Alaskan Adventures 2014 with Rich & Mary

Do you see the Indian face on the mountain?
One of my favorite things to do while we're traveling
 is to find faces in the mountains!

 July 27:     It's been a nice visit to Denali, but now it's time to get moving again.  Our plans are to go to Fairbanks for a couple of days. This will be the farthest north we will be going, so from Fairbanks on it will be a slow trek towards home. Oh my goodness, did I mention home?  I think both Rich & I have become overloaded by the expanse and majesty of what we have experienced all around us. From the grandeur of the mountains to the tiniest things like the colorful lichens that cover the forest floor. We have enjoyed every minute.  Going back home does sound rather nice, but not just yet. We have a few more miles and a few places we still want to visit before we make that final turn in the road that brings us back to Michigan.

Rich & I standing by our sign!!

Alaska's giant sized cabbage

July 28:  We arrived in Fairbanks in the late afternoon yesterday and got a campsite in River's Edge RV Resort.  Our idea today was to take a ride on the Dalton Hwy. that goes north out of Fairbanks up to Prudhoe Bay by Deadhorse.  After starting down the road, we discovered that out of Fairbanks you have to go another 64 miles to even get to the start of the Dalton Hwy.!  (That is the road the Iceroad Truckers drive)  We decided that gas cost too much to just take a drive up to the Dalton just to say we drove on the Dalton!! We paid $4.28 today for mid-grade gas.   What we did discover was a place where you can stop and have a get-up-close experience with the Trans-Alaska pipeline. We stopped there and took some pictures and had a good look at it. Oh, we even had our picture taken at this spot.

A place that beckons you to come sit awhile.

 
We also took time to go to the botanical gardens at the University of Alaska. It is an area that is still developing, with a lot of studying being done on Alaskan plants and trees.  There is always beauty in a garden of flowers no matter how well groomed they are (or maybe not quite as neat and tidy as I imagined the gardens were going to be).
















July 29:  We went for a riverboat ride today on the paddlewheel boat Discovery.  It was the most beautiful sunny, low 70s day. The boat cruises down the Chena River up to the Tanana River. It used to also go on the Tanana River, but that river is too shallow now for the boat to go on.  






We were treated to a demonstration by a bush pilot with info on just how they are such a necessary part of the Alaskan life. 

Just down the river a bit, we got to see Susan Butcher's Iditarod champion dog sled team perform. They are such a great team of dogs to watch. They sure get excited when they are hitched up for a practice run. Susan Butcher won the Iditarod four times, but in her early 50s, she passed away from cancer. Her husband and family have kept the dog kennels going since then.


There was also a place where we got to get off the boat and walk through an authentic  Athabaskan Indian village and fish camp and hear how things were done by the natives in the past. We find it pretty interesting to hear how things were done and possibly are done somewhat today.  This girl is modeling a coat made of many different furs for us. It is a beautiful coat and a lovely girl.  




Tomorrow we will be starting out for Tok. We have been there before on our trip, but to go anywhere in Alaska you have to go through Tok. That is unless you travel by the inland marine boat system, which we won't be doing.  That is another way of traveling that a lot of people choose to do. I hear it is a beautiful trip. We are on the lookout for some animals that seem to have not been around when we traveled in that direction early. I need to get my bear eyes on!!