Dexter Teaches You How to Pan for Gold

A Dragon for Roy

One of my students, Roy, is really into dragons so I tried to find out if there were any dragons in Alaska. The only place I found one was at a gold mine! Here's the story. Sometimes you have to go underground to find gold. The only problem is that the gold and rocks are frozen because of Alaska's permafrost. (Permafrost is soil that stays frozen all year and never thaws out.) How did they thaw the soil? With this "Dragon" in the picture. It is really a steam engine that pumped hot water into the mine and thawed the rocks. It was also used to lift buckets of dirt and gold out of the mine. It sent hot, cloudy steam into the air like a dragon, so that's how it got its nickname, "The Dragon."

Mrs. A. Strikes Gold!

After Seward, I went to Fairbanks. I went on a riverboat cruise and visited a gold mine. During the gold rush years, people could travel by riverboat to get to the mines. There were two places to find gold--in the dirt at the bottom of a river or underground. Wherever the gold was found, miners used water to help separate it from the other rocks. Gold is heavier than the other rocks, so if you add water and swirl, the gold will fall to the bottom. At the mine, they gave me some dirt from the bottom of the river. I added water, swirled the dirt around and dumped all of the dirt except the stuff on the bottom of my pan. Guess what was on the bottom? GOLD!!! I had about $10 in gold flakes, not enough to make me rich yet. But, they did let me hold a nugget of gold that was found in the mine a few years ago. That nugget in my hand is worth over $30,000. If I found a few of those, I would be rich!

The Journey Continues

After the picnic, I headed on my own to Seward, a harbor town where the historic Iditarod trail began. I went kayaking and on a boat ride to explore the wildlife in this part of Alaska. I saw 2 kinds of puffin, humpback whales, sea otters, and sea lions.

Mushers I Met

Here are pictures of some of the mushers I met. (Sorry it took me so long to post them. My computer would not let me post pictures. I finally figured it out, so here they are!) Top to bottom: Jeff King, 4 time Champ with me and another teacher; Ed Stielstra (Tasha's husband who got 29th this year;) Martin Buser, 4 time Champ; Ed Iten; Jessie Royer; Ramey and Ryan Redington.

Riding Behind Ramey's Dog Team

At the picnic, I got a ride behind Ramey Redington's team. The person screaming is not me! It was a 6th grade boy sitting next to me. What do you think you would have done while you were on this ride? Scream, shout, sit silently--what? Add a post and let me know!

Snowball

Hi Everyone! I just got a comment from Spencer asking if I am having a good time. I am having a fantastic time! I was out of internet range for the past few days and could not write about some of the most exciting parts of my Alaska trip. Guess what? I got to meet Ed Stielstra, (the husband of Tasha who came to our school with the sled dogs,) Jeff King (4 time Iditarod Champion), Martin Buser(4 time Iditarod Champion), Jessie Royer (past rookie of the year), Alliy Zirkle, and more mushers at the annual Volunteet Picnic and Musher Sign-up. It was at the Iditarod Headquarters. I got all of their autographs and have pictures of most of them. Two really exciting things happened at the picnic. I met a good freind of the Redington family. He took me around to meet and chat with every Redington that was at the picnic. (Remeber that Joe Redington, Sr. was the father of the Iditarod.) I got to meet Ramey and go on a sled dog ride that he was doing. (I will post that video soon.) I also met Ramey's wife, Barb, who is really the mother of the Junior Iditarod. Then I met their sons, Ryan and Ray. Both of them are going to do the Iditarod this year. Both of them have their own dogs and train them. I met all of Ramey's dogs and found out that his sons think that Snowball is one of his best dogs. They both want to talk their dad into giving them Snowball, so I put her picture on this blog. I will write more tomorrow, but right now I have to go to my airplane. By the way, I have a lot to tell, so I will add to this blog for at least another week. I have cool videos and pictures to show you. Hope all of you are having a great summer. I will be in Grand Rapids for the fireworks in EGR so I bet I will see some of you soon! Mrs. A.

P.S. I struck gold! Stay tuned for further blogs!

Athabascan Homes

At the Native Heritage Museum we were able to see traditional Athabascan homes. This tribe hunted and trapped animals for food. At certain times of year, they left their homes and went to the mouths of rivers where salmon were running. They used a contraption called a fish wheel to capture salmon. They lived in the forests, so they made their homes of logs. The bigger cabin above is what their homes looked like. The other little cabin on stilts looks like a tree house, doesn't it? I wondered if they made tree houses for their kids, but that is not what it is for. Can you guess? It has to do with the fact that they would leave the cabin for weeks at a time to go capture salmon. These were called caches. When they were gone, they stored all of their food in the cache to keep it safe from bears that might wander by and want a snack.

Michigan's State Symbols

We visited the Alaska Native Heritage Museum and saw how people used to live here before the Russians and Americans came to explore and settle their land. The Athabascans, a tribe of people who lived near the rivers of Alaska, hunted and trapped animals for food. They used every part of the animal to make their tools and clothing, too. Here is a picture of a skin of an animal they hunted. It is a fierce predator and the state mammal of Michigan (I think!) Do you know what it is? Click on comments below this message to post your answer. Do you know any other state symbols for Michigan. Tell me the ones you find out.

State Symbols

Do you know any of the state symbols of Alaska? This is a picture of forget me nots, the state flower of Alaska. I am sure I will never forget Alaska, but I can't seem to remember the other state symbols. Can any of you find out what the state tree is? Or the state mammal? Or the state bird? Click on comments below and tell me. I will post pictures of any that I see on my travels.