Summer Adventure 2018 Day 25

Discovery Riverboat Tour is my favorite tour so far. Everyone seemed happy to see us like we were friends, just like we had known them for years. The commentator was a gentleman who brought his family to Fairbanks more than 40 years ago and he is also a local radio personality. He talked to us about life in Fairbanks, the Binkley family who founded the Discovery Riverboat Tour and still run it and the Gold Dredge #8, we visited yesterday and introduced us to other presenters during our tour.

First there was a bush plane demo, taking off and landing, right there on the Chena River. Many residents along the river came out to wave as we passed by. When we arrived at the bank near Trail Break Kennel, Tekla Monson was there to greet us along with some adorable Husky puppies and a team of dogs ready to demonstrate how they run when harnessed to a sled. I wish you could have seen and heard all the dogs when the harnessing began. They all wanted to be chosen to run and not one of them was shy about asking, even though the team had been pre-selected. Tekla's mother, Susan Butcher, won the Iditarod four times.

Reward after the mushing demonstration.

After we turned around there was a stop at Chena Village, a replica of an Athabaskan village. A young Athabaskan woman demonstrated how salmon is prepared for smoking and storage. Following her demonstration we were permitted to go into the village for other presentations and photos. Tekla was there with some of her pups from the kennel and she was signing the book, Granite, her parents wrote about the little runt of the litter who became a great leader. He lead Susan Butcher to win the Iditarod four times and the only dog to win the race three consecutive years.

I have a great respect for the parkas made and worn by the native people of Alaska after seeing the presentation by two young ladies from the boat, who are Athabaskan. There are different animal furs used, each with its own special purpose, which I can't recall which does what now. Perhaps I should go on the tour again and take notes.

As I mentioned before Jim Binkley founded Discovery Riverboat Tours, in 1955  Mr Binkley built the Discovery 1 in his backyard, which was large enough for 150 tourists, then Discovery 2  was converted from a freighting steamboat in 1971 to accommodate 400 and in 1987 the Discovery 3 built for 900 passengers. As we passed the Binkley home on our way back to Steamboat Landing, 92 year old, Mrs. Mary Binkley walked near to the riverbank to wave as we passed by.

On board we were served complementary coffee and blueberry donuts early and later the Binkley's family recipe smoked sockeye salmon dip. It was all delicious.

Later on we went to Pioneer Park to explore there and have the Salmon Bake, an all you can eat salmon, cod, prime rib and King or Dungeness crab legs from 1/2 lb. to 2 lbs. could be added.

The first frame home built in Fairbanks.

I know you are wondering if I'll ever stop, I have come to the end, even though I'm sure I've left out many things.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 24

The morning began, that is so odd to say! The difference in time zones is wild. Ray wants to still operate on Eastern time while the rest of the world here is on Alaska time, 4 hours earlier. I'm caught somewhere in between.  Anyway, we had breakfast at The Cookie Jar. A small place, not too far from our RV park and the food is good.  We went out to see the Alaska Pipeline at Fox, Alaska on the Steese Highway. There have been couple of changes made to this site since we were here in 2010. A small building and the directions sign post are gone, the pig, used to clean the inside walls of the pipeline, was moved and there is also a new model on display alongside the old one. 

During the afternoon there was a tour of Gold Dredge #8. I asked at the ticket booth if there was a #9 dredge because we had been to dredge before where we ate a meal as the miners would have in  a mess hall, toured the dredge and panned for gold. I was told there are only 8 dredges and this one didn't appear to be the one I remembered. There is no mess hall there, I had no recollection of this entrance that passed directly under the pipeline and this place has a train ride.

When the time came we were permitted to board the train, we went straight to the front car, as the young man who took our tickets had told us the best seats would be there. The conductor,Earl Hughes, met us there and entertained us with his guitar and singing a few familiar songs and some of his original ones while we waited for the other passengers to board. He turned over microphone to George, who was our tour guide, as well as a high school social studies teacher. His presentation was very interesting from how the miners solved the problem of mining the frozen earth, to the dredges being brought in, to a gold panning demonstration and instructions and he finished with a short presentation on the pipeline.

Holding a $75,000 gold nugget.

When the train arrived at the dredge, Ray and I recognized the place. It was the same place I mentioned before. The mess hall is gone and no one used the parking area where we entered before on the tour. The gold panning area was as I remember... with a welcomed improvement, the water is warm.

I know you want to know if we panned for gold...and the answer is yes. Everyone was given a pouch of gravel and a gold pan, then sent to the trough to begin panning.  I remember how cold and miserable my hands were when we panned before, so I appreciated the warm water and ended up with $28.00 worth of gold.

