PetersonFamily: Alaska - Part 8

Bet you never thought I would get to the end of our jouney. By now our minds were on overload for sure and we had nearly forgotten we had another life we had to go back to. We'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

This was the first thing I saw as we stepped off the bus in Fairbanks. This is a town that has a higher population of dogs than people. Sled dog racing is big (think Iditarod).

This was a neat archway along the river walkway. It's made of moose, and some caribou, antlers. It's also warmer here in Fairbanks than other places. Blue sky and all.

After a walk around the river park and lunch where all the tour guides hang out, we boarded our coach for a trip to The El Dorado Gold Mine. It's family owned and operated.

Our tour guides see us onto the train. Claudia was such a great person and knew so much. She was willing to learn anything new to pass on. Made me understand what cousin Una does in the summer. Josh was our bus driver and took care of all the luggage. He's a bit more reserved than Claudia but still very personable - and young!

Our train ride took us into a tunnel...

...where another person took over the narration explaining mining and such. He moved along to show us a mining camp and equipment.

Then we were all seated and taught about the intricacies of panning for gold. Water was released (background) that washed through a shovel-ful of dirt which then ran down the slough.

We were shown how they "clean out" the riffles after the water is emptied and then the dirt is panned. Our miner friend found this in just the time he was talking to us. The little piece on the right is a nugget - the rest are smaller grains.

Then we were all (200+) escorted through another tunnel where we passed a room full of little sacks. These were called "poke sacks" and were full of dirt for each of us to pan. If you didn't get gold they would give you another sack. (Claudia told us when we were done with the sack to just reach into the trough and pull out some of the dirt there and re-pan it. Phil was able to get a second helping of gold dust that way!)

Then is was weighed for us. This is what $30 of gold looks like. (I put it in the glass jar when I got home and transferred the label.)
For $20 you could have it put in a see-through locket or such.

This is what $60,000 worth of gold looks like. It's a 19 ounce nugget.

Then it was back onto the train. Earl serenaded us up and back while we were riding. Phil bought his CD in the gift shop (you knew there would be one didn't you).

Along the road (which would be the road to Prudoe Bay- Ice Road in winter) there's a spot where you can get out and walk around the Alaskan Pipeline.

It ducks into the ground here. Nancy thought the oil company could do a better PR job with a nice little visitor center.

This painting was hanging in the hotel. It is another representation of a totem pole we saw in the Saxman Village.

Rock Oyster Man Pole. This pole memorializes a young man who lost his life fishing for octopus. The figure at the top is the Eagle; the lower figures are Beavers. These figures represent the clans that the young man belonged to. The bottom figure is the rock oyster. The human figure is the victim. The man drowned when the shell of a giant oyster closed upon his arm and he could not get away from the incoming tides. The two-toned human face represents his violent death.

I thought it interesting that we saw this image twice. Supposedly it's a warning to watch where you put your hands!

This riverboat came down the river...

...as we were having a very relaxing dinner on our last night in Alaska. The Girl Scouts were selling golf balls to anyone who wanted to try hitting a target across the river. Nancy managed to get it across a few times.

This was about 1:30 in the morning. Twilight but no real sunset.

On our last morning we went to the University of Alaska to their museum. This is a Mammoth/Mastodon display.

This is a steppe bison they call "Blue Babe". Found in 1979, it was killed 36,000 years ago by the american lion. This is how it was found - bison today lie down the same way when threatened.