Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska was a lot of fun!  We got a very nice hotel unlike the old school one we had in Dawson.  

We went out for a walk to see what we could find.

We found a local museum.  Outside was this arch of moose and elk antlers.  

One of the activities planned for us was a riverboat cruise to an Alaskan Indian village.  Along the  way we saw a smaller riverboat.

When we got to the village, these elk were waiting for us.

One of the tour guides was this 14 year old girl who modeled this fur coat worth $20,000!

A shed for drying fish.  That's a lot of fish!

This was our riverboat.  We met some wonderful people during this activity who are members of our faith.  

Part of our cruise included demonstration with dog sleds.  We learned about Granite who turned out to be the lead dog for Susan Butcher who won the Iditarod three times.

This is a model of Susan Butcher.

We went out for ribs at a local restaurant that was on TV.  It was good but not the best I've ever eaten.

The view of the morning sky outside our hotel window.

One of the days we were in Fairbanks we were able to visit the  Alaskan pipeline and get a little information and history.  

It is massive and at some places it is above the ground and others it is below.

After learning about the pipeline we headed to a gold mine on a train.

We really enjoyed getting off of the train and doing some panning for gold.

We learned all about the dredging process and were able to tour the dredge itself. 

Panning for gold netted me $34 and Pat another $10.  It was really fun but my hands got cold.

These piles of gravel were everywhere.  They are known as tailings from the process of gold mining.

The scoops that bring the rock up from the ground.  They are huge!

Just a beautiful begonia outside the gift shop.