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We managed to stay awake last night until about 10.30pm, nighttime creeps up on you in this land of the midnight sun. I was still awake at 4.45am but I am beginning to feel normal again.
After breakfast we set off for the Riverboat Discovery. On arrival, we wander round the obligatory gift shop where they have a -40c degree experience. Steve is wearing only a t-shirt but at least i have a jacket on. I was mainly aware of how cold my clothes had become and that my nose hairs had frozen. Needless to say, we didn't stay very long but we did have our photo taken. It is really difficult to appreciate how tough life must be here in the winter on a lovely warm, sunny day. Fairbanks is very dry and has little wind. With no humidity, the snow is very powdery and doesn't stick together, so no snowball fights or snowman building for the kids. Apparently, they have a big problem with static electricity so when your husband comes home from work, you make sure you shake hands before going in for a kiss! Also, they are losing around 7 minutes of daylight per day from June onwards. So from over 21 hours of sunlight at present, by January this will be reduced to only 4.
We climbed aboard an authentic Alaskan Sternwheeler, Discovery III, to travel down the Chena River to where it meets the Tanana River. It's fascinating to see the silt-laden water of the Tanana meet the muddy Chena.
The Binkley family’s steamboating tradition goes back over 100 years and five generations. In 1898, when Charles M. Binkley hiked over the Chilkoot Pass with other stampeders, he was not so much in search of gold as he was the chance to build and operate boats on the Yukon and its tributaries. His son, Captain Jim Binkley, Sr., followed in his father’s footsteps and piloted freight vessels on the Yukon and Tanana Rivers in the 1940′s. As transportation systems changed in the north, railroads and airplanes began to carry much of the freight. In 1950, noting the coming changes in the freighting business, Captain Jim and his wife, Mary, began a river excursion business focusing on sharing their love of Alaska and its culture with visitors. Over the coming years, Captain Jim and Mary B’s business grew from the Godspeed, a 25 passenger vessel, to the Discovery III, a 900 passenger vessel. Today, Captain Jim’s grandchildren run the company and Mary B is still active in the business. In fact, we were told that she was really the brains behind it all and every day she comes out into the garden of her beautiful riverside home to greet the passengers on the boat. Or perhaps it is to count how much money each of us represents!
Its a beautiful day and we are greeted with fresh blueberry scones and coffee. Within just a couple of minutes, we are treated to a demonstration of a bush pilot taking off and landing his plane in the river right alongside the boat. The whole thing is also broadcast via a camera on the front of the boat on to the many screens to ensure the people on the other side can also see it. Fortunately for us, our tour guide told us which side of the boat to sit on. The guide who has been narrating the event then questions the pilot about his job over the boat's PA system. Clever stuff. We continue our leisurely cruise past the beautiful homes built along the riverside until we come to the Susan Butcher Kennels. Susan died recently of cancer but was a four-time Iditarod Trail dog sled champion. From the shore, Dave Monson, Susan's husband introduces us to some of his puppies and explains a little bit about how they are trained. He then hitches up his team of dogs to a specially adapted quad-bike and proceeds to give us an amazing dog mushing demonstration.
When Susan became ill, she and Dave wrote a book about Granite her greatest lead dog. He didn’t start that way. He was a shy, scraggly pup that the others pushed around, but Susan saw his potential. Together they worked until he became leader of the team. Dave was later signing copies of the book.
Our next stop was to watch a young native girl demonstrating how the Sockeye salmon was prepared as dog food. Then it was all ashore for a guided walking tour of an Athabascan Indian village with cabins made of spruce logs, a cache used for storing supplies, a primitive spruce bark hut and fur pelts. The guides explained how the wolf, fox, martin and beaver were used to provide food and protection in the harsh Arctic climate. They also described how the Athabascans skillfully survived for over 10,000 years and how they adapted to village life and Western culture in the past century.
What a fantastic experience!
After lunch, we returned to North Pole and Santa Claus House which we missed yesterday. I was so excited to actually meet Santa Claus. Yes, it was really him!
Steve and I had a little wander into downtown Fairbanks and tuned into a couple of familiar accents belonging to two women from Preston who were travelling by motorbike. Now they were real adventurers!
This evening we are looking forward to an Alaskan salmon, prime rib and battered cod bake so I'll check in with you later!
Later...
We have just returned from our lovely meal under the trees. It was fascinating to share a meal with people from different parts of the world. We have met some lovely and really interesting people on this trip.
