For as long as I can remember the Northern Lights have been on the top of my bucket list- maybe only second after Rome. Actually, they were one of the driving forces behind wanting to go to Alaska. The thing is, you can’t plan to see them, it’s all chance. So I was trying really hard to not get my hopes up.
If you had told me I’d be in a bikini in 14 degrees I would have told you were insane. Well this week it was true. Half soaked in 115 degree water. Half is being snowed on. It was a cool experience to say the least.
Also snow and steam make for some nice photos. I took about thirty, but these three were my favorites. There was only one down side of the hot springs and that was that they were crowded. We went to the Chena Hot Springs right outside of Fairbanks, and while it was busy the activities were so much fun. We went snow mobile riding and on a northern light tour (more on that later).
I learned some interesting things about hot springs:
I’ve always loved speed (I race horses for crying out loud!) and I love animals, so dog sledding seemed like a great activity to invest some time in. It did not disappoint. We went sledding with Golden Heart Dog Tours and I would recommend them to anyone. Our tour guide had completed the Iditarod and two of the dogs we were riding with were ones she run with.
I didn’t know anything about dog sledding, so saying I learned a lot isn’t much of a statement, but the amount of care and skill used to run these animals is truly remarkable. Our guide fell in love with dog racing and left a lot behind to come do it. I can understand how it would be come an addiction. In fact, I could even see myself getting to that point.
It might seem like a bit of a tourist activity (and I’ll admit it is) but it was a hundred and ten percent worth it!
Some beautiful mountain pictures from my plane ride to Alaska. I didn’t announce it formally on here- so I thought I’d take the night I still have wi-fi to share these images (more below) and tell you that I’m checking out for a week because I’m in America’s last frontier! My dad and I our doing a huge father/daughter bounding trip. We’ve talked about going to Alaska for years, and decided that if we were going to do it it should be while I was still in school. Talk about a killer final spring break.
So far my dad and I have just been in Fairbanks, but we start reaching past that tomorrow. Look forward for a lot more posts- on dog sledding, on snow mobile riding, and on the NORTHERN LIGHTS. See you soon bloggers.
Anna Down South 