This may look old and rusty, well it is. It does have some history, however. It is one of many interesting displays at Pioneer Park. This is a steam shovel, the first I've ever seen. The shovel was used on the Panama Canal, then shipped to Hawaii, and now it rests here in Fairbanks after years of service digging canals to supply water to mining operations in central Alaska.
This is the riverboat Discovery III. A very popular tourist attraction, especially for the bus tour generation. Although I did enjoy the ride, and the narrator did a wonderful job, I didn't care for being packed in with 800 or so other tourists.
I tried my hand at fishing for salmon while I had the chance. Ed, a Fairbanks resident and friend of our traveling companions, offered to take us. We were after King Salmon, which on some rivers can run up to 90 pounds. On this river they usually only run up to 30 pounds. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show and no tale to tell, I got skunked. We were on the river 8 hours and only two fish were caught on our stretch of the river, one by Ed. It was not very big (in comparison to what we were after) so we agreed to throw it back. You see, the limit on King's is one per day and we wanted to go home with 30 pounders. In retrospect I'm thinking that little salmon would have tasted really good.......
Here's someone most of you will at least have heard of. Susan Butcher is possibly the best known dog musher in Alaska. She won three consecutive Iditarod dog sled races (1986, 87, & 88). Keep in mind that the Iditarod is about 1,000 miles long and held in the dead of the Alaskan winter when temperatures can dip to -65 degrees (not considering wind chill). Her career included completing 17 Iditarod races and never finishing less than 20th.
Susan died of breast cancer in her early 50's. She left a legacy in two daughters and a sled dog kennel as good as any in Alaska. Her husband and daughters continue to operate the kennel and sponsor a team in the Iditarod. Maybe the daughters will one day join their mother in the record books.
This may look old and rusty, well it is. It does have some history, however. It is one of many interesting displays at Pioneer Park. This is a steam shovel, the first I've ever seen. The shovel was used on the Panama Canal, then shipped to Hawaii, and now it rests here in Fairbanks after years of service digging canals to supply water to mining operations in central Alaska.
This is the riverboat Discovery III. A very popular tourist attraction, especially for the bus tour generation. Although I did enjoy the ride, and the narrator did a wonderful job, I didn't care for being packed in with 800 or so other tourists.
I tried my hand at fishing for salmon while I had the chance. Ed, a Fairbanks resident and friend of our traveling companions, offered to take us. We were after King Salmon, which on some rivers can run up to 90 pounds. On this river they usually only run up to 30 pounds. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show and no tale to tell, I got skunked. We were on the river 8 hours and only two fish were caught on our stretch of the river, one by Ed. It was not very big (in comparison to what we were after) so we agreed to throw it back. You see, the limit on King's is one per day and we wanted to go home with 30 pounders. In retrospect I'm thinking that little salmon would have tasted really good.......
Here's someone most of you will at least have heard of. Susan Butcher is possibly the best known dog musher in Alaska. She won three consecutive Iditarod dog sled races (1986, 87, & 88). Keep in mind that the Iditarod is about 1,000 miles long and held in the dead of the Alaskan winter when temperatures can dip to -65 degrees (not considering wind chill). Her career included completing 17 Iditarod races and never finishing less than 20th.
Susan died of breast cancer in her early 50's. She left a legacy in two daughters and a sled dog kennel as good as any in Alaska. Her husband and daughters continue to operate the kennel and sponsor a team in the Iditarod. Maybe the daughters will one day join their mother in the record books.
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