Friday in Fairbanks...We went on Discovery Riverboat in the morning. It was like 2 hours or so, and very enjoyable.
While we waited to board, we looked around the gift shop and of course had to try on the moose and husky dog earmuffs.
Once on the riverboat, we sat on the very upper most deck (there were 4 "floors"). This company that runs the riverboat set up the trip as an "experience" not just sit and look around as you float down the river. As we started down the Chena River, a "bush pilot" came and landed on the river. The narrator on the riverboat was able to link up with him, and they did a little question and answer about the plane, flying in Alaska, and how to take off and land on the water. It was very cool. He then took off again.
A little farther than the river we then came to a dog sled training facility. There was a well known dog sled driver by the name of Susan Butcher back in the 1980s/90s, whom won 4 Ididterod races. She passed away in 2006 from cancer. Her husband and daughters continue to raise dog sled dogs. It was especially neat, because the husband came out in the yard and spoke about the dogs, how they train, etc. We were able to see a couple of puppies, as well as saw an example of the dogs being hooked together as a team and pull a specialized four-wheeler. It was very neat.
There were some domesticated caribou down the stream a little further.
Then there was a native Alaskan fishing camp set up. A lady talked about the salmon and how the folks there fish and smoke them, etc. We then were able to get off of the boat and spent about an hour there, while we moved around to three different areas where we learned about different aspects of native Alaskan life.
In the afternoon, we went on a tour owned by the same company. This one was called Gold Dredge #8.
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