March 23, 2008 – Farewell to Fairbanks
I’ve had a little time to recover after the training in Fairbanks and thought I would share a few more sights and sounds from the "Last Frontier”!
During a lunch break, the group went to a nearby Dog Mushing club to watch skiers race behind dogs. At the end of this journal is a "sound byte” of the mass of barking dogs!
Skijoring is a sport where dogs pull skiers instead of sleds. The skier and dogs race around a track to beat the other competitors times.
On our very last day in Alaska, Cameo, Jeff and I chartered a plane to survey the countryside from above. It was more beautiful and you could imagine. We flew north over the Alyeska Pipeline and the White Mountains. Then we turned southeast and flew over a NASA rocket launch facility and then over the Fort Knox gold mine.
Final day flight over Fairbanks in a 1962 Cessna with Cameo Slaybaugh, Jeff Peneston, and Craig Beals
Gold was the first lure to Alaska and it continues today. 25 miles outside of Fairbanks lies a huge hole in the ground where gold is being plucked from the Earth.
Stay warm!
PS. Don’t forget to listen to the sounds of dozens of Alaska mushing dogs as they prepare to race…click the link below…