Alaska - Day 6

It was partly cloudy and 56 degrees out this morning as we left our hotel for the Riverboat Discovery. Several hundred people were on the paddlewheeler, but sides of nearly solid glass and TV monitors throughout for an on-board camera made viewing just perfect anywhere we sat. We cruised past homes of all sizes and descriptions, many of them made of logs. Because we were on two different rivers, it was interesting to see where the clear Chena River met the Tanana River which has a very heavy silt load. A mother duck with two-week old babies and a mature bald eagle on a sandbar gave us some wildlife to enjoy. We stopped at the late Susan

Butcher's Trailbreaker Kennels and were treated to a talk by her husband about how they take new puppies (he had two of them to demonstrate) and gradually teach them trust and confidence. Before we left we watched a harnassed dog team pull a four-wheeler around a long track. At Chena Indian Village, native students from around the state introduced us to the Athabascan Indian way of life. The $16,000 fur parka with the sunshine ruff made by Dixie Alexander probably was the most impressive. We had lunch at a large grocery store deli and did a bit of shopping before heading south on the Parks Highway. (No one knows highway numbers here - just names.) Driving through miles of mountains and valley views of solid forest, we came to Denali National Park and Preserve. The beautiful Visitor Center displays and movie gave us a preview of what we might see tomorrow. We are now settled into our cedar motel units on the edge of a river. On the other side of the river is the National Park, so we will sleep with the soothing sound of water outside. - Laurel Johnson, Tour Director