Traveling Deep Into The Alaskan Interior...

What a great week we had in Fairbanks. We saw some interesting sights, did some fun things and had a fair amount of relaxation.

In addition to flying to Barrow last Sunday, we:

• went to Creamer's Field Migratory Refuge and saw geese, sandhill cranes, iridescent tree swallows, etc.
• went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. It was one of the very best museums we have ever been to. We spent most of the day and could have spent longer.
• went to North Pole, Alaska and saw Santa and Mrs Claus, the elves, his reindeer and managed to do some shopping!
• went to Pioneer Park where there are several restored buildings and exhibits that depict historical Alaska.
• went to the Tanana Valley Farmer's Market. There is a lot of organic and, at this time of year, greenhouse-grown produce here in Alaska, however, we could not quite get ourselves to buy a $5.00 bag of lettuce that contained about a dozen leaves!
• went on the Riverboat Discovery with several stops including the kennels of the late Susan Butcher and an Athabaskan village.

Susan Butcher was a dog musher who rose to fame when she became the second woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1986, and went on to become the second four-time winner in 1990, and the first to win four out of five sequential years. The Iditarod is a grueling 1,131-mile race through arctic blizzard conditions across the Alaska wilderness, which tests the endurance of both mushers and dogs over the course of one to two weeks. Susan lost a courageous battle with cancer in 2006 but her legacy lives on in her Trail Breaker Kennels which are owned and operated by her husband and two daughters.

The Athabaskans traditionally lived in Interior Alaska, an expansive region that begins south of the Brooks Mountain Range and continues down to the Kenai Peninsula. In traditional and contemporary practices Athabaskans are taught respect for all living things. The most important part of Athabaskan subsistence living is sharing. All hunters are part of a kin-based network in which they are expected to follow traditional customs for sharing in the community. It has been very rewarding to learn about these peoples.

I bet you're wondering how we are seeing and doing so much. Well, it's because we never sleep. Just kidding, but it IS a challenge. You see, today, June 21st is the Summer Solstice - the LONGEST day of the year. No, it's still only 24 hours in length but it is the longest daylight of the year. Here in Denali, where we currently are, the sun rose at 2:17AM this morning and will set at 12:58AM tonight. That's 22 hours and 41 minutes of daylight; and the remaining 1 hour and 19 minutes is dusk. It has not really gotten dark for almost a month now!! So, there is LOTS of time to do things. Right now it is 10:16pm and the sun is still coming in the window.

Tonight the 103rd Midnight Sun Baseball Classic is being played in Fairbanks. Yep, the first pitch is not thrown until 12:00 midnight when the Alaska Goldpanners, the home team, will be hosting the California Running Birds (?) for the game which is played in its entirety without any artificial lights. We'll keep you posted on the results :))

Attached is the link to some pictures. Below the photo it explains what it is. Enjoy...

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Sbs27hoxZMJa&notag=1

Tomorrow morning we are setting out on a 12-13 hour tour deep into Denali National Park to the base of Mount McKinley. We will be going as far as the road goes and we anticipate seeing MUCH wildlife and some spectacular scenery.

More soon. Take care and stay safe,

P&J