As somewhere else in the world and in another moment in my life, Father Time seemed to have casually scrolled along my life hand in hand in Morpheus, here in Alaska He surely was in a hurry to just pass by.
My ~ 3 weeks vacation in Alaska is coming to an end, and on Wednesday I will be flying down to San Francisco to fuel on my biggest addiction: James Bond.
After Karin left on the Iditarod Trail, I moved into Doug’s home for a 4 days full immersion into wetlands ecology and policy. I had a term paper to hand in last Friday, my final exam is this Wednesday, and I have been procrastinating a bit on my on-line class with all the moving, packing and traveling I went through the last month.
Doug is the funniest Alaskan I know, and his family is not second to him. Rene, Doug’s wife, is super hospitable, and Zack (the Z-man, 4 years old) and Sam (1 year old) are just so adorable that it really makes you think that having kids can really be fun.
(I can totally do it!)
I took over Zack’s room, but after his detailed description of the nature and behavior of the monsters (mainly dinosaurs with very shiny teeth) that inhabit Zack’s room, I wondered if I should go to sleep in Sam’s room as well. Not only. Hanging from the wall behind the bed, overlooking me, there were the heads of 2 stuffed teddy bears and 1 stuffed teddy moose. Who could be so cruel to do such thing? This view would have terrified any other kids (and sensitive young women like me), but Alaskan kids grow to be rough since a young age.
Luckily Zack gave me Ally the alligator to protect me in my sleeps.
When I told about the framed teddy bear to Theresa (keep on reading) this weekend, she laughed and said “what a good idea! I could hang a teddy bear skin on my wall, it would be funny!” That gave me the chills.
I felt so cozy and happy, embraced in the warmth of such a nice family after so much moving (plus the spell of the fast internet connection that still amazes me) that when Dave phoned me to go back to Fairbanks for the weekend I truly hesitated. Sitting cross-legged in my favorite spot right next the fireplace, flashbacks of the freezing hike only 2 weeks ago ran across my mind and thousands of excuses came across my mind not to go.
But a little voice in my ears told me I should go (or maybe that was simply Dave’s voice on the phone)… Dave withdrew me on Friday afternoon from Doug’s home. Sight, sight.
Fairbanks is about 350 miles (570 km) north of Anchorage, and THE road to get there run along spectacular valleys and mountain chains, but it is also long and icy. As you get in it, a sign indicated the number of mooses killed like the billboard of a lottery “346 mooses were killed on this road since April 16”. I heard that you can put your name in a special list and every time a moose is killed the next name on the list will be called and you can go and pick up the remaining to feed the family for a while. Nothing wasted.
Many cars and trucks laid up-side-down along the street 2 weeks ago on our way back from Fairbanks, like if a bored Gozilla played with the traffic for a while… “tzzz…. People do not know how to drive with when in icy and windy” was Varon’s comment, apparently this view is common on weekends (“But how can they all land up-side-down??” was my thought). This said, I was not eager to go back into a truck for so many miles.
We were in a group this time. In addition to Dave, Suka and myself, Theresa (works with Dave), Greg (another dog handler I met during the Iditarod), Sara (fresh to Alaska as well) Kristin and Cuervo (the latter is another big dog) were following us in another car. It felt more like a road trip!!! Friday night we abused of Creg’s friend cabin, about half way between Anchorage and Fairbanks. While temperatures outside were well below zero (both F’ and C’), the cabin was warm and cozy and snacks were available. And soon enough the aurora came borealis dancing on the mountain and on the lake. Drapes of white lights were forming, shifting and disappearing to the north of the cabin, and we comfortably watched the show from the cabin couch.
Seeing the Aurora for me is a proof that “Will is power” (“Volere e’ potere”). Since I was 10 years old I knew that, one day, I will be seeing one with my own eyes, and somehow I did made my way up here to experience it.
We arrived to the cabin in full night, and waking up the next morning was another pleasant surprise, when the view of the white peaks and the frozen lake appeared to me in its entire splendor. After a rich breakfast, the group left for some backcountry skiing, while Suka and I went for a walk around the lake, chasing caribous (alas the wild reindeers; they do not fly and do not have shining red noses).
(caribous crossing the lake)
(Our cabin)
(and the restroom...)
(frozen enchilada and rice and bean... the leftover from the previous dinner that I forgot in the car... frozen solid)We arrived in Fairbanks around 8:00pm and drove straight to Chena Hot Springs for a healthy San Patrick bath. Chena Hot Spring is entirely ran on geothermal energy, which is used for the hotel electricity, to keep the ice hotel frozen even during the summer, for a greenhouse… amazing place!
I never practise a lot running half naked on slippery ice when the wind lowers the temperature to –30’F (-34’C), but I can say be pretty darn good and fast at it! Soaking in the hot springs while anything else exposed freezes (including the eye lashes) is kind of nice too.
(Theresa, Dave, Sara, Kristin, Greg)
(Greg: happy Alaskan with frozen hairs in hot spring).We soak in the very hot hot spring until the walk back to the cloths in the freezing wind actually felt nice and regenerating and then we headed to Chena’s pub where there was live music, cold beers and hot chocolates. Perfect.
(Dave, Greg, Theresa, Kristin, Me, Pete (the singer also snowmobile teachear...) and Sara)Chena is about 60 miles away from Fairbanks, alas another long drive before getting to the hotel room. But can you imagine any better drive than under a clear starry sky while the green Northern Light are dancing all around you? This time we had to stop the cars and get out, pack together as penguins in a storm and dance a waltz together with the Aurora. No comments, just “wow, wow, WOW!” It wasn’t just over the horizon; it was all over around us! And it was big, bright, wild. We packed, hugging, sharing each other heat until the aurora disappear (“let me cover your hear, ahh.. your armpit is so warm, that is not my hand, no, I won’t put my hand into your pants ;-)”), ran to the car (correction: at this point running in not possible… it is more of a sloth run) and drove some more until the Aurora re-appeared again. Stopped the cars, opened the door. Somebody shouted “Formation!!!” and we all ran to regroup in a human ball. It was very cold even for Alaskan. What a show. The warmth of the fireplace is great, but this is even greater.
On Sunday we had a tour of the ice sculptures before driving back. In art (as in many other cases), a picture worth 1,000 words, so here you go (see next post)!
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