What a beautiful morning!! Here we are in the middle of Alaska – 57° and not a cloud in the sky. The forecast is 82 today and 84 tomorrow. Unfortunately, our A/C is not working. Oh well, the forecast for Monday is 68 and rain for the rest of the week.
We had a leisurely morning. I took the pickup to the car wash while Gayle got ready. We left at 11 for Fairbanks.
We had lunch at a Chena River-front restaurant – Pikes Landing. The seating was on a large deck built out and over the river bank. As I said yesterday, the rivers are at their seasonal high so the feeling was that we were right on the water. Our lunch and the ambiance was excellent.
After lunch we went to the Discovery Landing for a 3 hour cruise aboard the Discovery III stern wheeler passenger boat on the Chena River. When we arrived at the landing, there were 5 or 6 large Greyhound-type tour buses that had already unloaded their passengers – all of which were there for the cruise. We estimated there were 300 people on the cruise. However, the seating was very comfortable.
During the gold rush and for some time after, there were 250 stern wheelers carrying cargo from the Bering Sea, up the Yukon River system to many gold rush cities including Fairbanks. These boats can operate in very shallow water (39”) which makes them ideal for these rivers. The owners of the Discovery I recognized the demise of cargo boats in the 1950's and converted the boat to passenger boat. This operation grew to what is is today.
We left the landing and visited several sites including the importance of the bush planes to Alaska, the home of the 4-time winner of the Iditerod dog sled race (Susan Butcher), a re-created Indian village, and a small herd of reindeer (caribou). All in all, the cruise was every enjoyable.
After the cruise, we went to a place called Pioneer Park. This is a re-created gold rush town aptly named Alaskaland. The “town” has several shops and a carousel. They also have an outdoor salmon bake that included a salad bar, crab legs, halibut, prime rib, and dessert. This was an excellent meal!!
On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at a home made ice cream shop. A two scoop cup of mocha almond & coffee hit the spot!!
We arrived back at the RV park at 8:30. This was a fun-packed day and we are ready for a good nights sleep!!
No comments:
Post a Comment