DAY FIFTY NINE

This is cropped image of one of my favorite ice sculptures from the World Ice Art Championship. It was sculpted by Steve and Heather Brice. Steve and Heather are responsible for the sculpting of the Aurora Ice Hotel I visited yesterday.

DAY FIFTY EIGHT

Tonight, I witnessed a spectacular display in the skies of Alaska. The Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights were well worth the wait and cold it took to get this shot. This photo was taken when it was -27 degrees outside!!! -27!!! It was so cold that anything wet and exposed to the air instantly froze. I'm warm now but I'll be back out there tomorrow braving this cold weather for more Alaskan shots!

Here's the wiki for more info on Auroras

I saw the Northern Lights featured on the Travel Channel or Discovery Channel years ago and when I arrived in Alaska, I didn't think I was in the right area to see them until all of the locals said, "Fairbanks is one of the best places to see the lights!" I was so thrilled that I was actually in the right place at the right time and I didn't even plan it. I had not done any research on the lights before coming up here.

Another treasure I saw on either Travel or Discovery Channel was the Aurora Ice Hotel and guess what, I got to see that too! I didn't realize that was in Alaska either! I went on a tour of the hotel and museum and then we all were allowed to roam freely through it. It was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed an Apple Martini at the ice bar in an ice glass. So cool! I'll upload more pictures from my trip later but it's late and I really need to get some rest.

P.S. Sorry that the photo has some noise but like I said, it was -27 degrees! lol

DAY FIFTY SEVEN

Today was a better day than yesterday. From what I understand, yesterday's weather was a complete anomaly. Many people have told me that they've lived here for years and they had never seen yesterday's weather at most 20 years.

This picture was taken while it was -2 degrees outside! I had to take off one of my gloves to set the controls on the camera and my hand was freezing! This air sucks all of the moisture out of my hands so I'm going to have to wear two sets of gloves...one pair I'll keep on while I'm shooting. Hope you all are warm wherever you are. :)