Very Full Day!

July 29 – It was a sad morning as I drove Melissa to the airport and dropped her off at about 7:30. We had 3 activities scheduled for the day and she was afraid she would not get back to the airport in time.  It ended up we were on our way home from our last activity of the day as her plane was about to take off.  Bummer!

When I got back from the airport we lined up for our group to go to head to the train that took us out to the dredge.  There were several tour busses there and the train was pretty full.  There was some entertainment before our short ride out to the dredge.  We were provided the whole story of it and the gold digging.  It was very interesting.  Before we departed the train we were given a short talk on how to use a pan for separating the dirt and rocks from the gold.  They gave us each a bag of dirt and we picked a spot along the water troughs to see what we could find.  Bill and I were not too lucky as our gold together was valued at $7.  Some in our group had as much at $40.  They try to sell you on various jewelry to put the gold inside.  I bought the tiniest round pendant and had mine put in there.  If not, I’d never know where it might be.

We checked out the dredge behind the building and we looked at the animal hides on display inside the building along with holding the largest piece of gold found there, It weighs 19 ounces.  It’s the 25^th largest nugget discovered in Alaska and is worth $75,000.  Bill and I both got to hold it.   Bill bought a nice rain jacket that was on sale.

Then it was back on the train and back to our cars and a caravan from there to the wharf where our riverboat was docked.  We tootled around in the gift shops until the dining room opened and we had our prepaid lunch of delicious salad (I had 2 bowls), scrumptious beef stew, dinner roll, veggies and a brownie.  The salad and stew were the best! 

Then it was stand around and wait for the boat to load.  Our friends and us went to the top deck .  It was a beautiful day to be on the river and they provided doughnuts and coffee.  We all enjoyed the trip down and back and boy, were there some gorgeous homes along sections of the river.  We stopped at the kennels of a former 4 time Iditarod Champion.  The lady who trained and ran her dogs and won, had died and her daughter is currently in charge of the kennel and we could see her and the dogs when we stopped.  Later on when there was the opportunity to exit the ship she came by boat to the area and brought her lead dog.  Bill and I had been on this trip before so we didn’t get off the boat but sat and chatted with our friends. 

It was a nice and relaxing afternoon.  Once we departed Bill and I stopped at Wal-mart on the way home and then I grilled some brats and put out some store bought potato salad.  I don’t care for it but Bill is a potato guy and he was very happy!   

Bill OK’d it to turn the propane on while we both took a shower and he did the dishes.  It only used 1% so we’re going to only cold water laundry so we can take hot showers until we get to someplace to get the tank fixed!

So, it was a full day and a fun day!  I kept checking in on Melissa and she arrived in Seattle at about 10pm Seattle time.  What a long day for her!