Alaskan Adventures - August 2-3, 2014 - Weekend Free Time

The weekend brought rain and sunshine. 

On this rainy day, Saturday, we had tickets for the Tanana Chief Dinner Cruise.  It was nice that we were inside for the dinner.

   Built in 1898, the original Tanana Chief served as a passenger and trade boat.  

The menu included Prime Rib, Grilled Salmon, Shrimp Pasta Salad, salad, creamy potatoes, green beans.  For hor d'oeuvres we had a salmon pate, veggies and dip.  

     The dinner was good. 

We had a nice float down the Chena River and turned around where the spring feed Chena River meets the glacier waters of the Tanana River.

    You can see the two waters as the Chena flows into the Tanana. 

The Tanana Chief  was the first sternwheeler to navigate the Tanana and Chena Rivers in 1898. 

Saturday also brought a trip to the Tanana farmers market.

  Al showing off the huge vegetables. 

    The long days of summer brings huge cabbage and vibrant flowers. 

On Sunday after church and lunch, we had reservations for another trip down the river.  Sunday was a 

beautiful day.

We again floated down the Chena River on another sternwheeler, Discovery II.

This was not a dinner cruise but I enjoyed this cruise the best.  

First we were given a demonstration of the bush pilot float plane.  

  It was explained how important the bush pilots are in Alaska.

As we approached the sound of barking dogs, we came to the kennel of the late Susan Butcher and her husband, David Munson.  We were greeted by Tekla Munson, Susan Butcher's (first woman and 4 time winner of the Iditarod) daughter.  The kennel name is Trail Breaker Kennels. 

 This is how they train the dogs in the summer.  The four wheeler does not have a motor and other  modifications are made for the dogs to pull.  These guys were raring to go.  Also, the dogs in the pin were excited and wanted their turn to run.

  Tekla also, told about how they start training the pups even before the can open their eyes; getting them use to their scent and voice.  All the commands from the sled are voice commands.  As the pups get to walking, they put them a pin such as the one below and get the dogs to practice going over the logs.  She said that at first the pups need a little help. 

 

One special dog of Susan Butcher was Granite.  Some of these dogs are descendents of Granite.

Granite helped Susan win four Iditarods as lead dog.

  Granite was the runt of the litter and was never expected to be a musher dog. But Susan had faith in him and gave him a strong name. 

  We got to meet Tekla. 

Susan Butcher died of leukemia in 2006. 

We were taken to a typical Athabaskan village and given talks by some Athabaskan young people on how their ancestors survived this harsh land.  

These young ladies were informative.  I think it is wonderful how they are preserving their history and learning the language of their heritage. 

   He loved the fur....or was it the pretty face..  (;  

    

   

After our excursion on the river, we rounded out the day at the historic Pump House.