Day 3: Fairbanks

On: Insufferable grandparent mode

Happy 8 month Birthday Penny!

Off: Insufferable grandparent mode

 

Started the day with a walk around the city of Fairbanks.  The park across the street commemorates the point where the first settler put ashore after the riverboat he was traveling in got stuck on a sandbar in 1901.  Two gold prospectors in the area convinced him to stay and he opened up a trading post.  Hard to imagine that the second largest city in Alaska was founded by people who's grand kids still live here.  Fairbanks grew during the gold rush (Cripple Creek is just a few miles downstream), then died out and revived with the Trans Alaska railroad comming in, then died and boomed with the Military base at the beginning of WWII, and now thrives on the oil and gas industry.

This is the northern terminus of the northernmost railway in North America.  It really is the end of the line

We spent a good part of the morning roaming the streets, meeting the local characters, and popping in and out of souvenir stores.  I told Sue this was going to be a two week tour of Northern Gift Shops.   Some of the more attractive graffiti in town.

 The crew of 12 getting ready to head out on our first excursion.  One couple is going to join us a few days from now for a total of 14 on the cruise

 Our first outing was a Riverboat Cruise run by a family whose great grandfather started on riverboats in the early 1900s.  2 of his great grandsons were piloting the stern wheeler today.  Even though it was touristy, it was actually quite well done

The 12 of us aboard the Discovery III

 

The trip included a float plane demonstration. The Piper Cubs used by most of the bush pilots here ceased production in the mid 1980s. Many of them like this one are 1950s vintage or older

 

The trip also included a dogsled demo presented by the kennel started by Susan Baker who won the Iditarod 4 times total and 3 times in a row back in the 1980s

FACT: the difference between caribou and reindeer is that reindeer are domesticated. This is a reindeer.

The trip included a stop at a replica Native American fish camp.  Our tour guides were three 100% native American, 100% adorable and 100% American teenage girls.  This is Darcy in a traditional parka.  Oh, and Sue and Micky

Kevin getting his Moose on

 

We are continually surprised by all the flowers in bloom here.  They actually only get 12 inches of precipitation annually, which include just 5 feet of snow.  That makes this a semi-arid climate.  Butthe temperature often gets to -40 degrees Fareineight and occasionally reaches -70. 

  

Once again, a perfect ending to a great day with Dinner at the pump house.  The pump house building used to pump water from the Chena river up and over a local ridge to the gold mining camps along Cripple Creek.  And now it's a pretty good restaurant.

Tomorrow we join up with our tour.  Looking forward to it.  Thanks for tuning in!