Act3: Hot Spring and Northen Lights

Chena hot spring is located at the end of the road about 60 miles east of Fairbanks. I rented a car and meanwhile Dave was working, I decided to go and soak there for a bit. I was very disappointed at first, there weren’t any activities to do, a part a visit at the Aurora ice museum that featured ice sculptures and a hotel entirely made of ice. You could sleep in there, at a temperature of -20’F (-28’ Celsius –notice the minus sign!!!), on top of seals, beaver’s skins, for the modest price of $500 a night. Good luck sleeping! During the visit itself, I felt my nostrils freezing, and I had to hug the camera to avoid instant freezing and breakage.

(the bedrooms are at the very end)

(Safe sex at Chena. Try to take my cloths off and I will kill you!!!)

(ice art work everywhere: chess and fighting knights)

I believe that when you travel, you are never really alone. You have a new world around that is just waiting for you! And, in my case, I end up meeting Renato from Brasil. Again! Renato, was a PhD student at Oregon State University in the same time I was there. The last time I met him (totally randomly) was in a completely deserted beach in North Beach in Hawaii 2 years ago, 2 days before moving to Samoa. When I saw him entering in the bar with his wife I though I must be wrong and I ignore him. But when he sat right in front of me and start stirring at me as well, I was clear I was not dreaming.

I guess, we like the same kind of places! And I also have a “power of meeting” gift.

After he left (we decided we are going to meet again in 2 years somewhere else totally randomly), I ran into the hot spring to warm up (I am not ready to stay for longer than 15 minutes at -28’C!) Entertainment came from Japanese Sukio and Pippi, and Spanish Tony. I love to hear travelers’ stories, it is a big makes the all experience so much more interesting!

Chena was to me nothing else that a hot pool where until I attended to a tour about the use of geothermal energy to power up the all place. Chena is isolated from the world, and the price of energy produced by oil-burning made all previously owners to fail at their business. Chena now uses the temperature difference between the hot geothermal water and the cold outside as an engine to produce enough energy to warm up all the place, freeze the ice museum, produce electric energy and also run a great greenhouse that make Chena quite independent even on a food factor. Amazing. To learn more, go to www.yourownpower.com . It does sound like a self-help feminist website, but it is nothing like that! Tavita, you would love this!

Dave cached up with me around 7.00 and we eat/soak/walk around until 11.30pm. The sky was clearing and I had a feeling that the aurora borealis was coming for me.

But I am still an early bird and at a certain time I shat off and decided to take off (it takes more then 1 hour to get back to Fairbanks). I also promised the Japanese I would drive them back to their ranch/hotel. the idea and at 11.30 the idea of the one hour ride back to Fairbank was a trigger to start driving back. As I was chatting with Pippi, Sukio was in charge to look for sign of northern lights. No luck. I left them in the ranch, and returned on the main road. I got deep into though about giving and taking (I think I am good at both), when I suddenly saw something funny glowing in my back mirror… and there it was! The northern lights were dancing high in the sky! Greenish, bluish luminous drapes were folding and unfolding in the dark. I parked the car on the side of the road, turned off the light and enjoyed the show for a while, hoping that Dave would realize that I was not behind him anymore and would drive back to find me. Thank you Alaska for this (and thank you to my job too!!!).

I imagined the spirits playing with a walrus skull. Its tusks punch holes into the iced spirit floor every time the skull fell to the ground, and they come into the human world creating the northern lights. That is a story I learned when I was about 13 reading the National Geographic. Since then I always wanted to see the Aurora. I can confirm now, it come directly from the spirit’s world. There are so many loved ones up there I wanted to say hi and I love and miss you. It was wonderful.