This afternoon we have tickets for the Discovery III Cruise, one of the largest tourist attractions in the state. I will admit, I wasn't excited about another tourist attraction, and was I ever wrong! The trip of about 3 and 1/2 hours is well thought out, interesting, and gives good insight into the lives of the Athabascan people who lived her thousands of years ago.
Prior to our departure, Bob gets a chance to hold a Husky puppy belonging to one of the stars in the dog sledding world - cute!
Above shows some of the homes along the river edge, and below, we get a flight demonstration of a float plane.
Next we stop for a dog sledding demonstration by the husband and daughter of the late Susan Butcher, four time Iditarod winner who lost her life to leukemia. Many locals we spoke with hang up their car keys in winter and use either snowmobiles or dogs for local transportation. Dogs don't need to be either plugged into an outlet while you shop or left with their engines running so you can restart when finished!
Our next stop where we actually get off the boat, is to an Athabascan Village, which is a reproduction as to how it may have looked and demonstrations of the skills necessary for survival. It is truly an interesting stop and the speakers brought the history to life.
The above is a demonstration of how the fish wheel works and the skills to fillet and smoke salmon. Nothing was wasted. Salmon of lesser quality was used for dog food.
This is a demonstration of fur and sewing skills needed for survival.
Before you could sew it, you had to catch it - not an easy job, but sewing was no piece of cake either.
Susan Butcher's ten year old daughter shows her love for their dogs.
Close up of the fish wheel.
Bob is enthralled with this beauty - can't say I blame him! She is gorgeous.
Our boat and captain await for our return. The following pictures are a few things we see on the return trip.
Tomorrow we explore downtown Fairbanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment