Alaska Bound Summer 2016 Craig and Arlene: Day 16-17 Golfing and Chena Hotsprings

A couple of light days doing fun stuff. First off, Craig has been wanting to golf and there is a course not too far (about half hour) from where we are staying. They say it's the most northern accredited 18 hole golf course. So here we go. Yes, I'm going with him although I don't golf so I'm just along for the ride.

First question, should we get a golf cart of walk. It looks like a nice course but I'm counting on getting some reading done so I vote for the cart and win. Boy oh boy was this a good decision. The top side of the course is beautiful but as soon as you head downhill, you are golfing in a bog. I've never seen so many water hazards in my life. It's been raining hard here and there are puddles and bogs everywhere. Even the cart path is a muddy mess at times.

Craig meets a couple of other gentlemen who are solo golfing and they team up for 18 holes. He had a good time with them. I was happy as a clam in the golf cart reading and occasionally watching them golf. For those who are interested, Craig hit a 96 (not too bad). They finished up just as it started raining - great timing.

Later that evening we drove up to the University of Alaska. What a beautiful campus. We are told that there is a great lookout point from which we should be able to see Denali. But we were warned that Denali is shy, often hiding behind the clouds and only about 30% of the people who visit this area get to see her. Sure enough, it was a scenic drive and a beautiful lookout over the Fairbanks valley but no sign of Denali or the other 3 mountains who hang out with her.

The next morning it looked from our vantage point like it might be a clearer day to see the mountains so we once again drove up to U Alaska and tried out luck at seeing Mount Denali. It was a clearer day and we were able to see Mount Deborah and Mount Hess to the east but no luck in seeing Denali to the south.

But it was a beautiful day in Fairbanks so we decided to head off to visit Chena Hotsprings. It is about 63 miles north of Fairbanks so we headed back out on the same highway that took us to the Arctic Circle but turned east after only a few miles. The road at first was nicely asphalted but like most roads we've run into, it was a roller coaster. We are told that this is from the road freezing in the winter and thawing in the summer and is called "frost heaves". Whatever it is, there is road maintenance going on everywhere and on this road, we were stopped several times to be escorted through areas that were being worked on.

The road at first was through a nice residential area. Then it became more forested the further we got away from the highway. We were surprised at one point by a moose that walked right out of the woods and crossed the road right in front of us. Craig had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting her and she seemed oblivious to our presence. We were so rattled that we didn't get out cameras out in time to take a picture.

Further on down the road, Craig spotted a moose in the woods and we were able that time to be able to watch him for a while and take some pictures.

Chena Hotsprings was the terminus of the road. We were surprised by that but found ourselves in their parking lot. The property is beautiful. It's a resort with lots of people staying there. It's reputation is as a great place to see the northern lights in the winter but it's also a great destination in the summer. In addition to the hot pool, they have horse back riding, a wildlife rehabilitation center and they have also built a heating/cooling and electrical system powered by the hot water. Recycling is also prevalent around the facility which we haven't seen in Alaska so far at all. They have a beautiful farm and grow their own veggies and beautiful flowers everywhere.

One highlight of the trip was visiting their ice museum. They support a couple of artists in residence who do ice sculpting. And they keep this large structure with lots of large ice sculptures cooled at all times to 20 degrees with their own cooling system - even when the temp in the summer gets up in the 80's! And in the winter, they host the Fairbanks ice sculpting annual contest.

At the entrance to the ice museum we were given heavy canvas jackets which kept us comfortable for the hour or so that we were inside. We looked at all the sculptures, enjoyed the lighting inside which is meant to simulate the northern lights and we had an appletini at the ice bar which is yes, made of ice. The chair was made of ice, the martini glass was made of ice and the bar stool was made out of ice. Too cool - literally!

The trip back to home base in Fairbanks was uneventful except for the fact that I drove back. That's the first driving I've done I think on this trip other than just to get coffee in the morning on those days when that's possible. Craig rocks the driving for the most part but he was tired and wanted to nap so I'm happy to say that I drove us back without any problem at all.

Life is good!!!