Bad Hair Days!

One thing I have learned about Alaska is that it is a perpetual bad hair day for me. When we were there in the summer, it rained the entire time, so my hair was flattened to my head, straight as straight could be. In the winter, I always had to put a hat on.

When I would take off my hat, either static electricity caused me to look like I had put my finger in a socket, or it was totally out of shape. Either way, it was bad, bad, bad.

If we weren't wearing a warm hat, we might have worn a hard hat, such as when we were touring a permafrost tunnel. Same problem. Bad, bad, bad.

This is the best it got . . . on the last day, when the hat was packed, and I used a lot of hair spray. Once in eight days, and even then, it wasn't great. Pitiful.

Either way, I was the only one of the 5 of us whose hair was always a wreck. Good thing we took many pictures outside!

Chena Hot Springs

Betsy had suggested that we visit Chena Hot Springs for a day, so on Saturday, we drove the 50 miles to get there. It was a lovely ride, and we saw some moose, both coming and going. The complex is at the end of the road, literally, and it is quite large, with several substantial log-cabin hotels.

It was about 2 degrees when we arrived . . . it was SO cold. (Later in the day, Don took this picture . . . -5 and going down!)

After we checked in, we went to the hot springs. We had to put on our swim suits, take a shower, and then go out in the 2 degree air to get to the pool. I, of course, left my flip flops in the room, so I had to walk the 100 feet or so in my bare feet. BRRR. But once we got in the water, all was ok. It was about 106 degrees . . . and hotter in places.

The steam was very thick, so sometimes we would lose each other in the fog. Soon our hair was totally white, caused by the steam turning to ice. Within about 30 minutes, I was so hot, I couldn't wait to get out. I sat on some rocks for awhile to cool down, then got dressed. It was really nice walking back to the room in 0 degree weather. Imagine that!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

It appears as if Fairbanks is the ice carving capital of the world, if ice statuary is any indication. While we were there, they were hosting the World Ice Carving championships. Throughout the city, we saw ice statues, and at Chena Hot Springs, we visited the ice carving museum. At night, statues throughout the city had special lighting that made them glisten in the snow.

The statues take an extraordinary amount of time and effort to carve, all to melt in the sun at a later date. The winning sculpture at the Fairbanks festival included an amazing porcupine. Inconceivable how the man managed to carve the spines.

I will be posting random ice sculptures throughout my next few blogs, as we found them amazing.

Mush!

One of the first activities in Fairbanks was to go to the North American Dog Sled races. The day was actually more than just dog sledding. We learned about caring for the dogs, training them, and what it takes to make a good race dog. Then the competition began with ski joering, which in Alaska involves a person skiing, being pulled by dogs. Some skiers have one dog pull them; some have up to three. And the dogs are fast . . . very fast . . . so the skier must like speed. The skiers went about 4 miles in thirteen minutes or so . . .

Then we watched the dog sledding. First was the four-dog race and then the six-dog race. Again, they went about 4 miles. The Iditarod dogs trot about four miles an hour; these guys go about 12 miles an hour. And they can't wait to run!

When we were at Chena Hot Springs, Don and I decided we needed to go dog sledding. Although the course was very short, we got to see what it was like, how they train the dogs, and what it was like riding in a dog sled. Here we are below in a 12-dog sled. Fun experience.

The Girls

It was time for another girl trip . . . though this time we invited the guys, too!

Last August at our high school reunion, we decided to go see Betsy in Alaska . . . in March. Although Anne couldn't join us, the rest of us and our men headed North to Alaska. When we arrived, Fairbanks was in the throes of a rather cold spell . . . nights at - 20, day highs of 2. There were also some sun storms that were erupting that we thought would develop into beautiful auroras. They did . . . but more on that later.

First, the girls. We arrived from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and California. Everyone's flights were on time; we all had adequate cold-weather gear; the hotel was awesome! For $75 a night, we were all together on the same floor, each of us with a kitchen, eating area, bathroom, large living area (we got all 9 of us in it multiple times), and a large bedroom with walk-in closet. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. It was a great place from which to stage all of our activities. Here is a picture the first night we were all together.

Between three of us we have over 100 years of marriage (39 years, 36 years, and 35 years). Two of us are officially retired; three of us are in the medical field; two (+ one husband) are in some form of the education field. Three of us are quilters; several are also into jewelry, sewing, and crafts. (I like that stuff, but I am not very good at it.) I am the lone failure in the shopping department, but it is fun being with everyone.

We have nearly 60 years of friendship for three of us; 40+ years for the rest. Great times!

Daylight Savings Time

I love daylight savings time. I love the longer days of the spring and summer, and the cooler mornings in the summer are more easily enjoyed.

That being said, I don't like having daylight savings time begin in early March. I hate walking in the dark, and it has just been getting light at 6:00 a.m. Now, I have to go back to walking in the dark. Depressing.

It won't be long of course before it is light again, and the weather will be better; but for the next few weeks, I will be hating daylight savings time.

Follow the Directions!

Several days ago, I was going to make salted fudge brownies for a friend's birthday. I began to melt the butter and chocolate, and as it was melting, it began to boil. I questioned continuing on, but surely it wouldn't matter, would it? I added the dry ingredients, and when I put it in the pan, it seemed a little more greasy than usual. Hmmm. Should I cook it? Sure.

By the time 35 minutes had passed, I could tell something wasn't right. Although the brownies were done, there was a layer of butter on top. Yuck. I put it in the refrigerator, hoping that it would change the brownies. The next morning, I asked Don to taste them, since I have given up sweets for Lent. When I came home from walking, Don advised me not to take the brownies to my friend . . . unless I didn't want that person as a friend anymore.

So . . . I threw them out. I wondered if the boiled butter made a difference, but I didn't know . . . until Thursday night. I was sitting next to Beth Tully, the founder of Cocoa Dolce. I asked her about boiling butter . . . and she said that was definitely the problem. Butter separates when boiling and it doesn't cook right. So now I know. When the recipe says melt over low heat . . . follow the directions!