Fairbanks Touristy Stuff – Day 2 (Monday)

Today was a mostly sunny day in the 80’s for the most part. We started out the day by visiting the Visitors Center in downtown Fairbanks. They had a ton of information and a very nice exhibit giving an overview of the history and geography of the area. We walked around the walking paths and visited the downtown also.

This afternoon we had reservations on a paddlewheel boat called the Discovery. This boat went down the Chena River to its end at the Tanana River.

This was a unique tour as the tour guide was able to communicate with the pilot of a sea plane/bush pilot who gave a demonstration on taking off and landing on the river right in front of us. Also, we were able to get a sled dog demonstration from Susan Butcher’s husband as we passed by their kennels. A group of 10 dogs bred for racing were hitched to a four wheel ATV which had no engine. The dogs pulled 600 pounds of ATV and rider around a trail for us. It was pretty interesting! Note all of the kennels in the fenced in area.  These are dogs being trained for pulling sleds.

When the boat got to the Tanana River, we disembarked at a re-enactment of a local fishing camp as it would have appeared many years ago. Some local Athabascan young women gave great presentations regarding the life of these people and how they survived.  This picture shows the young woman modeling a warm coat typical of those made by the women of the village.

We ended the day with a Salmon Bake at Pioneer Village. This is a sort of theme park with the history of this area. Then we walked through a local Market which was held down by the river which included some vendors and entertainment.

The narrator on our boat tour called this area a desert due to its limited precipitation (11.3 inches per year on the average). Winters are quite cold, but without much snow. Supposedly there is not much rainfall either, but we’ve seen light showers almost every day. Not a lot of rain, just enough to keep the dust down. The weather was great except for about a 1 hour shower as the boat returned to the dock. The sun came out again for the evening. We sure can’t complain about the weather here in Fairbanks! It’s been a great city to visit!

Question for the day - What is the difference between a reindeer and a caribou?