Anyway, I digress. We headed up way, way north- a couple hours north of Fairbanks, to the Chena Hot Springs resort. This is a different way than we have gone before- we went to Denali National Park about five years ago with Stacey, but neither of us had been any further north. Uncharted territory, my favorite kind! Here is a picture taken from the car:
The first night we made it just past the Denali Park entrance and stayed at a great hotel- clean and cheap, two adjectives that rarely go hand in hand in Alaska we have found. Here are pictures of the setting sun over the mountains:
The next day we continued our journey- about four more hours of driving to get to the hot springs. On the way, we encountered a true Alaskan small town called Nenana. The town is famous in these parts for the yearly Ice Classic. Basically, the strange tripod-like contraption you see in the picture below is set in two feet of river ice around October-November. The tripod is connected to an on-shore clock with a string.In the spring, the tripod moves as soon as the ice starts to break up and the clock stops. The time recorded on the clock is used as the river ice breakup time. From February to April each year, tickets to register your guess are available in locations all throughout Alaska. This year's jackpot went to one person only, and she won a whopping $303,985.00 ! Holy smokes, this is a big deal!
Another interesting feature found in Nenana: here is a picture of salmon hanging to dry in the town center. The deeper you get into Alaska, the more, um, Alaskan it gets...
The first night we made it just past the Denali Park entrance and stayed at a great hotel- clean and cheap, two adjectives that rarely go hand in hand in Alaska we have found. Here are pictures of the setting sun over the mountains:
The next day we continued our journey- about four more hours of driving to get to the hot springs. On the way, we encountered a true Alaskan small town called Nenana. The town is famous in these parts for the yearly Ice Classic. Basically, the strange tripod-like contraption you see in the picture below is set in two feet of river ice around October-November. The tripod is connected to an on-shore clock with a string.In the spring, the tripod moves as soon as the ice starts to break up and the clock stops. The time recorded on the clock is used as the river ice breakup time. From February to April each year, tickets to register your guess are available in locations all throughout Alaska. This year's jackpot went to one person only, and she won a whopping $303,985.00 ! Holy smokes, this is a big deal!
Another interesting feature found in Nenana: here is a picture of salmon hanging to dry in the town center. The deeper you get into Alaska, the more, um, Alaskan it gets...
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