12/27 ＊ Chena Hot Springs ～アラスカ・オーロラの旅 Day２-１～

It was the second day of my traveling to Alaska. We went to the Chena Hot Springs Resort during the daytime. It is famous for their hot springs the healing water flowing directly from underground, and because of this fact, it is a unique place in North America.

アラスカ・オーロラの旅、２日目。
今日は北米ではめずらしい源泉かけ流しの露天風呂がある
チナ温泉リゾートへ出かけてきました～。

　
Today’s breakfast; freshly made blueberry muffins and Spanish omelets.
朝ごはんは焼き立てのブルーベリーマフィンとスパニッシュオムレツ

I also ate yogurt with Mrs. Pat’s handmade berry jam.
パットさん手作りのベリージャム。ヨーグルトに加えて美味しくいただきました◎

After finishing the breakfast, we left home at 10 AM.
朝食を済ませ、10時にキャビンを出発。

Before sunrise. 　日の出前～

We got to the Chena Hot Springs Resort after an hour driving. Before taking the hot springs, we visit an “Aurora Ice Museum”.

約１時間でチナ温泉に到着し、
温泉に入る前にまずは「オーロラアイスミュージアム」へ。

It is the largest year-round ice environmental in the world. As you step inside the museum, you might notice almost all the interior is created from ice; I discovered ice chandeliers, an ice bar counter, ice chairs, and so on. Moreover, you can drink their special beverage, Appletini, in an ice carved martini glass by using the ice bar counter and the chairs! You also see amazing ice sculptures.

ここは世界で最も大きいと言われる通年オープンの氷の博物館。
さまざまな氷の彫刻が展示されているほか、
シャンデリア、バーカウンター、イスなど
内装および装飾品のほぼすべてが氷で造られており、
ひとつひとつ手作りのマティーニグラスでサーブされる
特別カクテル・アップルティーニだって飲めちゃうのです。

Welcome～😊

This is Appletini. It was so cold and delicious!
こちらがアップルティーニ。よく冷えて美味しかった！

The glass was made in the museum one by one.
グラスはひとつひとつ館内で作られていました。

It was craftsmanship!　まさに職人技！

　

　

Even though the available observing time was limited for an hour, we enjoyed enough the beautiful and unusual ice world.

After having lunch, we were off to the hot springs. We had to put on swim suits before taking the hot springs; It is a little strange for me because we Japanese usually take all clothes off when we take a hot spring, and hot tubs for women are separated from the ones for men, generally.

約１時間と見学時間に制約はあったけれど、
美しく不思議な氷の世界を十分満喫♪

お昼ごはんをはさみ、お次は温泉！水着に着替えて入ります～

It was quite a longer distance than I expected between indoor pool and outdoor natural hot springs so I felt really cold from the center of my body. However, I walked patiently and reached the edge of the hot springs. Even though it was shallow at the beginning, getting deeper by walking to the center. Finally, I could soak in the healing water up to my neck just by standing straight; I couldn’t sit anymore around the center. It also seemed to be wide. According to their website, the width was forty-three meters! I couldn’t be sure how wide it was by my eyes because of the heavy steam; the extreme coldness in Alaska might cause it. I just felt the width by walking and swimming around.

内風呂からお目当ての露天風呂まで
思っていたより距離があり、この間、激寒！！
なんとか辿りついた露天風呂は入浴口から徐々に深くなり、
座ることなんてもってのほか、普通に立って、首まであったか。
公式HPによると幅も広いようで、その値なんと43m！
ただ、極寒の地ゆえに一寸先は湯気モクモク。。
目で実感することはできなかったけれど、
泳いだり、歩きまわったりして広さを体感したのでした。

Such thick steam! I couldn’t see how inside was;
I took a photo before taking the hot springs.

温泉に入る前、余りにすごい湯気に思わずパシャリ
まったく中が見えません・笑

We also looked around a souvenir shop a few minutes, and then, we were going back home with pleasure at 3 PM. Mrs. Pat and Mr. Ed told us we might find moose on the way to the resort or home, but we didn’t run into them on either way, unfortunately.

お土産屋さんものぞき、いっぱい楽しんで３時ごろ帰路へ。
行き帰りの道中、運が良ければ道中でムースを見られるよ、と
パットさん＆エドさんが言っていたのだけれど、
この日は運悪く、いずれもムースに遭遇することはなく。

After arriving home, we started to play Jenga; We asked Mrs. Pat and Mr. Ed to join us, but they preferred to just watch our play. Also, we fed the dogs at the same time as the day before, and then, our dinner time!

帰宅後、あつしさんも含めて３人でジェンガで遊び、
パットさん＆エドさんも誘ってみたけど見てるだけでよいと…悲
昨日と同じくワンコにエサをあげて、いよいよ私たち人間のゴハン！
 

It was a turkey tonight! I love it!!　ターキーー！私の大好物!!

Cut, cut, cut…　切って切って…

　
The meat and stuffing♡　お肉とスタッフィング♡

To make stuffing, or Mrs. Pat said dressing in another word, I thought people usually cook rice. However, the one which Mrs. Pat prepared was different. It was made from a kind of baguettes, and even I was touched because the taste was so delicious! Also, the gravy and the baked sweet potatoes were so tasty that we were full again, like last night.

スタッフィング（別名ドレッシング）といえば米！
と思っていたのだけれど、
パットさんが焼いてくれたターキーに入っていたのは
パンを使ったスタッフィング。
これがとっても美味しくて、感動もの！
グレービーソースも美味しかったし、
サイドディッシュのベークドスイートポテトも美味しくて
またしてもお腹パンパン。。

　
Mrs. Pat likes to eat beets as a salad.　ビーツをサラダで食べるのがパットさんのお気に入り

This is my plate. In addition to this amount, I ate more turkey because it was delicious.
最初にこれだけ取ったけど、ターキーは特に美味しすぎて何度もおかわり！

I wondered if I could prepare such a turkey Mrs. Pat cooked, so asked Mrs. Pat how to cook the bread stuffing. However, she said it was difficult to explain because she cook it in her own style, and sometimes arrange the style because of the taste. Actually, there is no exact recipe… She told me her favorite and useful recipe book for her apology. Besides about turkey, we had fun dinner time by talking about cooking, which included my tiny happening about beets which were juicy.

いつかこんなターキーを焼いてみたい！と
作り方を尋ねてみたけれど、
自己流になっていて説明するのが難しいとパットさん。。
代わりに愛用している料理本を教えてくれました^^
ほかにもビーツ調理時の流血事件など
料理の話で盛り上がり、楽しい夕食の時間。

We took Mrs. Pat’s homemade desserts, raspberry pound cakes, to our cabin, and stood by to see auroras!

この日も食後のデザートに
パットさん手作りスイーツをキャビンへ持ち帰り、
この日はラズベリーのパウンドケーキ
さぁ、今晩もオーロラ待機です！

For your information, Cinnamon on that day.
ちなみに、この日のシナモン