Fairbanks - Days 1 and 2

June 23-24 - Today we didn't really have an agenda, so we checked out Fairbanks.  We drove down to the Visitor's Center, which had moved since the last time we were here.  The new Center is really nice, has great exhibits, and the people were really helpful.  Then we did some shopping errands -- RV store, electronics store, Walmart -- that kind of stuff.  We found a great Mexican restaurant for lunch - Gallo's, I think it was.  Joe and I were craving Mexican food since it had been quite a while since we have had any.  However, Marilyn fixed chicken and beef enchalidas for dinner, so we got it twice in the same day.  We drove out to the airport to check in for the Prudhoe Bay excursion, and had a really enjoyable, laid-back day.  Thursday, we decided we should take in some of the activities available here, so Joe, Mazie and I drove up to Chena Hot Springs.  It was about 60 miles northeast, but through some pretty country.  And we found a cooperative moose along the way, enjoying her lunch in a pond.

We watched her for about 10 minutes, then realized she had a calf over on the bank. 

The baby is hard to see, but it is just above the tall yellowish bush on the right.  Joe took an zoomed in photo, but it is blurry.  However, you can see both of them.

Then we headed on up the Chena Hot Springs Resort and relaxed in the very hot water.  I'm not sure what the temperature was, but it was too warm for me to stay in very long, and it even had "hot spots" on top of that!

It had a fountain in the middle which sprayed a little bit cooler water.  And it had another "fountain" that really pounded you.

They also had a cool pool that we hit on the way out, just to get our body temperature back down.  It has been about 75-77 in Fairbanks anyhow, so we needed to cool back down.

This resort had a lot to offer in addition to the hot springs.  They offered trail rides, there was an ice sculpture museum (which we did not go to), and other resort-types of things. 

Then we headed back toward Fairbanks, but we stopped for our first gold-panning attempt at a river that looked promising.

Joe gave us lessons on how to swirl the sand in the pan, but we didn't have any luck here.  So we headed on down the road, then we stopped at another river just to take a look.  We didn't pan here, but we did see some small fish in the water.  Joe thought he could sit here all day (see him cooling his feet in his new insulated boots). 

I thought I should test the water again, since I hadn't done that for a few days.  This is the North Fork of the Chena River.  Yep, the water here is cold too.

Mazie found a little fish bobber on the bank, so she stuck it in Joe's shoe.  She even carried his shoes over to a picnic table so he could put them on.  But he found the bobber before he shoved his foot in.

Joe said we needed to find a river with black sand (like he's made a fortune panning for gold!), so we stopped at one more river to give it a try.  This time he stayed on bear duty while Mazie and I got our boots back on.  We worked really hard at it, but no luck, again.

 So we took off our boots and got back in the car. Joe spotted a moose in the back of a pond just as we drove past.  Then, lo and behold, there was another moose just crossing the road.  She was headed to a pond too, so we watched her for a few minutes.

By now it was getting close to 5:00 p.m., which must be their active time, because down the road a few miles we had to stop to keep from hitting one as she crossed the road.

We saw an eagle flying overhead also.  So, 5 moose, an eagle, and hot springs.  It was a good day for us.  It's now 10:45 p.m., sun is still shining, and we are getting picked up at 5:45 a.m. for the flight to Prudhoe Bay.  Sure hope we can get to sleep.

Kaylee, the moose is male (see the antlers), so maybe he could be "Prince" instead of Princess.  What do you think?  You can think about it for a few days because be on the computer again until Monday.