B & D's USA Hideout: Chena Hot Springs

After surviving the Dalton Highway, Brian and I decided to spend our last day in the Fairbanks area at the Chena Hot Springs Resort. We didn't stay the night, though we did discover they accommodated tenters and RVers upon arriving. We came to soak our bones, do a load of laundry and have a hot meal out. The resort was like a small village with all kinds of activities and tours going on. First thing was first though, we threw in a large load of laundry. It cost $4 to wash and $4 to dry. Have I complained about how annoying and expensive coin laundry is yet? Anyway, we took care of that and then tended to our aching bods in the Hot Springs Rock Lake. The natural hot mineral water filters in and out of the pool and stays at 106ºF every day of the year. It was perfect.

The Resort is also home to the Aurora Ice Museum. With interest peaked, we signed up for a tour to see the world's largest year-round ice environment. Originally designed to be an ice hotel, it became a museum because the facility could not comply with fire regulations. In other words, the building doesn't have a sprinkler system. Ironic as that is, it became a place for people to tour, get married or have a cocktail from a hand crafted ice martini glass. Brian and I donned on parkas and walked in with our tour guide from New Zealand. The sculptures were magnificent. Such unique, creative and intricate art work. I will let you as the reader come up with your own corny pun about the ice hotel. I was thinking something like "super chill" or "artic-ly awesome". Anyway, we really did love this tour.

To end the day we had dinner at the resort's restaurant and ordered some kind of red white and blue cocktail. It was, after all, Independence Day.

All photos taken from my Samsung S7