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  • Currently in San Cristobal, Mexico

From Alaska to Mexico and Points in Between

from Florida to Alaska....

Fairbanks

United States Alaska, United States  |  Aug 27, 2007
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 The little big city in the north 

We have spent several days in Fairbanks. The weather has been incredible. Sunshine and 70s every day.

Some of the highlights:

Discovery riverboat cruise. This is an old paddleboat that takes a three-hour cruise down the Chena River. All the 'Alaska' thrills are there. We visited the dog ranch of Susan Butcher (4 time Iditarod champion) and listened to her husband explain and demonstrate how they train the huskies. We watched a water plane land and take off and listened to the pilot. Finally we visited a local Indian village.

Pioneer Park and museums. This is a pretty cool free park in the center of Fairbanks. Along with the outdoor parks there are museums a small indigenous village with some sample houses, an air museum with highlights of arctic aviation history.

We have had a great time here and are ready to head to Denali. The next days will be without electricity. It is cold at night but not at all unbearable. The days are perfect. We have seen plenty of wild life. We spotted a group of bald eagles at the confluence of the two rivers yesterday. The silty glacier river meets a clear spring fed river and the salmon become visible as they move into the spring water making it a good hunting spot for the birds. We also visited a Sand Hill Crane reserve and saw thousands and thousands of protected water birds. The kids have learned the difference between reindeer and caribou. There has been no shortage of bears, but we haven't seen a grizzly yet.

We had a strange experience at a Great Thai restaurant in Fairbanks. The restaurant had the best Thai food with an entire staff of Thai natives. Housed in a small log house complete with praying statues and shrines to the king and queen. The waitress and the kitchen staff thought the oldest boy looked like a famous actor in Thailand. They thought that the similarity was so close they all came out to watch him. They were so excited and he was so embarrassed. It was very funny. The pad Thai and the larb were incredible too.

Off to Mt McKinley....
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