Discovery River Cruise, Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

At last we arrive in Fairbanks, second largest city in AK, and the center of support for all the interior activity. We spent the day at Pioneer Park, and took a riverboat cruise on the Discovery.

On the river we enjoyed seeing a float plane take off and land. There are over 1000 private planes registered in Fairbanks, and a metro population of about 100,000, and 13 people out of every thousand in the state is a private pilot, the highest in the nation.

Also stopped to see the dog team of the husband of Susan Butcher, who won the Iditarod 4 times. 

He gave us a little briefing about the dogs, and a demonstration of training methods. Cool.

Next, a visit to Chena Athabascan Indian Village, to see some artifacts and enjoy a briefing from some of the natives about their culture and history.

We learned how a fish wheel scoops salmon from the river and deposits them into a catch basket. Sure easier than a hook and line!

At the mouth of the salmon river, we saw the clear water merge with the milky glacier runoff, and a modern day fishing camp on the gravel flats.

The Chena Village also has a post office, too bad we didn't bring our postcards to mail...

Of course above any self-respecting cabin is a pair of Moose antlers, right? Alaskans love their flowers, and have to enjoy them quickly, as they have such a short summer! 

I had to check out an Athabascan spear, to see how it would look next to my grizzly kill... and looking over the Caribou for a likely meal.

Yes, kids, there really are reindeer! Domesticated Caribou, that is.

Here's Nancy conferring with Arlene, our Wagonmaster, as our tour guests reboard the riverboat. On to a restaurant on our tour bus for a great lunch on the river. There was a golf tee and a hole across the river, so some had to try their luck. Here's Nancy putting one in the water!

Here I am taking a little break with Karen, one of the members of our Fantasy tour group.

Our sightseeing done for the day, we return to the campsite to do some chores. Life goes on, even on an RV tour!

Alan gets a trim from his wife Nancy.

Chicken, AK, population 3

Well, that's the winter population. In the summer, when things are really cooking, there might be 25 or even more! This little town is barely inside Alaska, between Dawson City and Tok. 

One guy and his family basically own/run the whole deal. He has a nice little RV park with electric and water and a dump station which easily swallowed our 23 rigs. He has a restaurant, a nice gift shop, a gold dredge, and gold panning. What more can you ask?

This 8 foot chicken stands next to a milepost sign, too small to read, but fun. Aren't those fireweeds pretty?

This old gold dredge scooped up rocks and gravel from a riverbed, and processed the ore for gold. Sort of a mechanized gold panning method. We also got to try out the original version...

Some had better luck than others.

Legend has it that the original name of this gold rush town was supposed to be Ptarmigan, after the Alaskan state bird. But, folks couldn't agree on the correct spelling, so they decided on Chicken instead!

Hey, why not, we had fun!

Tok, Alaska, entry to the interior

There is one way to drive into Alaska from the lower 48, and that is through Tok. One would not think a community of less than 2000 souls would offer much, but in fact it is quite self-sufficient. I'm giving kudos to one business here that really helped us out, and that is Willard's RV, towing, and electric. If it's broken, they can fix it. If it's stuck, they can pull it out. 

I stole this pic because I forgot to take one, and it's from 2010. Don't worry, it looks the same! By the time we arrived in Tok, we'd driven over 100 miles on muddy dirt roads, and here's what we looked like!

Fortunately for us, the RV park we selected had its own hi pressure wash station, and if you filled up your tank at their gas station, you could wash your rig for free. We lined up as we arrived, and must have spent 4-5 hours washing everybody's motorhome and tow car. Then, off to Fast Eddie's for dinner.

Yes, there is a Fast Eddie's in Tok, sister/cousin to the one in Alton, IL for all you who know of it, and they have great food. Not as cheap as in Alton, though!

Top of the World Highway

This aptly named highway leads from the ferry dock across the Yukon River from Dawson City, to the US-Canada border, through Chicken, AK and on to Tok, AK. Here's the route. We started by crossing the Yukon on a ferry, only big enough for two motor homes.

If you look closely, you can see the nose of the Montaj behind the two cars and beside the wheelhouse of the ferry.

 It was drizzling as we started up the long climb from the ferry dock, and continued to rain all day. Visibility ranged from fair to poor, with sections in the fog. The road is graded dirt. If it's dry, it is dusty. Not today, it was muddy. The view from this ridge route would be gorgeous I'm sure, but not this day.

We made it to the border, figuring maybe oil rich Alaska has more money for roads than the Yukon. If they do, they ain't spending it here!

One of our rigs swerved to avoid a big pothole, and his rig slid off the road into the weeds. Note no shoulders, and barely room for two big vehicles to pass each other. $2000 and 5 hours later, the tow truck from Tok had him out and on the way, no permanent damage.

You can see how this scenic route snakes its way through the wilderness, looking down at the valleys below. Lots of concentration required!