The best weekend ever!

We had a splendid time this last weekend! We loaded ourselves and all of our stuff into the Subaru and drove all the way to Chena Hot Springs, about an hour past Fairbanks. Going at a good clip, that makes for a little more than 7 hours of actual driving time, each way. About 830 miles round trip. You may want to ask, "How did Tallis do in the back of the car in his car seat this whole time?" "Truly marvelously fantastic" would be the reply. We don't know why, but Tallis loves being in the car about 90% of the time. Even with things piled around him so that he can't see outside very well, he's quite content. He doesn't consistently fall asleep in the car either. He just entertains himself. No complaints here! To be our child, living in a great big state, he kind of HAS to be okay with long road trips. Yay!

We left on Thursday afternoon and drove to Healy, just north of Denali National Park, where we stayed with some long-time friends of mine, the Clarks. They were kind enough to put us up in a spare bedroom and let us eat their oatmeal for breakfast the next day. This divided the trip perfectly, so that no one got too tired of the car. Friday morning, well-rested, we headed north to Fairbanks. By sweet luck, Fairbanks' World Ice Art Competition Park's season was extended one additional week this year, so we got to see amazing international award-winning ice carvings, as well as slides, mazes, and other children's fun toys, all made of river ice. Well worth the slight detour and the $20 admission. It would've been neat to see it at night, too, when the ice is illuminated by colored lights, but that was not to be - at least not this year! (There may be future trips in the works, when Tallis is old enough to really enjoy it!)

This photo shows one of the three sets of large slides at the park, all made of ice blocks. You can get some real speed in a plastic sled going down one of these!

They also have at least half a dozen kiddie-sized slides, with different themes. Courtney took Tallis down this one a few times - we didn't have a sled, but a rear end works okay, too! These were really a blast! A preschooler wouldn't be able to get enough of them.

Among the interesting attractions is a phone booth made entirely of ice, with a working phone imbedded and frozen into it! I don't know how they did it, but it's "cool!"

This was Courtney's favorite carving - a pack of wolves attacking a caribou (or elk?). It is entitled "Subsistence", as I recall. The amazing thing about it is the way the wolves are balanced on just one or two narrow ice legs. That takes some skill! (A recent snowfall covered some of the finer details of the displays, but oh well!)

This was my favorite entry in the multi-block competition - "Swimming Lessons". See the little baby turtle on his parent's back, and the kelp and water bubbles? Impressive and adorable.

This was one of the winners in the single block category - "Kingfisher".

This video shows just random kids and parents, but I was so impressed by the kiddie toys that I just had to film them! Tallis was soundly asleep on my chest by this point, so he wasn't interested in being spun around. (Even if he were awake, I'm not so sure it would've been a good idea!)

After getting our fill of ice, and being very impressed with the way Fairbanks residents know how to really make the best of a long and cold winter, we finished the last big leg of our trip, out to the North Fork Cabin on the Chena River. It turned out to be one of the best public use cabins we've ever stayed in - nice bunks, big (but smoky) stove, lantern, lots of firewood, spacious, many windows.... Tallis was ECSTATIC upon arrival. I've never seen him quite so thrilled about anything! Was it the end of a long trip, or the delight at such a cool destination? (Does he love cabin camping as much as his dad?!) He very nearly burst at the seams!

We made ourselves at home, enjoying DELICIOUS grilled chicken and potatoes for dinner. Mmmmm! We read by lantern-light and then called it a good night after a successful day. We got a lazy start the next morning, but then enjoyed breakfast burritos and hashbrowns. Once we were fed and rested we made our way the last 10 miles of our trip to our grand destination - Chena Hot Springs. The place needs some major updating, but there's no beating the warm mineral waters. There's very little sulphur smell, we caught it at a quiet time of day, and other than the fact that we had to trade off holding Tallis in order to venture into the prime hot soaking pool (Rock Lake), it was a delightful day. Tallis was content in the warm water of the indoor pool for nearly 2 hours.


After showers we headed back to the cabin. Personal gourmet pizzas awaited us there. Courtney documented the afternoon on video with our dinky camera. (Don't get dizzy! He was not very concerned about photo shake!)



That night we played non-competitive Trivial Pursuit and Bob the Builder Memory! (Both games we found on the shelves in the cabin.) After some more reading, we had another restful night (with the requisite temperature fluctuations of cabin camping with a wood stove!). We slept a little later on Sunday morning than we intended, so it was rush-rush-rush to get out the door, but we did it! We then drove straight back to Healy, where we planned to attend church with the people I knew and loved while I worked in Denali so many years ago. We were 20 minutes late, but they were running late, too, so it all worked out! Other than smelling like wood smoke, we had a beautiful afternoon at the chapel with great people and a beautiful Spirit. It was also a good way to break up the trip again!

We finished our drive after church, stopping only in Cantwell for gas, reading good books and having great conversation all along the way, and got home happy and rejuvenated. You know a trip was a good one when you get home energetic instead of worn out! I feel like a new woman! Yay for successful road trips! (The weather was nearly perfect and we avoided ashfall from Mt. Redoubt in Anchorage to boot!)