7/8/17
Today is our first full day in Fairbanks, as we drove in yesterday and went to the Salmon Bake and a show (thoroughly entertaining). The bus picked us all up in the campground at 8:30 a.m. We went to the University of Alaska Natural Museum. Saw lots of wildlife up close and very good artwork. Here are a bunch of pictures of the museum.
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Otto the Grizzly
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Black Bear and Eagle
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Bison
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Blue Babe Bison (the real thing-
not Paul Bunyan's Babe)
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Blue Babe
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And then there were costumes and artwork:
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Woman's Parka
The diamond pattern at the bottom is sewn hides
individually, then sheared to the precise length
to create the diamond pattern
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Hand stitched, one bead at a time
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Dog Rescue (an abstract)
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Who is this in the outhouse?
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Oh, it is just Tom
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There was so much more, but I don't have enough space to put it all in. They also had a complete art collection on the 3rd floor, donated by a patron of the museum. We had a great talk with one of the staff women in the gift shop, who explained to us how they could sell carved ivory pieces in the gift shop (I thought ivory was banned). She told us that the ivory was not elephant ivory, it was seal and walrus ivory, and the natives are allowed to kill for food. Since they do not waste anything from their kills, they carve the tusks and sell them in stores like this for extra income. They cannot sell uncarved tusks, only carved items (artwork), and the pieces must be sold in America--they cannot be sold outside the U.S. The museum had so much more that I just cannot fit in this small space - it was wonderful.
Lunch was at the Cookie Jar, a local restaurant. The entry was really cute, the lunch was delicious, and it was visited by Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
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The Cookie Jar - lunch
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After lunch, the bus took us to the Discovery III, a sternwheeler up the Chena River. We watched a demonstration of a Super Cub plane taking off and landing on the river. Small planes are very common in this area as they can land and take off in about 150 ft. and are fitted with multiple landing gear (wheels for land, pontoons for water, and skis for ice/snow). There are so many large rivers and lakes in this area and they all freeze over in the winter, it makes a plane the easiest form of transportation.
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Super Piper Cub
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Back to the boat....we went downstream to see many of the individual homes in the area. We saw all sizes and all types, from cabins to large homes. There are no zoning rules here, as long as you own the land, you can build whatever you want.
Next, we came to the Susan Butcher Dog Sled Kennels and training facility. Susan Butcher is a hero here in Alaska. She came to Alaska in 1975 and trained and ran in the Iditarod dog sled race (1000 miles from Anchorage to Nome, AK). She won it 4 times, and became a legend. Unfortunately, she died from leukemia in 2006 at the young age of 51, but her husband and daughters carry on the kennels. Here are pictures of the kennels and her dogs (they house over 100 dogs).
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Susan Butcher Kennels; Daughter Tekla in foreground
Puppy Training between logs
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Dog Sled training with an ATV
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Dog sled team in the back--they run at 20 mph
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Now we passed a recreated Athabasca Village - a reenactment of original native Indians and how they managed to live in this harsh climate and thrive for over 10,000 years. They actually taught the westerners (whites) how to survive in the winter. Here are some reindeer from the village, feeding on the grass.
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Herd of reindeer
(Reindeer are domesticated caribou)
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close up of reindeer
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We rode the Chena River all the way down to where it met the stronger Tanana River, the same fast-moving river we had lunch by two days ago. The muddy water in the picture is the Tanana River, and the clear water is the Chena River.
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Chena River mouth to the Tanana River
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The Sternwheeler we were on did not go any further, but turned around and took us back to the Athabasca Village and made a stop so that we could wander through the village and hear what the guides had to tell us. By the way, it was about mid 80's today. Here are my pictures from the village.
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Tom and I in Athabasca Village
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Caribou pelt
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Moose pelt
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Grizzly pelt
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Guide describing all the pelts
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Woman's parka front
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Woman's parka back
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Big Bull Moose
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Testament to Granite, Susan Butcher's lead dog
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We got back to the RV at 5:30 P.M. - 9 hours for the dogs to stay in. They did great - no messes, and they were so glad to see us. Tom took them out for a good walk and then had a nap with them. Leftover pizza tonight. We are ready to hit the sack early.
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