8-7-09 Museum of the North; Denali National Park, Alaska (pics from the museum: Dad & Luke, kids with gold exhibit, Blue Babe)

8-7-09: Before leaving Fairbanks, we explored the Museum of the North which is affiliated with the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks (it's on their campus). The museum was well worth the admission price! The room called the Gallery of Alsaka contained amazing exhibits focusing on the cultures, wildlife, geography, and history of Alaska's 5 major geographic regions. Highlights included a major display of gold, a video on science behind the aurora borealis, Alaska Native culture displays, and the Blue Babe exhibit; the world's only mummified Ice Age Steppe Bison. Another gallery displayed historical paintings from the late 1800s to mid-1900s including some works from Alaskan master painters.

Mike and I decided that turning south toward Denali Nat'l Park and Preserve would be a better option for the family at this point than continuing northward to see the Artic Sea (Mike was bummed but neither of us was looking forward to the added mileage). We camped within the park at Riley Creek Campground. The kids and I (Patty) attended a Ranger presentation on The Denali Fault (there is a major fault line below Mt. McKinley). The ranger gave an informative and amusing talk encompassing earthquakes, volcanoes, fault lines, plate tectonics, geophysics, and even dinosaurs. His funny touches included defining "subduction: (1 land mass sliding under another) using visual figures of a submarine and a duck!