FRIDAY, AUGUST 30

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30: 

     Cool and drizzly again.  We drove to Chena Hot Springs, an area of natural mineral hot springs about 70 miles northeast of Fairbanks, on a good road all the way.  It was a pretty drive, along forested roadsides and crossing the Chena river a couple of times.

   There’s a good-sized resort at the end of the road – lodge, nice restaurant, and other amenities.  Day visitors can pay to use the indoor swimming pool, hot tubs, and outdoor lake, all kept at a constant temperature of 110 degrees by the thermal pools.  There’s also an ice museum, where literally everything inside – the sculptures, the furniture, even the bar and drinking glasses, are all sculpted from ice.  The resort also offers canoe trips, horseback riding, and flight-seeing in the summer, and dog sled rides, ice skating, and other activities in winter.

     We opted to take the ice museum tour.  We bundled up, listened to the short narrative about how they keep the interior at a constant temperature, how they constantly need to maintain and eventually replace the sculpted pieces, etc., and then were left on our own to explore as we liked.  It really was neat.  We’d seen some ice carvers at work in St. Charles during Old St. Charles ice festival in January.  But this was on a whole different level!   The resident carvers (a husband & wife team) have won lots of competitions and awards for their work.  The guy was there working while we were there, so we got to visit with him a little bit.  He started out as a wood carver, but said he wasn’t making any money, and someone approached him about ice carving.  He took off with it - actually invented many of the techniques that we saw the St. Charles sculptors utilize. And apparently they’re making good money at this venue.  

     Some of the pieces were showcased with colored lighting.

 

 

 

                                                    How did he create those tree ornaments??!

 

 

 

      Besides the individual sculpted pieces, the carver had constructed an entire bar area, complete with reindeer hide-padded bar stools and a fireplace where you could warm up (well, in your imagination).

 

 

They offered martinis served in individually-carved glasses (which we passed up). There was also an igloo, with a xylophone inside where you could hear the unusual acoustics of the room.

 

 

 

And, most incredibly, they had 3 rooms which you could rent for the night, with ice-carved headboards.  They provide insulated sleeping bags, as well as a lodge room for a back-up! 

 

 

Even though a little  kitschy, all in all, a fun experience and worth the admission fee.

     We had intended to go to the pool area after our ice museum outing.  But after our time in the ice house, we decided that we really didn’t care about spending the time or money for the hot springs soak.  We had some things we needed to get done tonight and get to bed at a reasonable time, as tomorrow we need to be at the airport by 6:15 for a trip/tour up at Barrow. 

     Grilled ribs and skewered veggies for dinner – good!  Especially with the Alaskan Amber beer that Bill found at WalMart yesterday. 

     A nice sunset tonight – the first in a long time.