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There’s a place that I’ve been wanting to go for a long time but never really thought it would ever happen until I started traveling last year. This will to see the world has been building up in me until finally, no where on the globe feels out of my reach anymore. The place that I have been itching to go more than ever lately would be somewhere I could see the Northern Lights.
I’m not sure why I have it stuck in my head, but I always thought that this is something I would do specifically in Alaska. There are so many other awesome places to see it but my heart is set on Alaska. Maybe it’s all the research about how awesome Fairbanks is to see them, or maybe it’s that I’m working towards my goal of seeing all 50 states (so far I’m at 38!! Woohoo!). Either way, I’ve had this strong desire to bask in the gorgeous, colorful lights in Alaska with my boyfriend by my side (or lagging behind with my camera to get tons of pictures of me).
I’m not much for cold weather, but I’ve lived in Pennsylvania most of my life and recently I moved out to Colorado. Both of these places have their cold spells so I’m definitely used to the cold but I can only imagine how cold Alaska would be in the winter months! Despite not liking cold weather much, you can bet I would be the first one to jump at the chance to get out into the wilderness to see those lights. I’ll bring my whole wardrobe to keep me warm if that’s what it takes! I’m seeing those lights.
My dream day in Alaska would start out by waking up in one of those awesome domes that have glass covering the roof so you can lay in bed and stare at the sky. I have always been one of those people who has been absolutely in love with stars, clouds, sunsets, etc. Basically anything that has to do with the sky I’m in love with, so it would be so cool to see the gorgeous sky as soon as I opened my eyes. I would wake my honey and start getting ready for a fun filled day.
We would get all bundled up and set out for our first adventure: a ride on one of those dog sleds. How cool would it be to explore Alaska’s wilderness pulled by a team of dogs? Maybe I’ve watched too many movies, but I really don’t think there’s a better way to explore in the snow. Hopefully we would get to see some awesome wildlife. I’ve seen a moose and elk at the Rocky Mountain National Park and my fair share of bears but it would be absolutely AWESOME to see a Polar Bear!! Probably also very dangerous, but hey I guess that comes with the territory (literally). Then I would want to play with the dogs that pulled us around and try to convince my boyfriend to let me bring home a puppy (probably to no avail) before we headed off to our next adventure.
Next on the agenda would be a ride to Chena Hot Springs, a place everyone raves about, which is around an hour to an hour and a half outside of Fairbanks. So, Chena Hot Springs has this ten hour tour that includes picking up at your hotel and dropping off at the Chena Hot Springs (and then your return trip to your hotel is included too). They then take you on an ice museum tour. Yes! I said an ice museum. Probably another case of me watching too many movies but how cool are ice statues? I’ve never seen one in person so obviously we would have to go check them out. The best part about this museum is that it’s open year round! They keep it at 25 degrees Fahrenheit no matter what temperature it is outside. How cool (pun intended)!
Then you get a dinner at the resort and get ready to go soak in some awesome natural hot springs for a few hours. It would be so nice, and so awesome being able to swim around in a natural hot spring while there is snow on the ground. My boyfriend loves anything to do with natural resources that come out of the Earth. I love all of the processes that make it possible so I guess you could say that I nerd out about it too.
After that everyone goes to dry off and warm up before my favorite part of the whole day arrives!!! Finally, the Northern Lights make their appearance! Most people would probably wait in the warm watching center to see them, but I can almost bet that I would be the first to go running outside to lay on the ground and take them all in. Oh yeah, and probably take a million and one pictures because I won’t be able to take all of their amazing beauty!
I keep seeing all of these amazing pictures of couples getting these pictures of their silhouettes against the beautiful Northern Lights. That would be an absolute dream come true and would go in a huge frame on the wall as soon as we got home. Honestly, this whole day would be out of a dream and I would dread for the time to come to take us back to our hotel (around 2 am) because that would mean it’s almost over. Hopefully we are lucky enough to still be able to see the beautiful lights in the sky as we fall asleep in our our dome hotel room.
I’ve been dreaming about this “perfect day” (literally having dreams about it every night for the past week now) with the Northern Lights as a backdrop. I can’t think of a better way to tick off Alaska on my quest to see all 50 states. It would be a whirlwind of a day with my amazing boyfriend by my side, but I wouldn’t want anyone else with me to capture the priceless moments as I live out one of my traveling dreams.
This one goes out to all of my readers who are now going to be stalking Groupon for a deal to Alaska to see the Northern Lights. Don’t forget to send me pictures so I can live vicariously through you until I get there!