Loving Alaska, Even in the Winter!

Alaska is truly a beautiful place. I know I say that a lot but I am so often awed at its beauty that even the same landscapes, mountains, and piles of snow I see each day make me feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful state. 

There’s an unfortunate assumption that Alaska’s allure and beauty fades during winter; that the harsh climate and lack of sunlight halt all reason to visit. Not only is this attitude about Alaska wrong, but you miss out on a lot of activities and unique, spectacular things by not visiting in the winter time. 

My parents, however, did not miss out on gorgeous wintery Alaska. They were here for about a week,  from California. Andy and I took them around Fairbanks to experience all the winter-esque Alaska activities. Neither of them had seen snow in a long time and were impressed by the wide expanses of rolling white hills and perfect snowflakes that sat delicately on the ends of all the green trees. The first day they were here we took them on drive up to Ester Dome, an elevation of 2,634 feet, used during winter for skiing, snowshoeing, and snow machining.

About this time of year, the sun rises around 10:48 am and sets about 2:41 pm. We drove up to Ester Dome around 10:30 and watched the sunrise. It was breathtaking.

The snow up here is very pretty. It’s perfectly soft, just like sand, with expertly and divinely made snowflakes. It’s my favorite part of Alaska. 

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My Dad surprised me. He told me before their visit that he was going to do a lot of hiking. I doubted his ability to do this as the temperatures are usually very cold and I wasn’t sure he really realized how cold it could get. Fortunately, my Dad’s veracious love for hiking and the uncommonly warm temperatures this winter allowed him to prove me wrong. He and Andy and my Mom went out for a few hikes during the time he was here. He mastered the art of what he called “robing” and “dis-robing” his winter gear.

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One of our favorite activities to do in Fairbanks, particularly in the winter, is Karaoke at the Pump House every Wednesday night at 8:30 pm. I knew my parents would enjoy watching people sing. A lot of people show up to participate in Karaoke. Everyone takes their singing at different levels of seriousness. Our friend, Joe, is a phenomenal singer (his specialties are Jon Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses). Andy has a wonderful voice too and always belts out Alabama’s Dixieland Delight and some Tom Petty. There was one man there this particular evening who had a gorgeous and deep country-style voice. He sang a few country songs which got my parents up and dancing! They’re both great dancers, and it was fun to watch them. 

I never sing at karaoke; it’s more fun to watch and support Andy when he sings. This time though, I sang. I do a strangely phenomenal “chipmunk voice,” which Caroline finds hysterical and insists I imitate at random times. When I was a kid my parents also found this rather amusing, particularly when I would sing the Chipmunk Song to them. In tribute to their visit, I got up there and sang the song….in chipmunk voice. It was pretty great. 

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Andy’s birthday is coming up, so while my parents were here we did a little birthday dinner for him with a gift exchange. We are planning a trip to Death Valley in February (stay tuned for the blog post and Don’s adventures in the desert!), so one of Andy’s gifts was a new desert hat (we each got one). It was an awesome hat and looked so great on him. It had a wide brim and vents which are important for desert hiking. Both our hats came with Death Valley Hikers Association patches sewn on. 

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My employers generously allowed me to take Friday off from work so I could spend more time with my parents. My Mom wanted to see the Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska.

Before heading out to North Pole, Mom and I enjoyed some famous North Pole Roast Coffee in the lobby of Pike’s Lodge in Fairbanks. They had a gorgeous tree in the middle of their lobby area.

North Pole is indeed an actual town of its own, about 15 minutes from Fairbanks. It’s a cute little town with a healthy Christmas attitude, boasting what I like to call the real Santa. 

Mom and I got there about 11:00 am that morning. Outside the house is Santa’s sleigh and a VERY LARGE towering Santa that can be seen from the freeway (it’s the World’s largest Santa, standing about 50 feet tall). I made Mom get in the sleigh for a photo. 

The Santa Claus House is so much fun. It’s a huge store essentially, with thousands of different themed Christmas items, ornaments, decorations, and collectables. It’s fun to look at even if you don’t buy anything. Here were some of the themes:

What is also really awesome about the Santa Claus house is Santa is there YEAR ROUND! Which makes sense considering the Santa Claus House claims to be the one place where it is “Christmas Every Day!” Santa’s hours are more limited in the off-season, of course, but if you check out the hours ahead of time you can catch him at most times. 

Since we went on December 12th, of course Santa was there, with a line of kids waiting to sit on his lap. And who insisted on standing in that line? That’s right, Don. 

My favorite part of the Santa Claus House are the letters from children that blanket the walls. My understanding is if a child sends a letter to Santa, it comes here. There are letters from children all over the world. They are so much fun to read. 

Outside the Santa Claus House are Santa’s reindeer! You can visit them and take pictures with them. They were not out when Mom and I went, but I had seen them previously during a visit in the summer of 2011. I loved them!

Experiencing Alaska is great. Especially when you figure out people up here don’t mess around. My Dad couldn’t stop laughing at this sign.