Moose, Drugs and Toilets

Our third day in Alaska began with a bus ride deep into the Denali National Forest.  Our guides were very informative as they explained the terrain and vegetation growing on the permafrost.

Before we got off the bus, we were instructed what to do if we encountered dangerous wildlife.  In a nutshell, you’re supposed to talk to a bear and run from a moose.  It's impossible to out run a bear, so it's best to just try to rationalize with him - just don't look him in the eye. You can't really outrun a moose either, but they have a wide turning radius and if you zig zag around trees and whatnot, you stand a pretty good chance of getting away.

Our guides seem particularly proud of the park’s SST’s  (Sweet Smelling Toilets) which employ some of the latest and greatest toilet technology on earth to maintain a virtually odor free restroom experience. Naturally, since I was walking around with a video camera, I had to get some footage of this modern marvel in the Alaskan wilderness

We learned of the many uses for some of the plants growing wild in the park - plants used for salads, tooth paste, dish soap, hallucinogens and laxatives grew in abundance as did plants to make Vallium, and Absinthe. I'm reluctant to identify which plant are used for which purpose, lest some of my frog-licking and mushroom-eating type friends rape the Alaskan landscape of it's vegetation.

At the turn around point we were treated to stories from an Athabascan guide who interrupted his presentation to chastise me for video taping him. I was actually just gettin’ a shot of the crowd watching him. After his presentation I apologized to him and he explained that someone had once video taped him and put it on youtube and called him an Eskimo. I think Eskimos are cool (literally!), but this guy is rightfully proud of his Athabascan heritage and found it offensive.

It's a long standing Alaskan tourists tradition that if you saw a moose at some point during the day, you have to take a shot of a drink called a "Duck Fart" and flash the international sign for "I saw a moose today."

Gold in Them Thar Hills!

I heard there was a gold rush in Alaska so I figured while I’m there I might as well join the frenzy.  So we took an excursion to the Eldorado Gold mine where everyone is guaranteed to find some gold.



Our tour was conducted by a Fiddle playing conductor who entertained us with songs and a wonderful narration of the history of  the Alaskan gold rush.

The Eldorado Gold Mine employs a colorful cast of characters who showed us how to pan for gold. Once you see a few of the shiny nuggets in your pan, it doesn't take long to catch "Gold Fever".

I'm giving serious thought to becoming a gold miner...


... gold miners get to wear some serious bling!

When you finish panning for gold, you can take it into the gift shop where the staff will weigh it and tell you how much is is worth.  I wanted to cash in the $38 worth of gold we had panned, but my wife opted to spend another $50 or so in the gift shop to have our gold nuggets encased in a locket (souvenir bling). No wonder the Alaskan gold miners left the women folk back home.

On the way back to the lodge, we saw some of the state’s modern day gold - the 800 mile long Alaska Pipeline! Nearly 500,000 barrels of oil pass through the pipeline each day. We saw the pipeline near it’s halfway point at the 450 mile marker. All in all, this was a very fun and potentially profitable excursion!

Follow Me At Sea

When I learned that I was one of only nine people in the entire Twitterverse invited by Princess Cruises to participate in a Twitter Press trip to Alaska, I felt like the kid in the Willie Wonka movie when he unwrapped his candy bar and discovered the “golden ticket.”

Over my next few blog entries, I’ll chronicle my adventure, mainly with pictures, because a picture is worth 1000 words and I’m having so much fun, I’ll let the pictures do the talking so I can get back to having more fun.

I saw my first Polar bear at the Fairbanks airport!

Princess Cruises had a bag of swag and a goodie tray waiting for us in our room. (Thank you very much!!)

Our first adventure was a riverboat tour of the Chena and Tanana Rivers, where the captain let me pilot the riverboat for about a mile!! Sooo Much fun!

 
We we saw an Athabascan fish camp and a pretty cool fur fashion show. We even got to take eat some smoked salmon!


A kennel that trains future Iditarod champions gave us a demonstration as we watched from the boat.

 One out of 58 Alaskans own a plane. It was so cool watching bush planes take off and land on the river.

I saw my first reindeer. Fortunately, this one wasn't flying so I could snap his picture... or her picture. Interesting fact: both male and female caribou have antlers.

Some interesting homes can be seen along the river. Some decorate with antlers...











...others decorate their roofs with tires.

 

...others are prepared for floods! Yep, that's a paddle-wheel on the back of that house:

Finally, my favorite!  I hope to one day own a house boat like this...I can dream can't I?