A native dress in Museum
,a muskox at LARS and our ice sculpture.
I begin by telling you that nowhere in the city of Fairbanks did I see any recognition that this is the 4th of July. I am dismayed and bewildered. I plan on emailing the Chamber of Commerce before I leave and ask them about it. I can't recall ever seeing a town in the lower 48 not have out bunting or flags in their down town.
Our first stop in the tour bus was the Univ. of Alaska-Museum of the North. The Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1917 included a museum in the charter for the University and making it a part of the university system. They recently finished a brand new one in the shape of a whale's tale. It was truly beautiful. There was, of course, the cafe and a gift shop but in their Auditorium we saw a film presenting the explanation of the aurora borealis-very good. One section for Alaska Classic artists from the late 1800's to the mid-1900's. Another that has changing special exhibits and then the Gallery of Alaska is broken up into 6 areas: Natural Wonders, Southeast Native Americans, Southcentral NA, Interior, Western Arctic Coast and Southwest Natives. Not counting the film which was 45 minutes we only had about another hour there which was way too short. We could go back on Tues. but we probably have to get caught up on some personal things before we leave on Wed. A.M .
We left there and went to LARS- the Large Animal Research Station which is also connected to the university. They do research on some captive muskox, caribou and reindeer. The muskox have been around since the Iceage and they still roam the tundra of Alaska, Norway and Siberia and Canada. They were hunted into extinction in Alaska by 1870.Then in about 1930 they were imported from Scandanavia somewhere. Now there are about 3,000 in the wild in Alaska. They belong in the sheep and goat family and some private owners are keeping them and getting their hair off of them when they shed this winter under coat and selling it for big bucks because it is not only hard to come by but it is finer and softer then cashmere. They are very short and have a shaggy coat of hair.
Caribou and reindeer are same except the reindeer are a subspecies of the caribou--smaller and they do interbreed sometimes. The reindeer are the domesticated of the two. The native americans and canadians keep herds of them. The number 1 food of the caribou is lichen and then willow leaves. We learned a lot about all three animals. It was a wonderful up close education. On to lunch downtown; however, nothing was open of any merit except for the Mayflower Chinese Buffet and it was very large and very good also with some seafood.
The bus then took us to the Ice Museum. I think it is owned by a Chinese family. They took and old building and redone it to suit their purposes. We went into a theatre like area where a young Chinese man tried to speak to us, but then he showed a film of the Ice Carving Contest that goes on in Fairbanks in March. People come from all over the world to compete. All around the room were large windows and when he turned on the lighting there were ice carvings he had done behind each of the windows. It was kept cold behind the glass and the sculptures were lit from the inside by "LED" lights. Then one large room in the front we could go into--about 40 degrees. There were two people with no faces that you could put your head thru and take pictures, a ice house with bed and pillow and tables which you could go into and then there were animals he had carved. When we had all gotten around the room he went into another large room and actually carved a beautiful rose in a square of ice. He was very hard to understand but his art was beautiful. That was our day out.
When we came back I hurried and went to the laundramat while Bob went to the briefing for our next trip. Tomorrow is a long day.
Our first stop in the tour bus was the Univ. of Alaska-Museum of the North. The Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1917 included a museum in the charter for the University and making it a part of the university system. They recently finished a brand new one in the shape of a whale's tale. It was truly beautiful. There was, of course, the cafe and a gift shop but in their Auditorium we saw a film presenting the explanation of the aurora borealis-very good. One section for Alaska Classic artists from the late 1800's to the mid-1900's. Another that has changing special exhibits and then the Gallery of Alaska is broken up into 6 areas: Natural Wonders, Southeast Native Americans, Southcentral NA, Interior, Western Arctic Coast and Southwest Natives. Not counting the film which was 45 minutes we only had about another hour there which was way too short. We could go back on Tues. but we probably have to get caught up on some personal things before we leave on Wed. A.M .
We left there and went to LARS- the Large Animal Research Station which is also connected to the university. They do research on some captive muskox, caribou and reindeer. The muskox have been around since the Iceage and they still roam the tundra of Alaska, Norway and Siberia and Canada. They were hunted into extinction in Alaska by 1870.Then in about 1930 they were imported from Scandanavia somewhere. Now there are about 3,000 in the wild in Alaska. They belong in the sheep and goat family and some private owners are keeping them and getting their hair off of them when they shed this winter under coat and selling it for big bucks because it is not only hard to come by but it is finer and softer then cashmere. They are very short and have a shaggy coat of hair.
Caribou and reindeer are same except the reindeer are a subspecies of the caribou--smaller and they do interbreed sometimes. The reindeer are the domesticated of the two. The native americans and canadians keep herds of them. The number 1 food of the caribou is lichen and then willow leaves. We learned a lot about all three animals. It was a wonderful up close education. On to lunch downtown; however, nothing was open of any merit except for the Mayflower Chinese Buffet and it was very large and very good also with some seafood.
The bus then took us to the Ice Museum. I think it is owned by a Chinese family. They took and old building and redone it to suit their purposes. We went into a theatre like area where a young Chinese man tried to speak to us, but then he showed a film of the Ice Carving Contest that goes on in Fairbanks in March. People come from all over the world to compete. All around the room were large windows and when he turned on the lighting there were ice carvings he had done behind each of the windows. It was kept cold behind the glass and the sculptures were lit from the inside by "LED" lights. Then one large room in the front we could go into--about 40 degrees. There were two people with no faces that you could put your head thru and take pictures, a ice house with bed and pillow and tables which you could go into and then there were animals he had carved. When we had all gotten around the room he went into another large room and actually carved a beautiful rose in a square of ice. He was very hard to understand but his art was beautiful. That was our day out.
When we came back I hurried and went to the laundramat while Bob went to the briefing for our next trip. Tomorrow is a long day.
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