Alaska

Up early again for breakfast and we headed down the road for a riverboat ride. The boat left at 8:00. We sat on the 4th deck – open air deck. It was a slow paddle wheel. They had a float plane take off and land right beside us in the river and the pilot talked to us on the radio. Then on down the river to where Susan Butcher trained her dogs for the Iditarod. For those who might not know, Susan was a 4 time winner (1986, 87, 88 and 90). Then she got Leukemia and passed away in 2006. Alicia Quail, one of her dog trainers, talked to us from shore about the dogs. She had a team of 8 harnessed up to a four-wheeler with no motor. Then she gave the dogs the command and away they went! She came back and away the boat went on down the river.

These are Susan Butcher's sled dogs.

We had one more stop at a model native village. We had a demonstration on how to cut up a salmon to be smoked. Then we all got off the boat and divided into three groups to hear more about the native live. One stations had the clothing that is worn to keep people warm in the 40-60 degrees below zero temperatures. A coat that they modeled was bought from the lady who made it for $16,000 and is now worth $33,000! It was beautiful! We also heard about the homes they lived in and saw reindeer. Alicia came there, too to talk more about the sled dogs. We had some free time then headed back to the steamboat for the trip back.


The coat!

The reindeer at the native village.

When we got off the boat, we headed for lunch at Susan Butcher’s home! Her husband, David Monson (facing camera in picture) met us. We were the only bus that was there so had a personal picnic lunch with him and Alicia. They have both raced dog teams so we heard what it takes to race and some of the stories about their races. We saw a movie about Susan’s racing that was filmed by National Geographic. There were 3 of Susan’s sleds for us to see and the clothing that is worn to keep the mushers warm. We then were able to go out and see the dogs. Several puppies were out to greet us and all of the dogs were excited! We had to leave at 2:00 as another one of the boat tours was coming down the river to stop and visit with David and Alicia from the shore!

This is a great example of how “elite” this tour is! I think we are one of the only tour groups that comes to their house for this personal visit.

We went out to see the Alaska Pipeline.

We left there and went for a bus tour of downtown Fairbanks. Back to the hotel for an hour before heading to a Salmon Bake at Pioneer park. We arrived there at 5:30 and had all you can eat Salmon, Prime Rib, Halibut, Cod along with salad bar and dessert! We ate outside as the weather is still fantastic! The sky has been clear all day with temperatures in the mid-70’s!

After supper we headed toward a theater for a show on early Fairbanks life. One the way we found an excellent display of miniature scenes from towns in Alaska! It was wonderful! So much detail in every scene. I wish one of the displays could come to the Iowa State Fair!

The show had 5 people in it and was great! At the end of the show I got a call from Tammy Negrete. She, Rob, and Nick & Beth Evanovich were across the park eating at the Salmon Bake! Bob and I hurried over to say hi to them before meeting the bus for the trip back to the hotel. It was great to see them and to think that without planning the 6 of us were at the same place at the same time in Alaska!

Back to the hotel for the night.