Exploring Fairbanks

Wow...what a difference a good night's sleep makes.  And thank God for eye masks!  It never got dark last night...even at 2 and 4 am it looked like dusk!   But we managed to sleep until 6:30am and felt refreshed and ready for another busy day.

Started the day with a great buffet breakfast, courtesy of the lodge as they had promised to keep us in the same room all three nights we were here but messed that up.  We had to change rooms today...no big deal except it meant having to put everything back in the suitcases :(   We were grateful Princess recognized their mistake and were willing to try to make it up to us.

We had reserved a car today with Avis which enabled us to get out and explore Fairbanks and do an exceptional tour.  While waiting outside the lodge for our pickup, we got a chance to take a look at the lodge property.

Weather today is cooler than yesterday...some high, thin clouds with temps expected to be in the mid 70's.  Perfect for sightseeing!

Once we got our car, off we went to explore Fairbanks.  We started downtown where we found some great statues commemorating Fairbank’s history.  One was in honor of the brave men who flew from Alaska during WWII protecting America from invaders.   

The other honored the native Indians and eskimos who were the first inhabitants of Fairbanks.

Then it was on to our privately-booked excursion…Tales of the Trail with Mary Shields.  Mary was the first woman to ever finish the iconic Iditerod sled dog race, across tough Alaskan territory. 

Mary introduced us to her 4 dogs who still run and train with her every winter. 

She shared wonderful stories of how she came to visit Alaska and never left and her love for the solitude and beauty of the state.  She is an amazing woman!  What a great opportunity to meet her and learn what life is really like in Alaska.

We got a chance to try the dogsled on for size.  Can't imagine standing on the back of here for 1,049 miles!

Next stop…the North Pole where we stopped to see Santa

   We discovered Santa's not always a good little boy himself!

Lastly, we visited Pioneer Park which was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the sale of Alaska  from Russia to the U.S.   It was a bit hokey but had some historical homes, little shops and a few museums.  Nothing fabulous, but it was also free...so it worked for us.   Best thing there...we met a couple from The Villages who has a small store in the park!  What a small world!!  They spend winters in Florida and their summers in Alaska.  Not a bad deal :)  

Ended our day with another nice dinner in a great little place by the Chena River.  Good food with good friends....life doesn't get much better!

One small hitch in the day...I lost the charger for my camera battery :(   I have one extra battery that is charged, but after that...?    Thought about ordering one from Amazon but because we're up here in Alaska, it takes longer to deliver items and most likely it would never reach either of the other lodges we're stopping at this week.  There is a camera store in Fairbanks; will have to try to reach out to them tomorrow to see if they have what I need.  If not, I'll have to use the camera on the phone.   Oh, well.  The trials of traveling.