Fairbank, AK

Jeff and I finally made a trip up to Fairbanks. We have been wanting to go ever since we moved here but haven't found the time to take the 6-7 hr drive. Our friends Kari and Ryan were headed up to visit some friends so we took the opportunity to ride along. We booked a super cheap hotel that allowed dogs and we were very impressed with how comfortable and clean it was, despite all the terrifying reviews. It was a great little getaway... full of plenty of relaxing, which was much needed for both of us.
The drive up was BEAUTIFUL. I loved the bright blue skies with snow covered mountains... yes we see it often in Anchorage but it the sky was way more vibrant today.

So the first day Jeff and I decided to drive around downtown and just see the city. We stopped off at this fudge factory and let me tell you, I have never seen so many different kinds of fudge from cookie dough (which was divine), orange creamsicle, and so many more, I just forgot them all :)

We were super excited to come to North Pole, and let me tell ya, it didn't disappoint. When we have kids we WILL be making it a tradition to come during the holiday season. Granted in the north pole they celebrate Christmas year round, literally. We were listening to Christmas music... in MARCH!!! It was pretty fun to walk through Santa's shop and see Christmas lights, and trees, and villages still set up. During the holiday they have a whole Santa Village outside, so hopefully we can make it back up here to see that.

Jeff pointing to a letter written to Santa from a little girl in Lithuania. Jeff served his mission in the Baltics (Latvia) and was pretty excited to see a letter from his mission. This little girl asked for a real live dog and cell phone... ha haha. Too cute

Just chillin in Santa's chair :)

The streets were just lined with these candy cane light poles... when I say the whole town is decked out in Christmas year round, I wasn't kidding. It was just so fun to go and visit.

Just in case anyone was counting :)

After we left North Pole we headed back to the hotel for a much needed 2 hr nap... once we woke up we got all bundled up and headed to the World Famous Ice Sculpting Contest. We were super excited to go but had to wait til dark so you could really see the sculptures. This didn't disappoint and I would recommend it to anyone... we had a BLAST!!! Last year there were teams from Latvia participating but we didn't notice any this year. There were a few teams from China, Japan, Russia and noticed one from Germany. Other than that there were lots of Alaskans, Canadians, and others from the lower 48 states.

Brace yourselves.... these pics look amazing... but just imagine them in real life... Pretty breath taking (literally, it was like -10 or so outside :)

So all these sculptures are considered "Single Block". They were judged a week or so ago and sadly the whole week it snowed to all the sculptures had a nice layer of powder on them. So it kinda ruined the look of some and the lighting but still enjoyable.

So this one was called "conception" Well a little girl walked past it and said, 'Daddy, it's a beehive'... oh how cute and innocent.

Dont' mind my oompa loompa look... I had to layer up to brave the cold... and in the end my fingers and face were frozen but the rest of me was nice and toasty!!

And here are the "Multi Block" sculptures. Unfortuately the judging for these weren't for another day or so so they weren't quite ready. Next year we will come later in the season to see them all lit up. These were by far our favorites... the time and talent is just incredible.

This Train one was Jeff's favorite... it was absolutely massive.

This one was my fav... the leopard and porcupine had such incredible detail...

Jeff chillin in a giant "cold" tub... it was funny he actually had a hard time getting out of it it was so icy slick.

This was a maze... looked cooler in real life. Half of the lights inside of the ice weren't lit up, but still cool looking.

And the best was saved for last... the ice slides.

And here are the MEGA ICE SLIDES. We didn't go down these ones... you needed a sled to do this due to the zig zagging. We sat and watched others go down and now have something to look forward to next year.

I just liked the color on this spinning bowl.

The next day Jeff and I literally drove around for 2-3 hrs... driving clear up the mountain top to look down on all of Fairbanks, looking for Moose, scouting out nice houses :) We ended up coming across a race track for dog sleds... unlike the Iditarod this track was for teams sprinting dogs (grey hounds, huskies, just a mix of different dogs) It was fun to see the difference in sport. Jeff said if we ever live in Fairbanks (which could be a possibility with Air Traffic Control) he WILL own his own dogs and we will get into the hobby of being a dog musher... oh I hope that day never come :)
After our scenic drive we headed back to the hotel to take a nap (did I mention this vacation was all about relaxing :) Later that night we took the hour drive to Chena Hot Springs. I didn't take my camera since it was dark but this pic gives you and idea of what they were like.... they were pretty much amazing. Sadly we went to early in the night and didn't get to sit and watch the Northern Lights... another error we will fix for next year.

Speaking of northern lights, Fairbanks is the #1 place in Alaska to see some incredible crystal clear light action. So we were super excited to go just cuz we have yet to see them. Well sadly the weather was... SNOWY and completely cloud covered for 2 of the 3 nights and we didn't see them at all. Even more sadly, while we were gone, Anchorage had one of the coolest nights for the lights.... right above our apartment. We were so bummed... more like depressed actually. So I stole some pics from friends... how amazing are these!!!! Again, quite depressing we missed it all.

Overall we had an incredible vacation. Well worth the 6 hr drive and definately a new tradition we have started. I love the time I get with Jeff and this weekend was just PERFECT.