River’s Edge RV Park, Chena Hot Springs, and Santaland RV Park
We spent about a week in the Fairbanks area. We always view Fairbanks as our last change to resupply and regroup before the drive south.
One of my favorite activities is a day spent at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. They have excellent displays and oral histories of the native people of Alaska. Most interesting is an oral history and video on the internment of the Aleut people from the Aleutian Islands during WWII. The Aleuts were removed from their home islands and their villages destroyed “for their own protection”. For several years they were interred in inhabitable camps in southeastern Alaska. A study of the effect of the internment on the Aleuts would be an interesting history project for a student interested in human rights.
On a more positive note, the sandhill cranes were in full migration during our week in Fairbanks. Hundreds of cranes gathered in Creamery Field.
This was our first experiment with digiscoping, i.e. attaching a DSLR camera to a spotting scope.
It is amazing to consider that we saw the same cranes on the Texas gulf coast last winter. Considering how far they have to fly for the winter, perhaps we shouldn’t complain about the lousy roads!
We spent the weekend 60 miles north of Fairbanks at Chena Hot Springs. I love exploring different hot springs so this northern excursion was a treat for me. Chena Hot Springs is a rustic resort with a small RV park. They don’t take reservations but we had no problem finding space.
Unlike many developed hot springs, Chena is not a concrete pool with hot water. The Chena springs flow into an outdoor rock pool. The bottom of the rock pool is fine gravel.
The water temperature coming out of the springs is so hot that they have to pump in cold water to make it safe.
The fountain water is warm but the water coming from some of the side walls is very hot.
It was a real treat is to stand with the hot water flowing from the pipe above onto your shoulders. I spent 4-5 hours enjoying the hot springs. Chena is definitely on my “will return” list.
Chena is open all year. It would be interesting to experience the hot water when the outside temperature is 40 below zero in January! However, I’m not so sure about the run from the locker room to the pool.
After Chena we headed for North Pole, AK for a visit with its most famous resident.
The reindeer live in a large pen next to Santa’s house.
We stayed in the SantaLand Rv Park and had several opportunities to visit Santa’s busy workshop. Santa offered to write letters to some of our favorite people.
From the North Pole we headed south to Delta Junction, the real end of the Alaska Highway.
Delta Junction is proud of the record extreme cold temperatures.
I don’t think I’d like to be here in the winter!
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