Fairbanks

Dick's notes for day 2:

Wed 5/19/10
Fairbanks Princess Lodge.
Get up and chase caches, 1 nano, 2 magnetic key holders. Can’t get across the river.
Paddle boat ride. Discover that the native culture presentation is commercial enterprise by the paddle boat company. We forgot to put the memory card back in camera. None for sale in gift shop. Fred Meyer only 1 ½ mile. (Isn't it interesting that Frederick Meijer in the midwest and Fred Meyer in the west have the same type of department store...) On the way I discovered a walking/bike path across the river. Drop coin in decon container. Get back and buy Bill a beer while I have Salmon chowder and a salad.

MORNING AT LEISURE:

Well, it's a good thing we didn't have any excursions planned for the morning, because the hotel restaurant was extremely slow in serving. It was a buffet breakfast, but I was silly enough to order just blueberry pancakes and not the buffet. It took forever. It was a real blueberry breakfast breakdown.

STERNWHEELER RIVERBOAT CRUISE:

Fully narrated cruise along the Chena and Tanana Rivers on the Riverboat Discovery.
We saw a bush pilot's demonstration, and a native American fish wheel. We went ashore at an authentic Athabascan village and saw furs, artists, and heard about the native culture. The boat stopped at what used to be Susan Butcher's house and saw the sled dogs that run the Iditarod. It was a great demonstration of how they are harnessed, how enthusiastic they are, and then they took off running pulling a 4-wheeler where we could see them from the boat. This was a great excursion.

The reason why there are no pictures from this day is because I left the picture card in the USB port of my computer at home. (Wince) Dick made a special dinnertime trip to the Fairbanks WalMart to get a new card.