After breakfast we set off for the Riverboat Discovery. On arrival, we wander round the obligatory gift shop where they have a -40c degree experience. Steve is wearing only a t-shirt but at least i have a jacket on. I was mainly aware of how cold my clothes had become and that my nose hairs had frozen. Needless to say, we didn't stay very long but we did have our photo taken. It is really difficult to appreciate how tough life must be here in the winter on a lovely warm, sunny day. Fairbanks is very dry and has little wind. With no humidity, the snow is very powdery and doesn't stick together, so no snowball fights or snowman building for the kids. Apparently, they have a big problem with static electricity so when your husband comes home from work, you make sure you shake hands before going in for a kiss! Also, they are losing around 7 minutes of daylight per day from June onwards. So from over 21 hours of sunlight at present, by January this will be reduced to only 4.
We climbed aboard an authentic Alaskan Sternwheeler, Discovery III, to travel down the Chena River to where it meets the Tanana River. It's fascinating to see the silt-laden water of the Tanana meet the muddy Chena.
The Binkley family’s steamboating tradition goes back over 100 years and five generations. In 1898, when Charles M. Binkley hiked over the Chilkoot Pass with other stampeders, he was not so much in search of gold as he was the chance to build and operate boats on the Yukon and its tributaries. His son, Captain Jim Binkley, Sr., followed in his father’s footsteps and piloted freight vessels on the Yukon and Tanana Rivers in the 1940′s. As transportation systems changed in the north, railroads and airplanes began to carry much of the freight. In 1950, noting the coming changes in the freighting business, Captain Jim and his wife, Mary, began a river excursion business focusing on sharing their love of Alaska and its culture with visitors. Over the coming years, Captain Jim and Mary B’s business grew from the Godspeed, a 25 passenger vessel, to the Discovery III, a 900 passenger vessel. Today, Captain Jim’s grandchildren run the company and Mary B is still active in the business. In fact, we were told that she was really the brains behind it all and every day she comes out into the garden of her beautiful riverside home to greet the passengers on the boat. Or perhaps it is to count how much money each of us represents!
Its a beautiful day and we are greeted with fresh blueberry scones and coffee. Within just a couple of minutes, we are treated to a demonstration of a bush pilot taking off and landing his plane in the river right alongside the boat. The whole thing is also broadcast via a camera on the front of the boat on to the many screens to ensure the people on the other side can also see it. Fortunately for us, our tour guide told us which side of the boat to sit on. The guide who has been narrating the event then questions the pilot about his job over the boat's PA system. Clever stuff. We continue our leisurely cruise past the beautiful homes built along the riverside until we come to the Susan Butcher Kennels. Susan died recently of cancer but was a four-time Iditarod Trail dog sled champion. From the shore, Dave Monson, Susan's husband introduces us to some of his puppies and explains a little bit about how they are trained. He then hitches up his team of dogs to a specially adapted quad-bike and proceeds to give us an amazing dog mushing demonstration.
When Susan became ill, she and Dave wrote a book about Granite her greatest lead dog. He didn’t start that way. He was a shy, scraggly pup that the others pushed around, but Susan saw his potential. Together they worked until he became leader of the team. Dave was later signing copies of the book.
Our next stop was to watch a young native girl demonstrating how the Sockeye salmon was prepared as dog food. Then it was all ashore for a guided walking tour of an Athabascan Indian village with cabins made of spruce logs, a cache used for storing supplies, a primitive spruce bark hut and fur pelts. The guides explained how the wolf, fox, martin and beaver were used to provide food and protection in the harsh Arctic climate. They also described how the Athabascans skillfully survived for over 10,000 years and how they adapted to village life and Western culture in the past century.
What a fantastic experience!
After lunch, we returned to North Pole and Santa Claus House which we missed yesterday. I was so excited to actually meet Santa Claus. Yes, it was really him!
Steve and I had a little wander into downtown Fairbanks and tuned into a couple of familiar accents belonging to two women from Preston who were travelling by motorbike. Now they were real adventurers!
This evening we are looking forward to an Alaskan salmon, prime rib and battered cod bake so I'll check in with you later!
Later...
We have just returned from our lovely meal under the trees. It was fascinating to share a meal with people from different parts of the world. We have met some lovely and really interesting people on this trip.
- comments
Hickster Not sure even the prospect of finding gold and getting rich would compensate for the cold. I think Mary B came out to count the passengers. It's the thing that keeps her going. R
Jackie Sophie is sooo jealous!