Many months ago, we cooked up a plan with our dear friends Sue and Jeanne to go to Alaska to try to see the Northern Lights. http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast After a few years of minimal sun spot activity, which in turn affects the aurora, 2011/12 was projected to be a really big year. March would have been the best but we have a wedding to help tend to in March so that was out!
Somehow Thanksgiving seemed possible. The idea of leaving home 36 hours after arriving home after 3 months on the road...well denial isn't just a river in Egypt. So off we went.
The week we were in Borrego Springs, it was -40 F in Fairbanks. When we landed here it was a balmy -27. I thought that being a Buffalonian who later lived in Wisconsin would have prepared me. Not so. It has not gotten above -6 the whole time we've been here.
The day starts by layering: One or 2 pairs of long underwear depending on the day's activities, a pair of pants or snow pants, a sweater, a fleece top, a vest and a jacket, two pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves, a scarf or balaclava, and a hat, and hood for later.
We head over to the main lodge http://www.atasteofalaska.com/ for a huge homemade breakfast, hang around talking to Cory (age 26) who has taken over the business. His grandparents and parents have homesteaded here for many years. They are true life-long Alaskans. Mom and Dad have gold mined. Dad still does and then restores the land and establishes new wetlands. Moose live in the woods below the meadow. Cooper the
German Shepard visits gurests every day for the dog treats stored on the counter. Debbie, Cody's mom, shows us her quilting room and projects in process. Cody's dad Dave rants about the US government and regulations....he's not afraid to state his opinion. Talking with Dave makes me understand how Sara Palin was elected govenor. I teased him about wearing a tinfoil hat to protect him from the microwaves he worries are being emitted from the cell tower near by. (Can't hurt, might help).
After the day's activites we return to our lodge for dinner (peeling off all but 1 layer) and a game of cards or BananaGram. Then on 2 nights we set out to see the aurora - the first of which was covered in the last blog. Last night they were even more spectacular than the first and we managed to not lock ourselves out of the car. (Debbie did threaten to notify Trooper Rick that we were on the road again so he could keep an eye out for us.
Alaska is a magical and wondrous land. I loved the southeast when I visited years ago and Fairbanks is right up there on my list of "must returns."
Home tomorrow...for now.
LC posted at Fairbanks
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