Still Fairbanks, Alaska

Sternwheeler Riverboat Cruise

Our motorcoach took us to our next stop, Riverboat Landing, for lunch. Lunch was included in this cruisetour package. It was a family style lunch of some stew, biscuits, and ice-tea. Nothing fancy but we can eat as much as we wanted. We were seated with other visitors and if we wanted refills of anything we just asked the servers to bring some more. The huge dining hall was a little chaotic with tourists from everywhere but we managed. After lunch, we looked through the gift shops while waiting to board the river cruise. Now, that was even more chaotic because we didn't know where to line up to board. There were several entry ways and everybody had a different color ticket to board. After all the shuffling, we boarded our boat and found a good spot in the front on the top deck.

This is a fully narrated cruise along the Chena and Tanana Rivers. First we saw a float plane pilot demonstration which was very interesting but it started to rain pretty hard.

Big houses along the river.

Then  we saw Susan Butcher's famous Iditarod sled dog team from the boat. The dogs and the kids seemed to enjoy putting on a show for us. I think Susan Butcher's  husband and kids are taking care of their dog team now.

The dogs taking a dips into the water after the demonstration, what fun!

It was so cold and wet that the hot coffee and donuts really made for a nice treat.

The boat then docked at the Athabascan village where we were introduced to traditional Alaska Native lifestyles.

We rotated around the different stations while the guides talked to us on various topics of the Athabascan culture.

I just loved this fur coat!

That's our boat--Discovery II

Beautiful garden.

Back on the boat...

watching how they cut up and dried the salmon.

Finally, we had a chance to taste the canned salmon that was for sale.

After the tour, we were back at the hotel and did some packing before going out for dinner. There was a free shuttle at the hotel that takes guests around Fairbanks. We wanted to try the all-you-can-eat Salmon Bake at Pioneer Park. It took us about 45 minutes from the hotel to finally get there after the other stops.

Pioneer Park was very quiet at that hour.

Food was good, with prime rib, grilled fish, fried fish and other trimmings. Drinks and desserts were all included. I think for the price of Alaska it was quite worth it.

Tables were set up both inside and outside. We decided to be inside and as you can see the place was pretty empty because it was almost closing time.

Outdoor food stations

More pictures of Pioneer Park.

After dinner we took the shuttle back to the hotel and called it a day.