Fairbanks, AK

Fairbanks is the most northern Alaskan city that we will visit.  It is Alaska’s second largest city and has a population of 32,000 and a Borough population of almost 100,000, including military.  Two military bases, army and air force, are located in the Borough.  (A Borough is like a county in North Carolina.)

Fairbanks is the home of the Riverboat Discovery which is rated the number one tour in Alaska.  We took a ride on the Discovery and learned so much about the history of the riverboat, the Chena River, and the Fairbanks area.  

While on the tour a water plane took off very near us.  These water planes play an important role in transportation of Fairbanks residents and provisions. 

As we traveled further down the river we came upon an Indian Fish Camp, where camp is set up with tents for housing, a smoke house is built, and a processing plant, so to speak, is built to clean, dry, and smoke salmon.  The supply of salmon harvested will last the entire winter for an Indian family.

An Indian girl was working the fish camp when we arrived.  She modeled her winter coat.  Would you like one like this?

The Discovery trip also provided some photo moments of animals. Check out the bold and majestic eagle below. He was perched at the top of a fur tree as if supervising his territory.

Another attraction – The University of Alaska Museum of the North is known to be one of the best museums in the state.  While there, a lady approached me and was thrilled to see my name tag, which states my name, hometown, and state.  She excitedly said, “Shelby, North Carolina!!!   We were students at the Ambassador Bible College in Lattimore.”  That really excited me.  That college in Lattimore is the building in which I attended Lattimore School for grades 5, 8 and 9.  WOW!  The lady and her husband live in Hawaii and are missionaries there.  They were in Alaska visiting their supporting churches.

 

The museum houses many relics of days gone by both for the Indian Nation as the early settlers who came to Fairbanks seeking gold.  Below is one of many beautiful Indian relics on display. 

The University of Alaska is impressive.  It is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution. You’d better believe that big bucks are provided to this university.  Below is a picture of reindeer that are housed on the campus.

Throughout our travels we’ve seen several animals in the wild and some actually on the highways.  But we had not seen a moose until we were in Fairbanks.  About 60 miles out in the Borough, we traveled a road that was known for moose sightings.  We saw a moose cow and calf feeding in the green grasses in the middle of a flowing creek.  This was a great find!

The night before we left Fairbanks, ten of our caravaners met for a meal together at Chena’s Alaskan Grill, located on the Chena River.  Finally some great halibut!

Friends from Texas, Florida, New York, and Montana