Hello from Anchorage, Alaska and welcome to the vlog! Thanks for joining us hope
you're having a fabulous day! Just like all of our other vlogs this one will
involve driving but not in this truck and not before we fly somewhere!
We used to frequent this parking lot very often when we spent winters in
Alaska.... Good to see you...Yes sir! Let me get you going....
You know people have a grand vision of Alaska as being this amazing safe place!
But Anchorage is not immune to any of the problems associated with big cities!
So it definitely pays to lock your vehicle up in a secure lot!
Once again the size of the Fuso is awesome because this truck literally
fits in a standard parking spot!...So we have Denny securely parked here at
Anchorage quick airport parking! This person is a great guy, totally recommend coming
and seeing him if you ever have to park a vehicle here in Anchorage.... But don't
worry we do have some wheels lined up once we get to our destination! And there
are dirt roads and there's going to be plenty of adventure! But first... We need to
catch a flight which means putting this bulky camera away and changing gears for a bit!
Well guys, it has been a long day! We are in Nome, Alaska! An amazingly, beautiful
place and land of adventure!.... This is the Dredge No. 7 Inn. And before we go
mucking up this room with all of our personal belongings, let's give you a
tour!.... We are in suite number one, the Nugget suite!...When you first come in, toilet
and shower, pink towels... I love that!... Vanity and you'll note that it is built
on an old sewing machine! Next up, kitchenette... It has refrigerator...
Stove top like a hot plate, microwave, sink, storage and this lamp here is
actually an old whale harpoon...That would be my guess! I hate to miss speak but...And since it is 11 o'clock at
night, it's still light out! But there's a pretty nice-looking Jeep Wrangler out
there that has our name written all over it!
Well since we started this day in Seward, it has been a really long day! And I
think we're gonna see you guys in the morning!.... Good morning guys! That was a
restful night and.... Let's show you around the Dredge No. 7!...This is a very
progressive way of checking guests in! You use the iPad, hit Face Time and you can
talk to the host and any questions are answered!... I used to come to Nome for
work and I've stated at a few of the places in town! I have to tell you, Dredge No.
7, hands-down favourite place! So a lot of people do come to these remote
villages for work and when they do, they tend to bring their own food. Because
eating out is not always convenient when you're here working a nine-to-five....Not
to mention, the cost of groceries in a town like this! So this is the area
I stated last time I was here. And we have a common area shared by a few rooms....
I gotta tell you, a cup of coffee and that recliner over there.... Perfect way to
start your day! And very cozy in the winter months!... mm-hmm
Well this is something you don't see every day in a hotel! If you're like us
and fans of the movie a big year with Jack Black and Steve Martin, then you'll
know that Alaska is a really popular burning place!
Apparently Nome is a hot spot!... Yeah... In June and May and June.... Exactly!... Wagtail...
Sandpiper, golden eagle... Wilson's wobbler, common ringed plover...
Burgers paradise huh!.... The simple touches of using these rails for the stairs is
so nice!.... If you haven't seen them before, these are dredged buckets off of the
actual dredges! These were used to scoop up the material from the earth, dumps it
into the dredge... Where they sluice out the material and get the gold!
So the proprietor Judy and her family, started Dredge No. 7 Inn a number of
years ago... And it's grown over the years! And they now have over 30 lodging suites!
And this is what they call the mine shaft! It is really cool! I imagine the winter...
This is a great break from the weather! Because you can close the doors and
during the summer.... You have flowers growing in here....You can pretty much get
everything you need here at the dredge. Including SUV rentals!... Yes...So that you can
go explore the over 350 miles of road system they have out here in Nome!... This is
only one of several really cool Nome signs we're gonna show you on this trip!
And behind the sign, is the Bering Sea in the Bering Straits on the other side is
Russia... And I have to say it's pretty cool because the only time I've ever
been to Nome is in the winter when it's all ice packed in... To actually see water
and waves! They have beautiful beaches here!.... So we're making our way into the
harbour here... And Judy's ahead of us. She's the proprietor of Dredge No.
7 Inn... And her family has a very extensive history here in Nome and the
gold mining business! And she invited us to come down to their family dredge that
is still working and producing gold... Paps hi!
So this is a really special treat while we're here in Nome!...We are aboard the Judy
Ann with Judy!...So our family is a third-generation mining family.... We have
people that are family members that were up here around the 20th century....
And our family dredge mined up on the Kougarok River....So now we decided to go
mining on the water! So they had some leases come up. We were blessed with some
good leases and so now we needed a boat! So we proceeded to build this boat, the
Judy Ann... It's a 40 by 79 feet... It is the only documented boat by the Coast Guard
ever built in Nome, Alaska! Now the excavator will dig it out of the
water off the seafloor. And swing around and put it on the vibratory feeder, which ahh...
With lots of water spray causes it to slide down into a spray tunnel. Which
washes it even more and then it separates the big rocks which fall off
into the water. And the smaller material goes down below into a trammel screen..
Which then separates the quarter-inch - mines into the, into a hopper, which is then
pumped to the sluice box and a centrifuge...
And so it's just kind of a sighs separating with lots of water washing
and the ahh.... And we have ahh... We have a slurry bin
hopper that, that helps us to super wash the material and any excess water is
overflowed. Therefore we have the ability to wash it more!
Much more than a normal sluice box mining operation can!.... How many years have
you been mining up here in Nome with family?...Ahhh...Off and on myself for...
I don't know! Since 74 and my dad since 60.... And it's still plenty of pay dirt still?
Yeah! It's... It doesn't give up the gold easy... Yeah! It's always a challenge!.. If it
was easy.... Right... It wouldn't have been $1,600 an ounce....Whatever the
value is now...Yeah, yeah.... And so it's just a separation of material that's well
washed and of course they've got... The heavy material is along with the gold...
Always goes to the bottom or in the case of the centrifuge, goes to the outside by
some typical force and separates it that way!
That's just the first step then you come off the boat with some buckets that have
to be run through a smaller system to take
care of all the fine sands!.... This is so cool being able to walk around one of
these gold dredges and just see what it's like in real life versus on
television!.... That was a pretty amazing experience! I am so appreciative that
Judy invited us and welcomed us onto their vessel and.... She and Doug shared some
stories and information with us! You know that to me is what makes the place come
alive is to hear stories from local people! To learn how they live out here...
To learn what life is really like and the history of a place! It makes it so much
more meaningful so... That was awesome! Okay.... I know a lot of you guys love it when
we hit the dirt roads.... And here it is! Boom! Let the adventure begin!...
Alright guys! I hate to do it to you but that's a wrap
for this video! We just captured so much amazing footage and this is a natural
stopping point! Because what's up next, is our overlanding adventure on the dirt
roads outside of town! Special thanks to Doug, Judy for other hospitality at
Dredge No. 7 Inn and the tour of their working dredge! That meant so much
to us! Thank you again... There's a lot more videos coming
from Nome, so make sure you hit that SUBSCRIBE button and we'll see you on
the road bye!