After our night at Byers Lake Campground, we continued north toward Fairbanks. Denali was showing off, displaying bright, rugged peaks that stood in contrast to the green swamp spruce and smaller mountains all around it.

We needed a bathroom break and pulled off at a sign that said Denali Park Village. Going down the driveway gave us a view of a large resort decked out in Alaskan finery (aka log buildings and rustic signs). After parking, we strolled into "Miners Plaza," which had an abundance of little shops and Alaskan activities surrounding a pretty courtyard, but everything seemed to be closed until later in the afternoon. We walked the other way to find a bathroom in the main building. The lodge's decor was woodsy and historic-themed, and it looked like the typical expensive place to stay in Alaska during the summer (budget accommodations are practically nonexistent here in summertime, unless you have a tent and sleeping bags). You couldn't see Denali from there, but the resort was situated on the Nenana River, where we saw a rafting group put in with a guide.

A little farther down the road were a few more lodges and a lot of shops and restaurants, right within the entrance of Denali National Park (not to be confused with the small bit added later as a state park, which is where we camped the night before). We didn't take the road into the national park this time, but it's on our to-do list!

Once we arrived in Fairbanks, we had a great time visiting with some of my relatives. My cousin took us on a bike ride to nearby Pioneer Park, which I wanted to show my husband, since he'd never been there. It's a theme park, but not in the Disneyland sense. They have historic buildings and boats/trains, shops, museums, food, and a lot of open grassy areas for picnics and games. A bunch of people were enjoying live music on the lawn when we came through. The best part is that getting into the park doesn't cost anything. You only have to pay admission for certain museums and, of course, food.

Our time in Fairbanks was short, and we finished our evening with a ninety-minute drive to Chena Hot Springs Resort. The road ran alongside a river and was sandwiched in by hills and mountains. Most of it was state land used for recreational purposes. Chena Hot Springs is at the end of that road, and it's pretty neat to see the ways the resort has become self-sufficient, from running a power plant to growing their own food.

I'll get the bad out of the way first. Our little room (in one of the buildings pictured below) was way less than satisfactory! Without going into detail, I'm not even sure they went through half the normal cleaning routine for a hotel room.

But now on to the good! The grounds are lovely, and this place is nestled in the mountains far from anything else. We were given a map showing the many hiking trails and ponds and things to see. The grounds have some unique art, like the metal dragon below, and so many gorgeous flowers they grew right there in greenhouses!

If you don't want to know where the dinner comes from at the restaurant, don't wander over to the animal pens! Several reindeer were grazing, oblivious to the concept of reindeer sausage. The chickens were chasing each other and had an obvious pecking order. The goats, in the same enclosure as the chickens, were watching indifferently.

The original hot springs pond is, I think, 156 degrees Fahrenheit and is enclosed by a fence so no curious creatures (humans or animals) wander in and get a good scalding. Pictured below is one of the cooling ponds that receives water from the springs. The algae looks appealing, doesn't it? OK, maybe not.

Below is the rock lake, into which unfiltered hot spring water is pumped. Apparently they empty it every week and then refill it, but it is still a "swim at your own risk" situation since the water is not treated. My husband enjoyed a nice, relaxing dip, but I wasn't in the mood for swimming with a sinus infection.

The grounds have a lot of old farming and homesteading implements, and I loved this old snowmachine! In the background you can see the pool building, which houses the indoor swimming pool and a couple hot tubs for those who aren't adventurous enough to try the rock lake.

The resort came into existence 110 years ago! The history of how it was found and how the water is unique can be read here, on the resort's website.

I loved wandering around and seeing the vegetable and herb gardens.

All in all, it was a fun place to visit, but next time we will camp there or just drive up for the day rather than stay the night in one of their rooms. We'd also love visit the ice museum there (which stays at 20 degrees F no matter what the season) and possibly pay for one of the outdoor activities they offer. And I'd love to see how everything looks in the winter, which is their busy season due to tourists coming to see the northern lights.

