Alaska Cruise - Day 13 - Wednesday, June 3

This was our last day of our vacation. We got on the local transit bus and went out to North Pole, Alaska. They have the Santa Workshop with all sorts of Christmas stuff. Santa was there and I videotaped a message for each of the grand kids. We then got some post cards that will be mailed to each family at Christmas time. We also went to the post office and got our passports stamped with the official postal stamp from the North Pole. We also purchased some postcards there and had them mailed to the grand kids with the North Pole stamp on it. The light poles are all done like candy canes (see the picture below) and every thing else has a Christmas Theme.

In the afternoon we took the bus to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and went through the museum there. It was quit the museum. They had exhibit about the history of Alaska, they also had a visiting exhibit about the polar bears. We watched a movie about the Northern lights and we learned a lot more about how they are made. They come from the Sun spots and are always present in space. The stronger the sunspot the stronger the appearance of the northern lights and the farther away from the poles they go. They are also found on both poles, but the northern lights are stronger than the southern lights. The earth's magnetic pull also has a lot to do with the intensity of the lights; the final aspect that controls them is the earth's atmosphere. That helps give the color to the light.

We then headed back to the hotel where we met the shuttle that took us to the airport. Our flight will take about an hour to go from Fairbanks to Anchorage, and then we have an hour layover in Anchorage. On the way to Anchorage the pilot took us close to Mt. McKinley and so we finally were able to get a look at it; even if it was from 30,000 feet. The picture is out of the plane window, so is not the best quality, but at least we got to see it. Our flight to Denver will take about 4 hours, but we lose two hours as we cross two time zones. On the flight to Denver, we had to sit in the very back seats because we were one of the last to get our boarding passes and seats. We got the boarding pass for the Fairbanks to Anchorage flight online, but we were not able to get them for the Flight to Denver. Once we arrive in Denver, we have 1 hour layover after which we catch our last flight from Denver to Salt Lake City where we arrive around 8:22 am. Our flight from Anchorage to Denver took an hour 1/2 longer than it was supposed to, so we missed our connecting flight to Salt Lake City. We ended up getting on a 9:00 am flight and arrived in Salt Lake City at 11:30. We then got the shuttle to pick up our car and went to Mike's to get Snoopy. We had lunch with John & Jessica and the kids, where we gave them some things we got for them in Alaska. We then headed home for a long rest.

Alaska Cruise - Day 12 - Tuesday, June 2

After a relaxing morning we finally got up and went and got everything ready for our departure later in the day. We then went and got a late lunch since none of us were very hungry after the late dinner last night. In the afternoon we took a trip out to Jeff King's Alaskan Husky Farm. Jeff has won four Iditarod races and has a husky farm where he breeds and raises his dogs for his team. Those he does not choose for his team he will sell to other racers or anyone else that is interested in racing dogs. He usually will sell about 30 dog each year for about $1500/ea. When we first got there they let us hold the new puppies for a few minutes and take pictures with them. Then they showed us the older dogs. They were all in the yard tethered to their houses so they would not be running all over the place and getting into mischief with other dogs. One of the workers started howling and then all the dogs joined in, it got pretty noisy. Then they brought in a 4 wheeler that they use in the summer to train the dogs. They hitch up the dogs to the 4 wheeler and they then pull it instead of a sled. As soon as they brought in the 4 wheeler all the dogs started going crazy. They were barking a jumping around as if they were saying, pick me, pick me! It was quite a site. They then took about 10 dogs and hooked them up and off they went. They do this all day long, so all of the dogs get their chance to pull it. When they come back from their run, there is a puddle that they all lay down in to cool off and get a drink. They also have this large wheel (like a hamster wheel) that a dog climbs into and starts running. That wheel got spinning pretty fast. They also had this merry go round like thing that several dogs were chained up to and when the lead doge was put in the house on the top, he started barking and the dogs took off running. The lead dog continued barking sounding out commands to the dogs pulling.

We then went inside and watched a short DVD about the Iditarod race and some of the things Jeff has done with the dog training. Jeff's daughter told us what it was like growing up in Alaska and as Jeff's daughter. She has competed in the Jr. Iditarod as well as other races. She is not sure if she is interested in running the full Iditarod race or not. After she was done, Jeff came in and talked and answered questions anyone had. When it was time to leave I purchased his book and he signed it and took pictures with us. This was one the best side tours we took. One the way back to the lodge, we came across a moose that was alongside the road eating the leaves off the trees. We stopped and took pictures (see below), then got to the lodge, retrieved our luggage and boarded the coach to go to the train depot for the ride to Fairbanks.

On the ride from Denali to Fairbanks we saw more beaver dams and trumpet swans. Our guide showed us the Nenana river and there was a sand bar in the middle of the river and she asked us if we knew what the sand bar was called and she said: nenana split! She we also saw a bald eagle flying around as well as raven. She told us that ravens have five pinions on their feet and the eagle has six. She said the difference between a raven and an eagle was a matter of a pinion (opinion)!!! Oh, these tour guides are funny.

In the town of Nenana, they have the ice classic, where people bet on when the ice will break up, usually late April or May. A tripod is setup by the river where there is a clock ticking away and everyone writes down the date they think break up will happen. When the ice breaks up the clock stops. The person(s) closest to the date wins the prize money. The annual payoff is more than $300,000.00 and is often split by several contestants.

We ate wonderful dinner on the train and just as we were finishing up, we were pulling into Fairbanks - good timing. We hopped aboard our motor coach and headed to the hotel and settled in for the evening. The picture of the sunset at the bottom is from our hotel room and was taken at 1:00 am. There was a sign on our hotel room that says the later the sun will set at 2:30 am and rise again at 3:30 am. One June 21, the summer solstice the sun will literally rotate all the way around - not setting at all. Crazy stuff.