I want to see a MOOSE!

My family came into town at the beginning of July (I know, we are way behind). They landed on my birthday and took us to Simon & Seaforts for dinner! While I finished up my work week, Rebekah took them around to Thunderbird Falls, Shopping on 4th Avenue, the Anchorage Museum, and Potter's Marsh to see the Arctic Terns (part of #86) my dad had read about.

We would spend the next 9 days traveling around the state doing everything from glacial trekking to halibut fishing.

Early Saturday morning we got up to drive the Richardson Highway north to Fairbanks. While the weather wasn't great (it was raining), it cleared up long enough for us to stop at the Matanuska Glacier.


For those that don't remember from a very early blog, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States and Rebekah and I had visited it on one of our first trips around the state. The access is privately controlled, so you have to pay an entrance fee. But, you can actually hike out onto the glacier which is a very interesting experience.

Last time we had just walked a short way onto the glacier, but this time we were more adventurous (after hearing stories from friends) and hiked down to a cool glacial lake on top of the glacier itself.


The lake sat at the face of a cliff of ice around 100 feet tall.

When we left the glacier we continued driving the Richardson Highway viewing the Trans Alaska Pipeline along the way. However, the beautiful scenery, pipeline, and walking on a glacier apparently wasn't enough. Everyone kept saying that they wanted to see a moose, why wasn't there a moose, where are all the moose?

So, after looking and looking I finally found a moose drinking in a small pond just off the road. I thought this would end it there, but soon found out that this moose wasn't good enough as it didn't have a big enough rack (apparently my family has gotten shallow since I left).


Almost 12 hours after we left that morning we made it to North Pole, Alaska and the Santa Claus House. We looked around the gift shop and of course took a picture with Santa!

Next, we finished the final 10 miles to Fairbanks and immediately headed to our favorite restaurant this far north, the Silver Gulch.

The longest driving day of the trip was complete, so we headed to the Sophie Station Hotel for a restful night's sleep!


Steven

North Pole, Alaska and Chena Hot Springs

On Sunday, we got up early and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. We got in the car and headed about 15 miles away to North Pole, Alaska (#70 on the list). There we saw reindeer and also a giant Santa Claus. There is a little store there, but since it is technically still the winter, it had limited hours. We were not too disappointed because we are sure that Steven's family will want to go back when they are here. FYI: You should not feed the reindeer white sandwich bread...they are on a special diet.


After a quick picture opportunity, we headed back to Fairbanks, grabbed some things for a picnic lunch and headed out to Chena Hot Springs Resort, about 60 miles out of Fairbanks. The resort is famous for its sulphur-smelling natural hot springs believed to help cure aching joints and muscles. The water that we swam in was about 105 degrees and was very warm (#72) !! After a few minutes, I needed to take a break and swim inside at the indoor pool for a little bit! The hot springs were nice and relaxing and surrounding the pool was lots of big boulders.

Also while we were at Chena, we took a tour of the Geothermal energy plant that is used to provide electricity and heat for the resort. It is necessary for the resort to make their own power as they are "off the grid" and are unable to get city power. The plant consisted of these large machines that were made of recycled parts from a salvage yard. The hot water is pumped up from the ground and run through these machines. A reverse refrigeration cycle is run on the hot water and the energy is harnessed to be used by the resort. After the water has been cooled, it is sent about a mile upstream from where is started, allowing the earth to heat it again and be reused. The hot water is also run through the floors of the buildings and used as heat. Chena also has a greenhouse where it grows lettuce and tomatoes that are used in the lodge restaurant.

Finally, before we left Chena, we visited the Aurora Ice Museum and had a drink at the ice bar (# 73 and # 74). The museum was impressive, but I am not sure that I would ever want to stay in one of the hotel rooms inside there!!! Too cold! We both shared an appletini in an ice glass!



Rebekah