Week 8

July 27, 2008

We are still in Fairbanks. This was a busy day. We went to the Ice Museum and learned about the World Ice Art Championships, www.icealaska.com. We also saw an ice carving demonstration.

Then we went to the University of Alaska Museum and then to the Botanical Gardens.

July 28, 2008

Today was jam packed. We toured the Chena River on the paddle boat Discovery III. Saw a seaplane take off and land next to the boat and a bush plane land and take off from a sand bar about 500 to 600 feet long. Amazing!


	Then we toured an Athabascan Indian village and saw how they caught salmon, prepared animal hides and made clothing. We also saw reindeer which are domesticated caribou.









			This parka took 5 1/2 months to make. They will sell it for $16,000. The woman who made it has a dress in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. We also saw a sled dog team pull a 4 wheel ATV; they really ran fast. Then we had a talk by a woman who races a team in the Iditerod.

Next stop was the Alaska Pipeline. It is four feet in diameter and 800 miles long.

It runs from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.

The metal fins on top of the posts are cooling fins to radiate the heat from the oil, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, to keep the permafrost layer from melting.


	The final stop for the day was a tour at the El Dorado Gold Mine. Although it was raining, we all got to pan for gold. We were guaranteed to find at least eight pieces of gold dust.


	This was the pan of the owner who collected all the gold from her staff that demonstrated panning to us.


	Most of us got between $8.00 and $15.00 worth of gold. Elaine and Bart got $13.50 and then spent $40 for a locket for Elaine to display their “free” gold in.

July 29, 2008

This was one of those rare free days. Spent it doing exciting and fun things like vacuuming the coach, defrosting the refrigerator, retaping our leaks on the roof and shopping. Believe it or not, we did not take a single picture.

July 30, 2008

We drove to Denali today, 130 miles; kind of a light day. On the way we stopped in a little town called Nenana. Its claim to fame is the annual Ice Out Contest. In the early 1900s a group of bored miners bet $800 on when the ice in the Nenana River would break up in the spring.

Now they set up a tower in the ice, connect it to a clock by a cable, and when the ice breaks up enough for the tower to tip over it stops the clock. They sell tickets for a quarter and you bet on the month, day, hour and minute the tower will fall.

Last year the total purse was over $300,000.00. Of course there are multiple winners with over a million guesses each year so the money is split.

They also had a little railroad museum there.


	We also took some pictures of the scenery along the way.


	Today was Elaine and Bart’s 41st Anniversary so we all went to a Cabin Night Dinner Theater. It was a recreation of an early roadhouse with family style dining and a show after. During dinner, Bill and Bart both got kissed by Miss Kitty. She is in the picture far right.

July 31, 2008

We took a wildlife bus tour through Denali National Park. Bart was glad he didn’t have to drive the bus. It was a dreary rainy day but it turned out to be a great day for viewing wildlife. We saw moose, grizzly bear, Dall sheep (way high on the side of a cliff), a red fox and a caribou but he was too far away to get a good picture. One grizzly sow walked right down the road out of the fog with her cub and right beside the bus. Bart got lucky and snapped this cow moose just as she shook off the rain so it looks like she has a halo around her.




	We also saw some great scenery, which is not too hard to do. No matter where you look it is gorgeous.




		Some of our group went white water rafting right past the RV park.


	August 1, 2008 This was another free day. Bill and Bart had to redo the fix on Bills A/C cover as it was leaking on Kay’s side of the bed.



		Later we went back to Denali. Kay, Bill and Elaine went to a dog sled demonstration. It had been drizzling and dark in the morning but the sun came out in the afternoon. Bart drove down the highway to take some pictures of the mountains in the sun.


	But even in the rain and fog, these mountains still exude a quiet but impressive beauty.


			August 2, 2008 Drove to Anchorage - 241 miles. Rained most all the way. We were not able to see “the Mountain” as the locals call Mt. McKinley. We did stop at a Veterans’ Memorial on the way.





		Last updated August 4, 2008