Friday, July 24, 2009

Fairbanks, AK









A bowl in the making, note the "chunks" of birch to the right.






Another busy day in the smoke filled city. We started the day next door to the campground at Santa Claus House, where it is Christmas every day. Santa is on duty for pictures and four of his reindeer are resting outside. From there we went to a bowl factory. They make bowls out of birch trees. Actually cut a "chunk" of the tree trunk and then put it on a machine to cut out bowls. If the bowls all have the same pattern of rings the bowls become families and are sold as a set only. Many sizes and shapes. From there we went on a paddle wheel boat up the Chena River. Made a couple of stops, watched a ski plane take off and land then at a Athabascan village. Really neat to see three eras of the Natives lives and hear the latest generation talk of their heritage and lives as a modern Native. Also had the dog sled team of the late great Susan Boucher. She won the Iditarod four times, three in succession, and was always in the top ten. She also drove a team up McKinley, the only person to ever do that. She died a couple of year age of leukemia. Her husband and children have continued to raise sled dogs.

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