As promised, here lies a detailed description of Spring Break.
Spring Break here in Kotzebue can hardly be defined as "Spring Break." Although, it certainly is a break, it is only two days off. But, I'll take what I can get. Because our school district begins summer vacation May 7, we have nearly no days off, as many other districts do. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, etc., are sacrificed holidays for a long summer. We even have in-service on Saturdays. Though while those days are in session I am jealous of those taking the day to ski or relax back home, I am pleased that come May 7, I am set for a 3 month summer.
That being said, I took of Wednesday night on a much delayed flight to Anchorage, where I missed my connecting flight to Fairbanks. Well, that is Alaska. Never travel in this state, or to Kotzebue, unless you're prepared to be flexible. After spending a delightful night on the airport floor I FINALLY met Kevin in Fairbanks. I was so excited to see him i promptly told him not to talk to me while I took a 2 hour nap immediately after arriving at our hotel.
After my nap, and feeling refreshed, we caught our shuttle to the memorable Chena Hot Springs about 60 miles from Fairbanks. Chena advertises themselves as a "resort." So, it was slightly unexpected to find what we found, which was a somewhat outdated and fancy (by our standards) in almost no way at all. But, that does not mean it was lacking in character or enjoyment. The first, and most thrilling event (for me, not for Kevin) was the hot springs. The hot Springs are natural from the area and come naturally at 165 degrees. It is cooled to about 104 degrees, and sometimes 107 degrees, for their hot springs tub. It is surrounded by rocks, and filled with a rock bottom. The rock bottom for me acts as a massage tool, for Kevin it was like a knife stabbing into his feet at all moments. Needless to say, I was more excited to soak in the pool than he was. Along with hot springs we went on a dog sled ride, a ice museum tour, a geothermal tour, and an Aurora snow ride (with the hope of finding Northern Lights). The Ice Museum is in a building year round kept at 20 degrees. Inside are 4 rooms you could stay in for the night, a bar (where we drank Appletini's!), a small "dining" area, some stairs, and a wedding alter (where they have held 125 weddings!) It is a very neat place. The Geothermal tour was also very cool, and taught us all about how the entire site of Chena is heated and run off of Geo thermal energy, provided by the hot water of the hot springs. And, of course who would not LOVE a dog sled ride? But no, we did not get to be the musher, just ride in the sled. Then there was the snow ride where we got in a snow cat and drove to the top of the mountain to see the Aurora...on a full moon. So, while we did see the Aurora, it wasn't the brightest I have seen them. They were only out for like 3 minutes and so faint, but Kevin was pleased, so I too was pleased.
The fun did not stop there. Then we went to Fairbanks to spend the next two days until our flight out to Anchorage. We started it out right with seeing a movie (such a treat when you can't see one in Kotzebue). After that we ate at Chili's (SOOOO GOOD!). Later we attended the World Championships of Ice Sculpting and also had a later dinner at Silver Gulch brewery outside of Fairbanks where we proceeded to insist upon the cooks making us a pizza not on the menu, which ended up being delicious. This is where our first ridiculous event took place. After dinner we checked out the souvenir shop and bought a GIANT brewery sign for our house- knowing we weren't certain how to get it home.
The next day began with a trip downtown to watch the North American: a 3-day 20+ mile dog sled race that takes place in Fairbanks which was cool in itself. To top it all off, there was a Alaska Fur Trappers auction. As Kevin and I watched the items sell from Bear skins to Musk Ox furs, we were in awe. When we should have walked away, we instead got our money out, got a number, and bought a fox (for Kevins dad) a wolf (for my mom) and a Lynx (for ourselves). After some extensive buyers remorse, we wondered what in the world we were going to do with these furs. He could not take them home with him (because he was not going home), it was silly to send it to Kotzebue with me (and then pay for it to go to Colorado), but it was Sunday, and there was not an open post office in sight. SO, off to Office Max we went, furs in hand to spend WAY too much to FedEx our newly purchased furs. It was one of our more irresponsible, and less than financially sound choices yet as a couple. But hey, when in Rome, right?
The entire weekend was absolutely fabulous. Probably my best Spring Break to date. :) I hope those of you receiving furs in the mail are grateful! :)
The pictures are on Facebook, if you're interested. Unfortunately we did not snap any shots of the furs.
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