Day 54: Fairbanks

June 7, 2014

We woke to another sunny but cool morning. Today was our day to go on the River Boat Discovery Cruise so we left Fred about 07:15 to drive into Fairbanks. We arrived well ahead of our departure time so we browsed the souvenir shops looking at the usual mugs, t-shirts etc. Then we were offered an experience of 40 below. That's right - 40 below 0. They have a room that is kept at least -40 degrees so that those of us that are accustomed to warm weather can experience what it is like in Fairbanks in January. We were hesitant to try it but they assured us we could walk in and turn around and walk right back if we didn't want to stay longer. Ultimately we all four decided to give it a try. We all had on our light weight jackets – prepared for a little breeze on the water – but not our heavy coats. When we walked into the room the thermometer actual was at 48 below. Oh my! It was take your breath away, freeze your nose hairs cold. Our exhalation froze into what looked like snow. We stayed maybe 2-3 minutes and quickly returned to the nice warm store and free coffee. No, we will not be moving to Fairbanks and even though we would love to see the Northern Lights in January – it's looking doubtful after that experience.

Soon it was time to board the Discovery III. It is a large sternwheeler boat and we were fortunate to get seats right up on the bow with a great view.

Shortly after departure from the dock there was a demonstration of the Piper Cub float plane. They took off right in front of us, came back around and landed in front of us on the river and talked to us a bit and then took off again.

We were told that one in every 60 people in Alaska have a pilots license. They fly into their homes in the bush. There are very few roads.

After the plane demonstration we cruised the Chena River for a while.

First Riverboat Discovery

Second Riverboat Discovery

A log house being built on the river. The owners have been living in the riverboat beside the house.

Then there was a demonstration at the Susan Butcher Kennel. Susan was a four time winner of the Iditarod race. Though she died in 2006, her husband and daughter still run the kennel and provide dogs for mushers. We met a young woman who has qualified for the 2015 Iditarod using some of the Butcher Kennel dogs. She explained a lot about mushing, training the dogs and demonstrated the dogs pulling a 4 wheeler she was riding. The dogs really seem to love to run.

Sled dogs in training

Next up was a visit to a reproduction of an Athabascan village. They demonstrated the way the elders have fished for salmon the past 1000 years or more, and the dressing and smoking of the salmon. They also had examples of the housing that would have been used prior to western influence, and the pelts of the animals they trapped/hunted. They used all parts of the animals that were killed, wasting nothing. There were also examples of the clothing/parkas worn. Beautiful parka, valued at about $20,000.

 A few busloads of folks joined us for the cruise

 

 

Reindeer are domesticated caribou.

On our return cruise we were served some smoked salmon. It was Sockeye salmon and very good. We all enjoyed the experience and learned a few things. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.

Later in the day we went to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. This was the old Creamer's Dairy Farm and when the dairy closed the 2000 acres was converted to a Waterfowl Refuge. Today there were many different species of birds – some we recognized and many we did not. We saw more Canadian Geese and Sandhill Cranes than anything else.

We finished the day with a trip to Hot Licks ice cream shop. This is suppose to be home made ice cream and came highly recommended by several people. The four of us decided that yes it is quite good, but....

Tomorrow we plan to go out Chena Hot Springs road and do a little hiking and perhaps visit the springs. However – it may be raining so we will just have to wait and see.