While we’ve thoroughly enjoyed most of our Holland America Alaskan Cruise Tour so far, a day spent in Fairbanks leaves plenty to be desired.

The paddle wheel of the boat that took us to the Indian camp. Shutter set to 1/10th to try and preserve the motion.

Only one picture today as we didn’t really take much of anything that interests us.  We started our day by hopping on a river boat which floated us to a Athabascan Indian settlement of sorts.  We moved from station to station learning about the Athabascan culture with another bit of dog sledding information thrown in for good measure.

While some of the tour was interesting, it’s nothing we would have chosen as an optional excursion.

From the Indian camp it was on to Gold Drudge #8 where after some pretty exhaustive videos and tours we spent 15 minutes panning for gold.  We walked out with under $20 worth between us, but apart from photos, the gold represents our only souvenirs of the trip so far.  Once again, it’s not an excursion we would have chosen for ourselves

After leaving the dredge of the drudge we stopped at the Museum of the North located at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.  A mix of natural history and art, the museum definitely had some interesting exhibits and some absolutely amazing pictures.

All told, we’re feeling like the Fairbanks portion of the trip was a bit of a waste (and from talking to others on the tour, we’re not alone).  We much rather would have hopped on the train this morning and headed off to Denali for an extra day.  It is what it is; and what it is - is the most forgettable day of the trip so far.

Tomorrow morning we board the McKinley Explorer train and head to Denali.  The train offers a windowed ceiling and outdoor observation decks.  The 4 hour ride should offer great scenery and possible wild life viewing.

Once at the park we’ll have a few hours to kill before we leave on our 4 hour guided “Into the Wild” ATV Tour.

The weather looks very promising for the next few days, so with the boredom of Fairbanks mostly behind us, the next few days should be the best of the trip so far.

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