Caught the shuttle out to the riverboat launch, which, as we've noticed the pattern here, was quite early, to give you plenty of time to spend in their gift shop (whether you want to or not). We sat around for an hour, helping ourselves to free coffee and browsing until we finally boarded the sternwheeler. The narrator was a local radio guy, and he told a number of fun stories, and though the ride itself was pretty bland and short, the stops along the way were interesting, albeit standard tourist fare. Just after heading out, we had a seaplane demonstrate a couple of landings on the water right next to the boat, and a conversation with the pilot by remote. The next stop was at Susan Butcher's kennel, where we saw the dogs hitched to a sled and run around on a track. Her story was very inspiring, being the first woman to ever win the Iditarod (every town in Alaska seems to have a champion, and they are definitely the home town heroes!), before succumbing to cancer years later. I have to stay that it was intriguing to see the different strategies for dog training. While Seavey's was all business and seemingly no play, these dogs were let off the harness as soon as their demo was finished, and allowed to run free around the yard and down to the river, where they all splashed around for awhile. They seemed a lot happier than at Seavey's, more like family dogs that worked rather than simply working dogs. We both liked that a lot. We also saw a fish wheel where, instead of being counted by scientists, they were caught and shunted into a box, so the indigenous people could use them, preserve them, and generally survive in the way they have done for generations. That was combined with a demonstration of how they were cut and smoked and generally used. We got a history of the river and some other interesting facts, before eventually making our way back to the landing, passing by numerous, very well appointed homes, as one would expect in any city on a river in America. We picked up the shuttle and asked about going to Pioneer Park, but was told they didn't stop there, which was a surprise to me, as I was sure I read on their website that they went there. Instead, we had to go back to the campground and pack up the RV and drive over there ourselves. We walked around Pioneer Park, which an odd combination of museum, amusement park and playground. There is an old sternwheeler grounded in the middle that is now a museum, with some of the best dioramas I have every seen, with details so incredible, they actually look real in my photos. Many of the buildings are original log cabins that used to be in downtown Fairbanks and moved to Pioneer Park, and are now used as local retail outlets for food, clothing, and arts and crafts, There is an old train that circles the park, an area that's supposed to be a replica of a gold dredge, and a picnic area that offers a salmon bake buffet for the unreasonable price of about $65 per person. An air museum in a geodesic dome also offers some interesting history of avionics in Alaska and beyond, so we had plenty to do for the rest of the day. We discovered they let you park overnight for $12, so we revised our plans a bit, and decided to leave the RV park tomorrow, take a tour out to Chena Hot Springs about 60 miles away, then come back and see a musical revue they do at Pioneer Park, then spend the night there before heading south. A fabulous, fun-filled day!
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