Advertisement
Published: July 12th 2009
Edit Blog Post
We left Denali this morning under a complete downpour, and were so glad we saw the park when we did. Fortunately, the rain didn’t last a long time, and the drive to Fairbanks wasn’t very long at all.
Our first stop was Museum of the North on the campus of UAF. There were two main exhibits—a natural history portion and an art museum. Liam was very impressed that there were things in the first that he was allowed to touch—mammoth bones, small animal skulls, furs. There were many intricate native carvings. Upstairs, some of the art was traditional, but much of it was native—beadwork, masks, etcetera. There was a huge outhouse covered in license plates and a variety of other pieces. There was also a room called “The Place Where You Listen”, which translates the motion, seismic activity and electrical activity of the earth into sound and colors. It was fairly stable when I was there, but when the aurora is active, one would hear bells. It said that any seismic activity creates a rumbling in the room. I felt that almost the entire time I was in there, which surprised me a bit.
Our second stop was El
Dorado Gold Mine, a tourist trap sort of place that all the tours do. Liam has been talking about panning for gold our entire trip, though, so this was his opportunity. We took a quick train ride past historic gold mine machinery, and then had a tour of current placer gold mining practice. The guides were entertaining and the high school students who work there were very efficient at panning. We all took a turn panning. Liam had a pretty girl help him and finished easily with about $14 worth of gold flecks. Jeff & I took a little longer, trying to do the panning and keep an eye on the boys, but we eventually found some gold, too. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with it now, though. I suppose I could glue it to my scrapbook page.
Finally, we left the boys with Judy so Floyd, Jeff and I could golf at North Star Golf Club, the northernmost USGA-approved course in the country. Jeff & Floyd haven’t golfed in a month. For me, it’s more like two years. It was a beautiful evening until the bugs came out around 10. We didn’t see any wildlife.
Panning for gold
Then we saw the guys make it look really easy. (Big surprise. They keep a chalkboard of wildlife sightings. “Big o’ moose on 18” was listed in May. Foxes, voles, cranes, etcetera are seen often. “SC Governor” was listed on June 26. Anyway, Floyd & Jeff were satisfied with their final scores, as was I.
When we got back to the campground, the boys were still awake. Tomorrow morning should be quite interesting. I’m glad we decided not to drive to the Arctic Circle. We’d all be tired and cranky and miserable. Instead, we’re going to be tired and cranky starting the drive home!
Conversation of the Day:
M: What was your favorite part of today, Liam?
L: The museum.
M: What did you like about the museum?
L: Touching stuff. (They had many items—skulls, furs—at kid level that were okay to touch. Liam appreciates anywhere we go.)
License Plates Noticed: FL, AK, ND, MB, NWT, OR, MO, ID
High Temperature: 71o (Fairbanks, AK)
Low Temperature: 56o (Denali National Park, AK)
Miles: 187.2
Total Time on the Road: 2:20
Advertisement
Tot: 0.144s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0652s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb