Day - 18 Fairbanks

Hurry up! We have to  get the laundry done, go grocery shopping in the commissary, and then catch the 2:00 boat! Hedda was freaking out.  I calmly told her to relax we will get everything done.  Don't worry.  Sure enough, we (Hedda & Bertha) got the laundry done.  We made the commissary run.  We made the 2:00 boat.  Well kind of...when we drove up a girl came running up and said "Park right at the dock and leave the keys in your truck, the boat is waiting for you!"

And they were.  They hurried us down the gang plank as a few hundred tourists watched, and the captain held the boat steady for us.
The boat ride on the Chena river was pretty cool.  The emcee  told us all about the boat and the history of river travel on the Chena.  We were given a demonstration of a float plane landing (watering?) and taking off on the river.  The weather was beautiful as we cruised by the riverside homes.  We stopped by the late Susan Butcher's (4 time Ididtarod winner) kennels and were entertained by the puppies and a sled dog team demo.

We cruised farther down the river and were able to get off the boat and wander through a reconstructed Native American village.  Some young guides gave us short informative lectures about life in the olden days.  They have artifacts and animal skins to show us how people survived and lived prior to meeting western man.
Aris was very interested in the fish trap and we had to restrain him from stealing the smoked salmon on display.

A nice restful trip back up the river.  We managed to leave some of our dollars in the on board trading post.

Supper was had inside of our bug free, bug tent.
I took Bill and Molly out to show them the "Lady of the Lake" and if our supper was bug free, standing by the lake was not.
We are moving to downtown Fairbanks tomorrow.