We had a 7.15am departure. We stopped at Nenana for morning tea and a
comfort stop.
Here is the Nenana Ice Classic, which
is an annual ice pool
contest held in Nenana,
Alaska. It is a fundraising event in which individuals attempt to guess the
exact time the Tanana River ice will
break up at Nenana. The "tripod", which
actually has four supports, is planted on the river ice between the highway and
railroad bridges in Nenana, 300 ft from the shore. The tripod is connected
to a clock which stops as the ice goes out, moving the tripod with it. The Tanana
River at Nenana usually freezes between October and November, reaching an
average peak thickness of 41 inches. [from internet] If no one get the actual time, then the closest time either side of the
actual time are declared winners. Shows how interesting life is out here! So –
of course some of us had to have a bet (US$2.50), Lesley included! Who knows??
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| cranes |
In the bus we watched a DVD on beavers – very interesting. We stopped
for a photo opportunity at a view point to see Mt McKinley (Denali) in the
distance. It is free of cloud, even if a long way away.
We drove through
Fairbanks to go to North Pole, a suburb or locality of Fairbanks about 13 miles
north. This is actually a big Christmas store. They have missed an opportunity
to have a log cabin with workshop to add to the charm. We had some photos taken
with Santa, and bought several) no, lots) of things. We also arranged for a
surprise for Harriet and Zachary.
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| businesses get with the theme too |
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| letters to Santa end up here |
We stopped in Fairbanks for lunch.
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| plug cars in to warm them up (in winter) |
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| cars have electrical cord out the front |
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| this is Farenheit, not Celsius |
Here we went on the Riverboat Discovery
tour. This was a river cruise with a difference.
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| staff waving farewell - taking a leaf out of the trains' book! |
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| smaller sister ship |
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| nice homes along the bank |
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| this is a true log construction, with uneven logs sticking out the end. |
First the boat stopped beside
the bank to talk to the pilot of a float plane about his work and watch him
take off, land and take off again. Then it moved further down river to stop at
a musher’s place to look at his dogs and the puppies and how they are taught,
then watched a team of dogs pull a wheeled sled around a long track. A retired
husky raced along with them, them cheated and turned and ran back to arrive
back with the team. Again, the dogs were all keen to go, each one leaping and
barking to be picked.
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| puppy training - get over the log |
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| racing around the back straight |
From here we went further downstream to turn around and
stop at a demonstration Athabaska tribe’s village. Here the passengers all got
off and divided into three groups where we heard talks in a round robin fashion.
We then could wander around, see the dogs and talk to the handler. A huge clap
of thunder overhead startled us all, and it was clear a storm was coming. Most
of us went back to the boat immediately to avoid getting wet. The remainder got
a little damp! Also on the way down we looked at the lovely homes on the river
bank, and heard about some of the owners.
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| beautiful fur coat, hand made |
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| log house construction - moss to seal it |
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| caribou, appearing on demand with several others! |
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| choice of transport |
Tonight we had our farewell dinner as a group, as two of our group are
leaving tomorrow. The group gave Laurel a card and an envelope of collected
money (tip) for her services. She’s been great. We all said goodbye to each
other, even though some of us will be seeing each other tomorrow on the Arctic
Circle flights.
