant as part of our tour package. Nothing to write home about but okay. Then we packed up the motorhome and took it to H & H Services here in Fairbanks to try and find out where water is coming in through the roof over the electrical cabinet inside over the driver's seat. Also I had to check out the front heat pump. It is not working properly. They think they found and sealed the area where the water was getting in but didn't have the part to fix the heat pump. We have three on the motorhome so we will be fine until I can get the part ordered/installed once we get home.
After we got the motorhome set back up at the RV Park we drove the Jeep to the Pioneer Village to walk around and check out the old buildings and get some photos. Then we had lunch at Hometown Restaurant before returning to the park to do laundry and other maintenance items before we leave here tomorrow for a return trip to Tok.
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