Temperature's rising in Fairbanks (and our feet hit the floor)

OK, that headline was an obscure reference ... it's a play on words from the song Gimme Some Lovin'. It just seemed appropriate because the temps are in the 80s in Fairbanks and its surroundings yesterday and today.

Anyway ... 

After our Grand Iceland Adventure a couple years ago, we’re supposed to be accustomed to the sun never setting.

But to us, it's still pretty amazing.

Like being able to sit on a restaurant deck of the Chena River last night at 11 and sip a beer and enjoy Washington State oysters flown in fresh every day. To us, it seemed like the early evening back home. (And we think they gave the oysters first-class tickets on Alaska Air.)

Our Big Alaskan Adventure started with a bang earlier in the day.

We'd driven to the end of a road about 60  miles from Fairbanks, following the Chena River the entire way. When we got there (Chena Hot Springs), we went for a hike, and -- about 20 minutes into it -- came across a solo moose munching her brunch at the side of the trail.

Being city slickers, we didn’t know whether to run away or proceed slowly, while motioning with our hands as if to say, "Don't worry, we're cool. We have no beef with you."

So we went forward slowly, startled when she snorted, as if to tell us to never come this way again, and to quit it with the beef jokes.

Only later, someone told us that meese can “stomp you into a puddle" (but usually only when their calves are near.)

Oh, good to know going forward, we thought to ourselves.

Other highlights were seeing the resort’s greenhouse operation … lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and more – all grown year ‘round, even in the dead of winter. You wouldn’t believe the size of tomato plants. But everything is big in Alaska, we're told.

They also have an ice sculpture collection there that was surprisingly interesting. Everything from crystal balls, to true sculpture art, to an ice xylophone. They even had shots of vodka in martini glasses lathed out of – you guessed it – ice.

The excursion was capped by a dip in the natural hot springs. Which was kind of weird since the temps were in the 80s, and many guests were sunbathing. 

Yes, we said sunbathing. In Alaska. Who would've thought?

While we welcome the pleasant temperatures, we know we’re very lucky because just last week, many areas were flooded from torrential rains. Siri is keeping us updated on weather forecasts, and the next few days look promising. Our fingers are crossed.

Today will be spent exploring more locally in Fairbanks and taking in a hike. Then tomorrow, the adventure to the North Slope and the Arctic Ocean begins. 

We're having technical difficulties uploading photos onto this blog. We hope to have things figured out in the near future. In the meantime, we hope our words are painting the appropriate pictures in your mind.