Not so rushed this morning. Pleasant breakfast and then out to the river view for one last look . Onto bus for couple of hours drive to Fairbanks but they were doing road works and we got held up twice for 20 mins each time. Because of the permafrost they have to do major earth works every couple of years.
Finally got into Fairbanks about 1.30 pm and got ready to board the paddle steamer for a tour along with about 400 others. Princess cruise lines and wilderness lodges have everything tied up in Alaska and you feel a little bit like a mob of sheep being herded around. With a bit of trepidation we boarded the boat and thankfully it was big enough that you did not feel too crowded.
The tour was excellent with fantastic commentary by the captain and great views of log cabins, a float plane taking off and landing right near the boat, a demonstration of dog sledding again on the shore as we all watched from on board. The dogs were from the famous Susan Butcher home, the lady who won the Iditarod four times.
We then were taken to an Athabascan demonstration village where we were disembarked and shown how the local people survived in Alaska. The presentations were given by young Athabascan students ranging in age from 15 to 22 and the whole thing was fantastic and very interesting.
After the boat we were taken to the next Princess lodge and quickly dumped our gear in our rooms and then caught a shuttle bus into Fairbanks where there did not appear to be much but ten of us went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Caught shuttle back to hotel and got ready for bed. Still completely light at midnight here. It was 77 degrees F here today. They also have only 15 inches of rain a year.
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