Today we had a riverboat ride down the Chena River. It was very interesting to see the houses along the river. They had a demonstration for us so we could see a float plane take off and land. They also stopped along side a place that raises snow sled dogs (the ones used in the Iditarod). They told us how they trained the dogs and showed us a demonstration of the dogs pulling a man on a modified ATV. He had taken the motor out and they dogs took off running pulling him along.
Next we stopped by Chena Village which resembled the original Chena Athabascan Indian Village of the early 1900's. They had different demonstrations showing us what life was like there.
We were free for the afternoon and went to find something to eat for lunch. We were walking along and found a BBQ house. We went inside and it was Asian food. Not what we were expecting but it was very good.
After a nap it was ready for our excursion for the night. We were flying to the Arctic Circle. We flew from Fairbanks into Coldfoot. They then took us in a van to a village called Wiseman. There are 13 year round residents in this village. A man named Jack took us on a walking tour showing us different buildings including his 1 room cabin that he and his wife live in. He pointed to a tent and said that was where they slept in the summer. They have no electricity and have to make their own with solar energy.
Our return flight was supposed to leave at 11:00 pm but was late so they took us to the truck stop in Coldfoot. It was interesting. Keep in mind that it is daylight during all of this. Our flight finally took off around 12:30 am (still daylight). We got back to Fairbanks at 1:30 am (sun just setting). We got back to the hotel around 2:00 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment