Day 8: Tok - Chena Hot Springs, AK (269 miles)
Leaving Tok, our first little stop was at a very charming place called Delta Meat. It was very small inside with just a couple of refrigerated units, but it was a family owned place that farmed their own livestock. We were very warmly greeting by 10 year old Quinn and his great-grandmother (who could have easily passed for just grandmother). We sampled some of their house-cured sausages, and then purchased some ground bison, a bison steak and a yak steak to stick in the cooler to cook when we got to Wiseman. Great-Grandma let Quinn ring us up on the register. He gave us our total and when I handed over my credit card, Great-Grandma wanted to finish the transaction. Quinn stubbornly interjected, “I know how to do it, Grandma!” So she let Quinn operate the credit card machine. He did a very good job!
The remainder of the trip into Chena Hot Springs was fairly easy. It as a 2 lane road, and we did quite a bit of passing. The road is long and mostly flat and straight; you just have to watch out for the wildlife.
Speaking of which, not too far down the road from Delta, we saw a car stopped on the side of the road. I slowed down, and sure enough there was a moose and her baby grazing in the grass next to the road. We got a couple of pictures and then got back on our way.
Our next stop was Santa’s house at the North Pole! Yes, we saw Santa, but even as an adult poor Vanessa is still scared so we just took a picture with him in the background! We bought a couple trinkets and then went out back to check out the reindeer.
Since our drive that day was so short, we arrived in Chena Hot Springs with plenty of time to enjoy all the goings-on. Following check in, we went to the activity center to reserve a tour of the ice museum, then w
e changed into our swim suits and went for a soak in the hot spring. There is a building one enters to get to the locker room, an attendant passing out towels that you show your passes to and in you go. Coming out of the locker room, one enters an indoor pool area chock-full of screaming kids. We very quickly bypassed that and went outside to the adults-only, much quieter hot spring. The hot water felt wonderful on our aching bodies!
When we were done, we headed back to the room and got dressed. We hung our Enos (portable hammocks) on trees outside of our room and took advantage of the wifi that was available to us. This was my first experience with an Eno.
Vanessa did a very good job showing me the ropes, so to speak. I could have slept outside in that thing all night long!
After that we went to dinner. The restaurant was very rustic – like a hunting lodge, with snow shoes, bison and caribou heads, and various pelts hanging everywhere. I had Alaska King crab legs and Vanessa had a grilled cheese with tomato soup (ultimate comfort food!).
Following dinner, we headed to the ice museum tour. The building was shaped rather like an airplane hangar, with 2 large doors at the entry. The guide opened the doors and we entered a vestibule that contained thick coats that everyone put on. When we were all ready, the guide opened a second set of doors that led into the museum. Some of the ice sculptures in there were in excess of 10 years old!
In addition to the sculptures, there was also an igloo with an xylophone in it, a couple of rooms that had ice beds ...
(I took a nap in one), and before leaving we sat down at the ice bar to have an appletini. Obviously, the drink was served in a martini glass that was made of ice – what else would you expect?
