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12/25 * Off to Alaska on Xmas night. ~Xmasの夜、アラスカへ~

The departure time to Fairbanks in Alaska was 23:20.
It was Xmas night and we had enough time to eat dinner at home, so I prepared a special dinner for Xmas! We ate the dinner, and then left our apartment for the airport.

予約したアラスカ・フェアバンクス行きのフライト時刻は23:20。
この日はクリスマスの夜でゆっくり夕食を食べる時間もあったので、
おうちでクリスマスといえば!な特別ごはんを食べて、空港へ向かいました。

 

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Our Xmas dinner. There are Santas!
いただいたのがこちら。サンタさんも健在・笑

The main dish was roast turkey drumsticks which were soaked in homemade sauce. I usually choose chicken legs for Xmas, but I couldn’t find them in any supermarkets so I decided to buy turkey which is similar to chicken.


メインはわがやではお馴染みの漬けダレに漬け込んで焼き上げた
チキンレッグならぬターキーのドラムスティック!
スーパーでチキンを見つけられず、似た雰囲気のターキーを購入

 

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Such thick meat!
ターキーだけあって、厚みがすごい~


Although the turkeys should be soaked at least one night, they were soaked only half day because I bought them on Xmas morning. Fortunately, it tasted good.
I had to roast them more longer, though.


本当は一晩は漬け込むのがベストなところを
半日しか漬け込めなかったけれど、味はしっかりついていたし、
肉そのものにチキンでは感じない独特のクセがほんのりあって、
ちょっと焼きは足りなかったけれど・泣
なかなか美味しかった~◎

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The Santas and the seasonal beers both made us excited!

サンタさん+こんなビールで気分を盛り上げつつ、


We appreciated the Xmas dinner, which was a little different from our own style.

いつもとはちょっと違うクリスマスディナーを堪能♪

 

 


After the dinner, we were off to the airport.
By the way, I had packed my luggage in a good mood during the daytime. In my case, it seemed night departures are better than morning departures in terms of packing luggage.

 

そして準備万端の荷物を携え、空港へ。
ちなみに日中、わくわくしながらゆるゆると荷造り
朝出発する旅の時より落ち着いて楽しくできた気が


We rode on the plane of Alaska Airlines, and after about a four-hour flight,

アラスカ航空の飛行機に乗って約4時間後、、、

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we arrived at Fairbanks Airport at 2 AM local time without any trouble!

現地時刻のAM2時頃、無事フェアバンクス空港に到着!


We had reserved a hotel which has a complimentary shuttle. When we got out of the airport to look for the shuttle stop, it was biting cold!
We couldn’t find the stop, and the hotel we had reserved was a ten-minute walk from the airport. That’s why we decided to walk to there.

 

今晩は、空港近くのホテルに宿泊予定。
送迎バスのあるホテルを予約していたので
どこから乗れるかな~と空港を出てみたところ、
外は見事に肌を刺すような寒さ!
結局のりばは見つけられず、運よく空港から徒歩10分のホテルだったので
ここは歩いていくことに。


It was a night of snowscape, and far from the town. Moreover, there were almost no streetlights or cars on the road. However, it was bright because the moon was shining so much.
According to the news, it’s been thirty-eight years since the last full moon at Xmas. It seemed brighter than ordinary, and we even saw a white ring around the full moon!

 

雪景色の夜、街から離れた場所で、
街灯はほとんどなく、クルマもほとんど通らない道。
それなのにわりと辺りは明るく、ふと空を見上げてみると、
そこには光り輝くお月さまが。
今年は38年ぶりの満月のクリスマスとのことでいっそう明るく、
しかも、そのまわりには白い輪っかも!

 

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It's difficult to see in a photo, though.
写真では見づらいけれど…


I said, “We can see the ring because we are in Alaska!”
My husband said, “Maybe that’s aurora! We have already seen it.”
We were excited.

私「アラスカだから見えるのかな~(ワクワク)」
旦「あれオーロラじゃない?もう見れちゃったね~・笑」
なんてお互い浮き足立ちながらも、
たった10分、されど10分。。。


I was dressed in layers on my top, but wearing only jeans on my bottom. Because of that, it was no longer cold under my thigh. I felt pain! I was likely to hurt so a little screaming like “I’m getting frostbite!”
Beside me, my husband enjoyed skating on the frozen roads... I told him that he would slip and fall if he kept doing that, and looked at him. I found his beard was frozen, and my husband said my hair was frozen, too!

 

上は着込んではきたものの、下はジーパン1枚だった私。
次第に太ももから下が、寒いを通り越して次第に“痛い”に!
私が凍傷になる~~なんて悲鳴をあげているそばで
旦那ちゃん、凍った路面に味をしめ、スケートの真似ごとをしてノリノリ。
そんなことしてると転ぶよ~と呆れつつ旦那ちゃんに近付くと、
旦那ちゃんのヒゲ、凍ってる!
聞けば私の髪の毛も、ちょっと凍っているとな!!ひょえ~

We really felt the coldness in Alaska.
Finally, we got to the hotel safely.
The front desk clerk said, “It’s 3℉ tonight and warmer, it was -12℉ yesterday.” We were surprised to hear that.


アラスカの寒さをこれでもか!というほど感じつつ、
なんとか無事に、目的のホテルに到着。
チェックインの時に対応してくれたお兄ちゃんによれば、
その時の気温は3℉(-16℃)
今日はまだいい方で、前日なんかは-12℉(-25℃)だったとか!ひょえひょえ~

 


Eventually, the time really has come. We arrived in Alaska!
We went to bed with wishes to see a beautiful aurora in this Alaska's sky.

何はともあれ、いよいよ辿りついたアラスカ。
オーロラへの期待を胸に、一時休息です。