Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs

We flew with Lloyd and Jen on an early morning flight to Fairbanks. The sun rose as we were flying and it was an orange glow across the whole horizon. When we landed it was about negative eight degrees and too early for our events to be opened so we went for a breakfast.

We saw the Ice Art which is an international ice carving competition. The displays were very intricate and some about 20 feet tall. One of the highlights especially for Don was the playground including ice slides, a maze and a reverse igloo bowl. At night the displays have colored lights.

Next we toured the UAF museum. It was a good display of native pieces, historical items and wildlife.

After that we headed out of town to Paws for Adventure and took a ride on a dog sled for about five miles. It was fun and the dogs were amazingly well trained and friendly. We were pulled by about ten dogs.

Our B&B lodging was A Taste of Alaska. The business was about ten years old and made from logs grown on the property. The field overlooked Denali. We had a room with a hot tub and a living room. The owner prepared dinner for guests by request.

Next we went to Chena Hot Springs which was about an hour and a half drive away. The road was somewhat ice covered and lacking in traffic. At the springs we hoped to see the Northern Lights and we did! They were on display for about 40 minutes or so while we soaked in the hot tub. The steam rose around us and the rocks were still covered in snow!

The next day we drove to see the Alaskan pipeline, had lunch and headed home to Anchorage

Iditarod!

The Iditarod is an annual 1000 mile sled dog race across Alaska from Anchorage (Willow) to Nome. A driver and a team 12-16 dogs travel as fast as they can for glory and honor. The journey will take nine to seventeen days. Originally the trail was for mail and supplies, in 1925 the sled dogs were needed to care a serum for diphtheria.

We were lucky to have friends Lloyd and Jen visit us for the week. We began with cross country skiing and showing them some of the local sites.

For the Iditarod it was very cold .....about 0 degrees. We were invited by Kitty to the Exxon hospitality suite which was right at the start of the race. We stayed inside for a bit and then went outside to catch some of the excitement. The Saturday event is ceremonial and much more relaxed (I'm sure) than the real start. A Jamican musher came by dancing! Several sleds had an extra sled to slow down the dogs. The dogs were about 45 pounds and mixed Alaskan breeds. They were happy to be running and would occasionally grab a bite of snow to eat. One of my friends Julianne was riding in a sled. She is in the video below.
After we saw about half of the sleds we left the downtown area and went to a place along the path to see them come out of the woods.

It was a fun day.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=eae73d8ade&view=att&th=12e88346c8bf314a&attid=0.1&disp=attd&zw

Spring?

Today I saw a little bit of water melted on the ice in a parking lot!

Northern Lights!

After months of hopeful nights, we finally saw the Northern Lights. We had heard from friends that the lights had been seen earlier in the day, and I told her to let me know if she saw them again. We got the information about 10:30 pm after playing bridge. We went home picked up Matt and headed to Flattop. The lights were like white-greenish glows of light coming off above the mountains. They would gently move and change with time.

It was about four degrees outside and we lasted watching for half an hour. Unfortunately we did not bring a tripod and our photos didn't take.

Fur Rondy! and other winter scenes

The Rondy is a seventy-six year old winter festival. I think it started as a way for hunters to bring in and sell their furs. Now there are parades, snow carving contests, dog sled races, musical performances, an outdoor carnival and a variety of other events over a week. There were about a dozen snow carvings including crabs, penguins, eagles etc.

The lower picture shows my house with a snow bank in front of it. The picture was taken about 6:30 pm and was still daylight but almost dusk. We now have daylight from 8:03 am to 6:21 pm with about five more minutes each day. Season to date we have had 51 inches of snow.

Ship Creek is obviously completed frozen over. During the summer months there are always fishermen standing in the creek.

Cross country skiing at Kincaid

Today Don and I went with our friends, Kitty and Mark, on a 5K ski outing. This week we had the first snow of 2011, so it was really the first time we could be out again. The course was groomed and I did really well, only falling once on a big hill with a curve. It was warm at about 28 degrees with little or no wind. It was fun. We saw a large moose as we were leaving the park. We are having quite bit more daylight now... up to about six hours!

I am never ceased to be amazed at the Alaskan things. I saw a family out with a small child about four learning to ski. The mom had a ski stroller ( for lack of a better word) which I had never seen before. It was like a jogging stroller with ski blades! Sorry no picture.

Chinook and life in a cold climate

The week we were in the lower 48, Anchorage had a Chinook meltdown. That means warm winds came in and much melting occurred. The rooftops mostly melted and the snow melted in the driveways and the cross country ski trails. That was bad because what was left was ice and not fun for anything. People are hoping for snow soon.

Today Don and I went to Westchester Lagoon skating. I don't have skates and don't like to skate, so I just slid around on my boots. There were about a hundred people on the ice, from toddlers learning to skate by pushing a cart or chair, to random people with hockey skates and I even saw a few on bikes!

The sun was setting and it looked pretty over the treetops. To the south we could see the mountains despite it was a very foggy day. There were several bonfires going on the ice. Literally on the ice, they were built in a steel trashcan with a false bottom so the heated part actually wasn't on the ice. I guess that is to not melt the ice! Don read the ice is two and a half feet thick.

After that we went downtown where there was an ice sculpture contest. They were very pretty and ranged from two to about eight feet tall. Some were of fish, bears, suns and one was of an Eskimo couple. I put my face in the hole for a picture.

Around town, the trees are all covered with a thick frost that glistens. I guess it is too cold for it to melt at about 16 degrees.