27 May 2008 -- Denali to Fairbanks, River Boat Ride

We left Denali NP at about 7:30 AM on a Princess bus for the short ride to Fairbanks. Our driver, Christine was very engaging and pointed out some points of interest on the way. Of particular interest was her own story. While she and her husband were living in a four level house in Colorado, they visited Alaska on vacation. After their visit, they decided they belonged in Alaska, so they packed up their two teen aged sons and whatever they could pack into their car and moved into a one room cabin near Fairbanks. There they lived for more than 10 years until an inheritance allowed them to build a larger house. In many ways her story was similar to others we heard. Many of the older Alaskans we encountered had come to visit and returned to stay. I can understand that. Alaska is clearly a place with a lot of appeal -- particularly for the independent minded who want to get away from the ordinary.

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, but is far behind Anchorage with a population of just over 31,000. It is a completely different city. Where Anchorage is very cosmopolitan with lots of high rise buildings, Fairbanks seems more rustic with a lot of older buildings still around along with the new modern ones. We quickly found out that the weather in Fairbanks was much more moderate than Anchorage or Denali. While it was in the 30s when we left Denali and even snowed on us on the way, it was in the 60s in Fairbanks. Fairbanks is in the interior of the state (unlike Anchorage which is right on the ocean) and it is at a much lower elevation than Denali.

When we arrived in downtown Fairbanks, Mary's aunt and cousin were there to meet us. We all went to a place called The Co-op Diner for lunch. It was indeed an old diner with diner type food. After lunch we walked to an old cemetery near by that is no longer used for new burials. We saw lots of old graves from the late 19th and early 20th century. While we were walking around, an older man came over and introduced himself as a caretaker and unofficial greeter. He talked a bit about the history of the cemetery and pointed out some graves of interest. After leaving the cemetery, we walked to a plaza in the center of downtown. One area there is dedicated to the Russian and American aviators who patrolled the skies in the area during World War II. The other area is called Golden Heart Plaza and has a large statue of an Eskimo family. This plaza was dedicated for the silver anniversary of Alaska's statehood. Note that next year marks the 50th anniversary.

After returning to our bus, we went to the Riverboat Discovery for a cruise on the Chena River. The cruise was very interesting. It was a bit like a ride at Disney World in that a lot of things were staged to give us a view of Alaskan life past and present. There was a demonstration of a bush pilot taking off from and landing on the river. Several houses were pointed out that included everything from log cabins to modern mansions. Many of the older houses had yards full of "stuff". Alaskans apparently never throw anything away since it is so hard to get things there in the first place. We made a stop at the late Susan Butcher's sled dog kennel where her husband and two daughters talked about and demonstrated the process of training sled dogs for racing. When one of the daughters hooked up the dogs to a training vehicle (an ATV with no motor), all the dogs went crazy! They all wanted to go. When the tie down was released from the vehicle, they took off like a shot and were out of sight in seconds. Further downstream, we saw another bush pilot take off and land using nothing more than a hundred feet on a sand bar in the river. Then we stopped and disembarked at an Athabascan Indian culture center. There a guide showed us various aspects of Athabascan life before contact. The Athabascan Indians occupied the majority of the interior of Alaska as compared to the tribes (commonly referred to as Eskimos) who occupied the coastal areas. One of the highlights of the center was a woman who hand makes traditional clothing using the traditional hides and methods of assembly and decoration. They displayed a beautiful parka she had made. They also gave a presentation about trapping and the various animals they would trap and the typical uses for the hides and furs. After reboarding the boat, we went by a fishing camp to see an example of a fish wheel which was used to catch fish using the river's current for power. The wheel acted as a continuous "dip net" during a salmon run. A woman there demonstrated how a salmon would be prepared for smoking and drying. She cleaned and fileted a salmon in less than three minutes.

At the end of the cruise we returned to our bus for a ride to the Princess Fairbanks Hotel near the airport. After settling into our room we went to dinner in the resturant in the hotel then went for a walk around the hotel grounds. We went to bed at 10:00 in bright sunlight. We're getting somewhat used to that now.

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