Well, no wonder we didn’t see the Aurora last night! We woke to a world blanketed with snow. I’d guess 4-6 inches had dropped and it was still snowing. Big, beautiful, fat snowflakes that gave this place a whole, brand new look. Candidly my happy/peaceful place looks like what Fairbanks looked like this morning. Still and quiet and peaceful and so darned white. It does make up for the lack of Aurora and I was so grateful for the fresh snow.

Today was another day to explore in and around Fairbanks. John really wanted to see reindeer so we booked a private reindeer walk with Chena Outdoor Collective. Although it was a bit of a treacherous drive, we arrived safely and even more surrounded by fresh powder.

We met Kayln, their partner and their two dogs Boon and Cartel (yes like the drug cartel). We were shown the back of their adorable yurt where Kayln told us so much about reindeer and caribou. They are the same species but reindeer have been domesticated and caribou have not. We learned how both caribou and reindeer ended up in North American – from Russia along the Bering Land Bridge when Russia and North America were connected.

We learned that reindeer also shed their antlers – just like moose – and that their antlers are something like their “footprint”. Kayln showed us a few of their reindeer’s antlers as they age. Pretty cool as their “fingerprint” was the same; they just got larger with age.

We also learned that both male and female reindeer have antlers and that these antlers are made of bone and have blood vessels running through them. You can actually see the grooves of those blood vessels on the antler’s that have been shed. For part of the year they are covered with “velvet” which is a thin, soft layer of skin and blood vessels that get scraped off the antler over time. The process of removing the velvet gives the antlers a bloody appearance because of the blood vessels within. Check out this creepy cool video to see how this happens and what it looks like.

Once we got the lowdown from Kayln and tossed a few Santa and Rudolph jokes in, we were off for our walk. We walked with Sailor and Jonesy. Jonesy is a 1-year-old reindeer so Sailor is the big brother. Apparently this is the first day of the season that Kayln didn’t bring any of the females out to the pen as they are pregnant. Because of this, per Kayln, the boys were being boys – swatting at each other and running from them as they tried to put a leash on them. They are adorable! Their antlers are currently gone but they have soft little black nubs above their sweet eyes.

We fed them a little lichen – this is what they eat in the winter – tied them up and went out on the trail for our walk. God it was gorgeous back there! Again, big, fat, beautiful snowflakes making everything look new again. And a trail through the pine trees where the only footprints ahead of us was that of Cartel the dog.

The walk was amazing in every single way – it was just too short! Both John and I could have spent another hour traipsing along that winter trail and learning about the reindeer and Kayln. We really, really enjoyed this adventure!

Second stop – the Santa Claus House in North Pole Alaska. This is something that John was really looking forward to. We’d waited to stop until Santa was going to be there – only on weekends during the off season. I was on the fence on this place. It looked cheesy and unimpressive. But when in North Pole right?

Well, color me wrong! The outside is, in fact, cheesy but you walk into this huge area just inundated with all things Christmas. Christmas lights, Christmas music, Christmas trees, Christmas decor and so many, many Christmas gifts. Most had an Alaska theme – like the Eskimo Christmas ornament and the decorative angel made locally in Alaska. They also have personalized letters from Santa. Funny! You can choose one for a not-so-good adult or child, a dog, or even a non-believer. All are signed by Mr. Claus and post marked from the North Pole.

Santa’s workshop was also on display behind glass. His tools and a map of the world and of course his nice and naughty list. And then the big guy himself! Sitting up on a platform surrounded by a Christmas tree and fireplace and stuffed reindeer. Admittedly, he was on his phone (I’m sure doing research on nice kids!) but he was a great Santa! He had the hair and the beard and the jolly smile. We had a nice chat with him about what got him to Alaska and how it was working in the Santa Claus House and of course how Mrs. Claus was doing.

Super, super place to go to just have a good time and get some Christmasy, North Pole AK-themed gifts.

We then went for a Chinese lunch at a place that had been recommended to us by literally every single person we’d asked this week! Again, so much ethnic food but I’m here for it. Called the Pagoda, it is another of Guy Fieri’s stops when he was in Fairbanks. And again the food was delicious! We have eaten very, very well here in Alaska 🙂

So that I could write this lovely blog for all of you (11?) readers, we went to the Alaska Coffee Roasting Co for a coffee, some sweets and to just hang. The cookies were sub-par, I’ve got to say. But the chocolate, coconut, pie-crust bar thingy was sublime!

We decided to have a cocktail at the restaurant right next door to the hotel – Pike’s Landing. It was just ok. They did have a nice Chardonnay and we had some good conversation but weren’t up for the fried (very expensive!) bar food they were offering. Instead we took advantage of the boatload of leftovers in our fridge from our past meals – Thai, Chinese, Greek, pizza and had a little picnic in our hotel room while laughing like children to Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father. Check that out – it’s hysterical!

All right, I’m saving the best for last! If you’re still reading I adore you 🙂 Tonight was the best chance to see the Aurora according to the many, many articles and apps we were using. So this time we decided to get a couple of hours rest and then set out. The alarm went off at 12:20. Although John was a bit crabby we gathered our gear and set off for an area slightly northeast of Fairbanks that we’d heard had limited light pollution and would be a good place to try to see the lights.

On the way I was looking around and finally saw a bit of wispiness in the sky. It was the Northern Lights! “John, look!” I could NOT believe we were finally seeing them! The light pollution was pretty bad while driving so I settled my heart rate and we went the rest of the way to the pullout on Old Steese Road.

We were definitely not alone in choosing this place. A half dozen or so other cars had the same idea. And as we drove in and cut the lights we got the gorgeous display of lights you see in these images below. ABSOLUTELY, AMAZINGLY STUNNING! I’m so darned grateful that I finally got to see them! We jumped in an out of the car taking photos (it was damn cold!) and basking in the awe and beauty.

Now that John had seen the lights he wanted more. We decided to stop at Creamer’s Field – where we’d been last night – to see if we could glimpse the lights from there. Again, YES! And they seemed to be doing a different dance in that location. So unique and fascinating and incredible! And – I was able to let John get back to bed by 2:15. Another long, long, long term bucket list item CHECKED!

Best. Day. Ever!