Wednesday, May 30, 2018

What do the pipeline, #8 dredge & a riverboat have in common?

ALASKA!!!
And we saw all three in one day.
Busy Busy
 This is the inside of the pipeline and it has heaters inside to keep
everything from freezing up, and that is why the pipeline runs above
and underground over 800 miles.
 After, we hopped on a train and chugged on down to the #8 dredge
that no longer runs because of a lot of issues but looks
cool all the same.
 Once, seeing the do's and don'ts of panning we actually
got the chance to experience it ourselves.
 We poured out are bags and totally worked it.
It's kinda labor intensive.
You have to swirl and dump and swirl and dump 
until its down to the dust.
 And wa-la gold flakes.
Very satisfying, however, that was a lot of work
for that little bit of flake.
 But combining both our pans Tom ended up with this 
awesomely heavy gold bar.
 Just kidding!
After a surprising great lunch we hopped on the Discovery III
and cruised down the river.
 On the way a sea plane takeoff and land on the river
and listened to a rather stilted conversation between the plane
pilot and the boat commentator. LOL.
It was really cute.
 We passed by Susan Butcher's sled dogs and her kennel
now run by her daughter Tekla.

 Got to see some puppies rolling around, and these dogs
were hooked up to an ATV for some training.
What poetry in motion they are when running.
 We then came upon an Eskimo village from back in the day
and disembarked to take the tour.
It was very informative and realistic.
You had to be tough to make it back then.
 And oh look, reindeer.
Did you know reindeer are tame caribou?
Me either.
 Once of the lodges from back in the day.
The pelts were just beautiful.
 Close up reindeer.


 Beautiful native dressed in a 40 degree below zero
parka that is just beautiful.
It was fun and interesting but Tom and I are finding out
we are not fans of "tours". 
We really do love running on our own schedule.

On a positive note the weather has been unexpectedly
warm at 60 degrees. It'll be a bit nippy on the Tundra Tour
37 degrees. Brrrr!!!

Right now getting ready to go to bed to wake up at 4 a.m.
to head out to the Wildlife Tundra Tour.

2 comments:

Lynne Goebeler said...

Wow, Lynn, you are bringing back great memories of our visit last year! We did not see the inside of the pipeline however, and that is a cool view. The sled dog puppies!!! 😍 And we felt exactly the same way about the tours...too rushed. Enjoy!

Holli said...

What an amazimg tour