On Monday August 2nd the caravan went for a stern wheeler riverboat ride down the Chena river to where it joins the Tanana and back up to Fairbanks. On the way we were shown a demonstration of how little water it takes for a float plane to take off and land. We also got to see the famous dog racer Susan Bucher, winner of the 1000 mile

Iditarod four times, kennel and dogs. They, her family, (Susan passed away in 2008) did a demonstration dog team run. They hooked the team to a 300 lb. ATV (motor not running ) and the dogs did 1 lap of the training course, at about 20 miles/ hour. The most difficult job appeared to be controlling them before the start signal was given. They really wanted to run….Later we got to meet some of the dogs, up close. Toward the end of the trip we stopped at a reconstructed Indian village and fish camp. There native people told about their culture. One Athabascan Indian girl was especially good telling about old and new ways. One tradition she spoke about was decorative bead work, for which they are famous. At the end, of her talk she modeled a ceremonial  parka. Later at the museum we saw many more examples of Atabascan bead work.