Beginning in Alaska

We have spent two days in Alaska and we haven't been eaten by a bear or rammed by a moose.

Pretty good, don't ya think?  What have done you ask?  We have flown 6.5 hrs across this nation with a lot of fire fighters on our plane.On our descent into Fairbanks, the stewardess told us not to be alarmed as there were some forest fires we would see on our approach.

Everything went smoothly on first day in Fairbanks.  Royal Carribbean met us at luggage area. Our bags arrived safely and we were whisked away in a motor coach to the Wedgewood Resort.  Our tour guide, Darren, aloud us to get settled in our room and then return to the lodge for a quick orientation of excursion options.  We were starving since there was no meal on the plane.  We ran over to the Golden Bear Restaurant for a quick meal and then headed for bed.  It was now 2am our home time but 10pm Alaska time.  This reminds me of going to Las Vegas and the first day is a killer.

We could sleep in and then meet the tour at 9:45am for our first excursion to University of Alaska Museum of the North.  You can take a self-guided audio tour and there is great movie explaining living in Alaska.  After after a delicious soup and sandwich lunch at the Fudge Pot, we had renewed energy to hike through downtown Fairbanks.  We walked through the little business district shops and avoided any purchases in the jewelry stores.   But it sure was fun to drool and window shop.

 We headed over to the arch of antlers along the Chena River.  Then we visited the Morris Thompson Cultural Center.

After boarding the bus in the afternoon, we headed up the mountain to the Gold Dredge #8.  We panned for gold and rode the narrow gauge railroad to the Dredge while receiving a narrated history lesson on the mining for gold during the gold rush.  Rod and I panned $52 worth of gold.  Rod bought me a locket with our gold nuggets encased.

Our last stop of the day was at Pioneer Park for the Salmon Bake dinner and show.  The food was good and we were ravenous from the hard work of panning for gold.  The variety was delightful and relaxing finish to our day.  Just a short ride back to the hotel and we are ready for bed.

An early day tomorrow.  Suitcases out the door at 6am.  7:30 am we depart for the train depot and we will be on our way to Denali National Park.  Toot, toot, all aboard!

Yours in quilting,

Terry