After a very nice couple of days in Denali the bus left early for Fairbanks. It took around 3 hours traveling thru remote wilderness with some very pretty fall colors, but a very bumpy ride, I’m guessing the roads aren’t good due to the weather, we were told it there is a large amount of snow and ice on the roads from October until Spring.
We were first dropped off at the Riverboat Discovery for the included 3 hour boat tour down the Chena River. The tour includes free coffee and donuts, and Captain Jim’s Smoked Salmon which was so good, we wanted to buy some to take home but our suitcases were already full!, It also includes a narrated ride on the river, a guided tour of a Native Alaskan village, and demonstrations and displays. The Discovery III has three decks with indoor seating and a fourth open air deck. The boat is powered by a large red paddlewheel at the stern. We had a really informative Captain and his crew to entertain us.
The first demonstration were bush planes that take off and land on the river, and historic river transport right outside of the boat. Then a stop at the Chena Village Living Museum, where we left the boat to learn about the Dene Athabaskan culture which was fascinating. My favorite stop was a visit (we stayed on board) to an Iditarod dog kennel run by the family of the late Iditarod champion Susan Butcher. It was so cool to see all the puppies training to become sled dogs and watching them practice and then as soon as they finished their short run, racing into the water to play, wow, these pups have so much energy and it looked like they were loving it! It was a very fun, informative afternoon as we cruised by some very big beautiful homes along the riverbank where some owners would be outside waving hello to us!
When we checked into the Princess Fairbanks Lodge and saw this sign I had hope this would be the night! After dinner we drove up to one of the best northern lights viewing areas near Fairbanks and a favorite spot for many aurora photographers. With 2,890 feet altitude, Murphy Dome is one of the highest peaks in the Fairbanks area, about a 15 mile drive up the mountain. It was about an hour later we could see the aurora start to form in the sky, finally I got to watch them perform, what an experience!!!
