July 17-18 - Driving away from Denali! Chena Hot Springs

What a joy to get into a car and drive somewhere with no timetable or schedule.  We borrowed a car from a friend we met this summer and drove to Chena Hot Springs Resort, just east of Fairbanks.  First drive north 2 1/2 hours to Fairbanks, then another hour east to Chena.  Freedom of the open road, and Susan did all the driving!  A win-win!! 

  

After checking in, we got into our bathing suits and soaked in the 104 degree waters of Chena Hot Springs.

Besides the hot springs, at the other end of the temperature spectrum, Chena features the Ice House, 

kept at a frigid 25 degrees. and where Heather and Steve Brice are ice sculptors.

 

The Aurora Bar serves Appletini's in sculpted ice martini glasses. When we were done, we took our ice glasses outside and threw them on the ground...where they shattered and eventually melted.  That's one way to avoid doing dishes.  😀

Besides the fascinating ice sculptures, it is possible to spend the night in the Ice House.  They supply minus 20 degree sleeping bags and an ice-carved, 4-poster, polar bear bed to sleep on.  What about a bathroom?  Nope...gotta go to the main building for that.  

The Alaska flag is carved on the lower right corner spindle.

Here are more of the Brice's fascinating ice sculptures:

Sunflowers:

Aurora Borealis

An ice ball that changes colors:

There is a DC-6 on display at Chena.  While most DC-6s are inactive, stored, or preserved in museums, several of these rugged, Douglas-built aircraft still fly northern bush operations in Alaska, including 4 with Everts Air Cargo livery. This one looks like it's coming in for a landing at the airstrip at Chena. 

 

This DC-6 is named Charlie Brown.

Good bye for now, Chena...see you next time.  

On the way back from Chena, near Fairbanks, is the quaint town of North Pole, Alaska. Everything is themed around Christmas and Santa Claus.  And we found this church near the Santa Claus house:

When we were in Alaska in 2018, we discovered truly southern barbeque at Big Daddy's, a Guy Fieri-recommended BBQ joint. We've been looking forward to this day every since we came back to Alaska!

 

Pulled pork, creamed corn, baked beans (the BEST I've ever had!), 4 different flavors of sauce, and of course, sweet tea!  We dove into the food so fast, I forgot to take a picture.  It's worth the trip to Fairbanks to eat Big Daddy's BBQ.  

This year, we've seen an abundance of a spectacular plant called fireweed.  This is how the USDA Forest Service describes fireweed:  fireweed is a tall showy wildflower that grows from sea level to the subalpine zone. A colorful sight in many parts of the country, fireweed thrives in open meadows, along streams, roadsides, and forest edges. In some places, this species is so abundant that it can carpet entire meadows with brilliant pink flowers.  On our drive to Chena, we discovered one of those meadows carpeted in fireweed.

The name fireweed stems from its ability to colonize areas burned by fire rapidly. It was one of the first plants to appear after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980.  Alaskans have an expression about fireweed:  "When fireweed turns to cotton, summer is soon forgotten."  Time to check the engine block heater and put on the studded snow tires.  One friend here - an Alaskan who lives 20 miles south of Denali - said that based on the flowers he's seen and the animal behavior he's witnessed, he expects us to have snow in August!  I'll keep you posted.  Have a great week.