fairbanks

At last we arrive at Fairbanks.  Out of 639 photographs I took, you have only seen a smidgen, but I most certainly can promise you will see more throughout the year.  In our stay at Fairbanks, Truett and I signed up for the Riverboat Discovery III tour.

    

 On this paddleboat cruise we stopped at the late Susan Butcher's compound.  Susan and her team of dogs won the 1,100 mile Iditarod Dog Sled Race from Anchorage to Nome four times and she is an Alaskan legend.  She passed away in 2006 of leukemia.

    

For practice the dogs pull that four-wheeled drive vehicle; however, the motor has been removed.  Sled dogs are not abused.  They are bred to pull and are given the best care.  I bought a children's book, Granite, which Susan's husband, Dave Monrose, signed for me.  The book is about her lead dog, Granite, and their Iditarod races.  Because the temperatures rise in the 90's in the short summer, Dave takes his dogs in a boat to the shallow sand bars of the Chena River where they romp and run and swim in the river to cool down.

    

                                      "Well, there they go now!"

I was enthralled with the bush pilots and their planes.  Bush pilots are a necessity in Alaska because the roads system is poor or lacking.  They resue lost souls in the dense woods, bring in supplies and help put out forest fires.

       

    

We saw this caribou while on the riverboat cruise.

    

As you can see he is moulting and their antlers feel like velvet.

Here is the Alaska state flower, the forget-me-not.

     

I think it could be the wild iris just as well.  They were everywhere in Fairbanks.

    

I grew up in west Tennessee and mom always grew irises, so seeing them brings back fond memories of my childhood. 

Well, that's enough for today.  Tomorrow we'll go on up and see the Alaskan Pipeline and who knows what else.  Are you bored yet?  Life still goes on around here.  In fact, we're picking up Maddie and Oliver for the long weekend so I may not be able to post as much.

By the way, the wolf was a taxidermied one standing outside of the McKinley Princess Lodge.  All the other animals you have seen are alive and kicking.

Comments

[Sherry]

Beautiful photos and interesting stories.. thanks for the tour.