Fair day in Fairbanks

Today was our last full day in Fairbanks and our best day. We started out with a great potluck breakfast with biscuits and gravy and lots of other goodies.  The weather was nice most of the day for a change, partly cloudy with temps in the 60s.

At 1pm we loaded the bus and headed for the Discovery river cruise on the Chena River. A four time winner of the Iditarod dogsled race was at the visitor center with a sled and one of his dogs.

The first stop on the cruise was a bush pilot display with a water takeoff and landing.

Forty-eight degree water and 60 degree weather did not stop these kids from jumping in, but they came out almost as fast.

The next stop was the Susan Butcher sled dog training facility.

They showed us how the puppies are trained then hitched up a team of dogs to a motorless ATV and drove them around a long track.

We then stopped at a mock native American village where they showed us how native Alaskans live in the wilderness.

We also got to see some of the sled dogs up close.

After the cruise we went to dinner at the Pumphouse Restaurant where we had another excellent meal. The building which houses the restaurant once housed large pumps which sent water to nearby gold mines.

Tomorrow we start heading homeward and finish the Alcan Highway from Delta Jct  to Tok.