While we were close to North Pole, we went there and to Santa Claus House.

Our dinner was at the restaurant adjacent to the RV park, The Chena Grill. The bacon-wrapped scallops and roasted vegetables were delicious!

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 23

Back in the navigator's seat as we move on up the road to Fairbanks. The road was great all the way. We saw a little rabbit, I guess it was actually a snow hare and 3 moose along the way. The road was so good I wasn't able to get a picture of any of them, since we were moving right along. There was a stop in Delta Junction for pictures at the  End of the Alaska Highway marker, lunch at Buffalo Center Drive-in and our final destination for the day, River's Edge RV Resort.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 22

We had a great breakfast at Fast Eddie's in Tok before spending the rest of the day cleaning the motorhome and washing everything in the rig. That was our exciting day in Alaska. Sometimes you have to do the homework.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 21

When we were planning this trip we researched the road conditions we could encounter. Knowing there could be unimproved roads, roads that would be in disrepair, broken, potholed, heaved and washboard sections. After discussing the routes and knowing summer caravans would use the Klondike Loop and the Top of the World Highway, we decided we could do the same. After all this is our summer adventure and we may never come this way again.  The Klondike Loop was good road most of the time. That took us to Dawson City. Now we are leaving Dawson City on a cloudy, rainy morning...on the George Black Ferry. A bridge would cost them $30 million, so the ferry runs 24/7/365.  Even though the ferry boat seemed a bit small for our rigs we did it. Only one rig at a time.
   

Bill & Pam on the George Black Ferry

We were in the clouds during the morning. The Canadian portion of the Top of the World Highway was fair driving to the U.S Poker Creek border crossing.

From there it was a beautiful, smooth paved road for 13 miles.  Then oh my gosh! We drove on dusty, bumpy, sometimes narrow and winding roads. The distance we traveled was only 222 miles, which took nearly 7 hours of driving with only a couple of quick stops. Even at Chicken the stop was short. I did get a picture there. The sun was shining for a while, but we could see the rain clouds.

The smoothest road of the entire trip.

We planned to wash the coach and truck at the RV park, but the RV wash wasn't operational. They were just getting geared up for summer, I think.  Once we were setup on our sites, I suggested maybe they would let us wash the rigs on our sites, if we offered to pay the price of the RV wash. Ray called the office and just like magic, we were able to wash them. Ray's Suburban has NEVER been dirty like this before.

Look at all the gravel Bill's tow shield caught.

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 20

It was a beautiful day for exploring Dawson City, beginning with breakfast at Eldorado Hotel, then a visit to the Dawson City Museum. The staff there was very friendly which made our visit even more enjoyable. We walked around town taking pictures at every turn. It's too bad I can't share all of them here, but no need to be concerned I will share a few of the best. We saw the small cabin that was home to poet, Robert Service, Jack London's even smaller cabin, and other buildings that caught our attention. Bill took a boat tour, we drove up to the dome above town for the view, it was worth the whole trip to Dawson City. There was a short drive out to Bonanza Creek where the stampede to the gold in Dawson City began and the night ended with a show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's.

Prospector's thermometer

Robert Service's cabin

Jack London's cabin

View from the dome

Bonanza Creek

Summer Adventure 2018 Day 19

To get there you have to drive all day! Whitehorse behind us and Dawson City bound, 322 miles.  Not many animals were visible as we drove the Klondike Highway, but there was a great stop at Braeburn Lodge. World famous cinnamon rolls are made right there year round and we enjoyed every little bite of the warm roll we had while we took a break from the driving.

Back on the road and there were more breaks and heaves in the road to slow us down. The landscape has changed, instead of the towering snow-capped mountains we see smaller tree filled mountains. Signs dated the sites where forest fires burned along the highway from 1953 - 2015 (I think...I wish I had written  down all the dates) At the most recent site everything is charred while the 1953 site was full of  young trees firs, birch, aspen and probably more I couldn't identify. We passed a salt water lake along with plenty of fresh water lakes. I spotted a couple of swans on one them, but not soon enough to get a good picture of them. Once upon a time, there were 52 stagecoach stops along the route  and we had a quick stop for photos of the remains of one of them.

Supper was homemade soup and a sandwich at Moose Creek Lodge.  Then back on the road, the next stop was Gold Rush RV Park in Dawson City.

Once again I have to wait for better internet service to add pictures.

I still have to share our day 20. The trip today is less than 200 miles, but we keep hearing it will take 6-7 hours, Yikes!