Fairbanks Part 4

6/10/14

On our way out to Chena Hot Springs.  A beautiful drive with many campgrounds along the way that are either federal or state, all were very nice looking but thick with skeeters. Also the road in many areas was
very wavy (up and down) from the perma frost melting in some areas.  Apparently this is a constant problem and always needs repair.

The sign says,

Welcome to Chena Hot Springs Resort

The road just ends right here.













They have this huge green house and many smaller ones.  They grow all their own flowers and they were just setting them out today to be planted.
They also grow all their own lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, squash, etc. They do not buy vegetables from the outside.

Flowers setting out to be planted in front of the Ice Museum.

Entrance to the Ice Museum, we were here for the 11 am tour.














We were given parkas to wear as it was 20' inside and the tour lasts about 45 min.
This is the workshop of Steve and Heather Brice, Heather is a 6 times World Champion Ice Carver.

 Between the two of them then have a dozen or so of gold metals for ice carving.

Flowers in crystal clear ice
They really know how to freeze water                                                                                                        

Block of ice from their pond that was cut last winter.  The white on top is frozen snow.  you can barely see the layers in the snow of the different snow storms.

Stools at the bar, they have a round patch of reindeer hide on top of them so you can sit there. They have martini glasses made of ice (of course)                  

It's hard to see but these are two horses with knights on them challenging each other.

 A leopard.  The spots have been carved out and then packed with snow and frozen into place.  The floor is made of ice and frozen snow to get this effect.

The railing around the bar.  Some of these pictures I used a flash and others not.  It was hard to decide which was better.

The bar with the lights on and I think I used a flash.

Bear

The Coco Cola Bear

One of 4 different chandlers using a flash, no colors came out

Christmas tree

They have four bedrooms you can rent for a tune of $400 per night.  no running water though

Fire place above,
It was a fantastic tour

They had just planted flowers in this old truck, it will be beautiful in another couple of weeks.

One of many green houses.  Planted in front are several rows of spaghetti squash

Dinning room

Fresh lettuce greens and ripe cherry tomatoes.

They are open year round and you still get the fresh salads.

 The Hot Springs.  There is a ramp that you walk down and into the springs, at the ramp it was 106' and then hotter the deeper you went.  Too hot for me.  They also had a pool filled with water from the spring and cold water added to keep the temperature at about 99'.  Probably nice but I didn't want to pay $13.00 to go into a pool.  The hot springs back at Liard Hot Springs were much nicer, in my opinion.

Just part of the beautiful grounds.  Summer rush has not started yet so this was the perfect time to come out here.

They also have a campground, it is about 65 miles out of Fairbanks so it would be nice to stay.  This is a resort so they also have many rooms and cabins to stay in.

One of the signs along the hwy.












That's about it, hope you enjoyed the pictures of the Ice Museum

Nancy