We were excited to head home and get a good sleep before Monday came around (which didn't happen at all, due to the wildfire) but wanted to stop at a few places along the way. We found the Alaska Coffee Roasting Company, which we will definitely come back to next time we're in Fairbanks! We got a delicious pizza, coffee, and a smoothie, and the many baked goods were tempting! But we had homemade cookies and cinnamon rolls in the car. :)

We drove up to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, high on a hill, and ate lunch overlooking the city. Fairbanks is so different from Anchorage. The farmland and sprawling look is of great contrast to Anchorage's bunched-in-tight cityscape, surrounded by water and mountains on all sides. We then drove to the botanical gardens just down the hill and enjoyed a quick walk before getting on the road.

Until we were delayed by the wildfire closer to home, our trip was uneventful and generally beautiful. I'll leave you with one parting shot of Denali that I took through a telescope at a rest stop. Hope you get the chance someday to take a road trip north in this beautiful state! Alaska's motto is, after all, North to the Future!

What is it about “getting out of town,” specifically on a road trip, that so many of us love? Does the long and often-unpredictable journey exhilarate us? Or does changing the everyday routine bring us that sense of adventure and excitement? I can remember many childhood road trips to the coast or to a lake to camp or north or south on I-5 to visit friends or family. I watched landmarks pass by at just about every mile, because we'd taken those trips so many times.

These days, I enjoy taking new trips as much as familiar and well-loved trips. Alaska is so big that I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface of exploring it. In fact, I can guarantee I will NEVER visit every place I want to in Alaska. Besides the places on the limited road system, Alaska has countless villages and towns that can only be reached by plane, snowmachine/4-wheeler, or boat. This state has endless amazing places to experience and explore.

My husband and I took a road trip north last weekend (we got caught behind this fire coming home), and what gorgeous weather we had! From Anchorage we drove to Byers Lake Campground in Denali State Park. Then we spent some time in Fairbanks and at Chena Hot Springs Resort (I’ll save that for my next post). But FIRST, we started the weekend with some excitement right out our kitchen window!

(My pansies are now mostly gone, thanks to either a hungry bear or moose the other night!)

Friday morning we got on the road and headed north. As my dad always used to say (and I agree), something about driving north feels right. For a family with Alaska in our blood, that is certainly true. When you're already in Alaska and you're driving north, well, you just know more adventure awaits the farther you drive.

After a beautiful drive and tolerable construction delays, we arrived at Byers Lake. Once we settled in at a campsite and took a walk around the large campground, we covered ourselves in bug spray and sunscreen and set off for a lakeside hike. We wanted to go at least 1.8 miles to the remote campground on the other side of the lake and then back, but I was hoping to keep going when we reached that and do the whole 5.3-mile loop around the lake.

Beautiful vegetation was abundant, as you can see below! Wild roses and Siberian irises were just some of the colorful flowers sprinkling the landscape. Can someone identify the green plant in the top right corner? I see it a lot but I can't remember what it is.

This suspension bridge was fun to cross, but it was in the heart of a marsh and the mosquitos were thick!

We did complete the loop around the lake, and the views were beautiful from every angle. Once we got out of the marsh, the mosquitos weren't bad, although if you stopped at all they started to swarm. First rule of hiking in Alaska: keep moving!

We did encounter a few bear signs. We saw two piles of scat and one fresh black bear paw print in the mud. I was toting a bear bell and bear spray, and my husband was packing a .44, so with all that combined we felt decently safe. Bear bells are a pretty awesome investment of a few dollars. In general, if a bear hears you coming ahead of time, it'll wander off. It's when you surprise it that it will react. If you surprise a mama with cubs, she'll likely be extremely aggressive. Or if you come upon a bear that's eating (and therefore protecting) a kill, it might be ready and willing to kill whatever is encroaching on and threatening its meal.

After a good sleep, we enjoyed the beautiful morning light over the lake and then quickly got to the most important part of camping—food! I had planned meals that wouldn't need a camp stove, so we cooked sausages over the fire and my husband discovered an effective way to warm the cinnamon rolls I'd made and brought along. Food always tastes better while camping!

We got back on the road, heading north once again. But we stopped just outside the campground at the Alaska Veterans Memorial. The view of Denali (known to many as Mt. McKinley, but Denali is the Alaska Native name and what we all call it here) was great! This is a wonderful place for a quick stop. The tributes to various Alaskan military branches are inspirational, and toilets and a small gift shop are accessible from the parking lot.

In my next post, I'll share about the rest of our weekend road trip, including a one-night stay at a geothermal hot springs in the Alaskan wilderness!