Made arrangements to meet a tour bus at the Convention Center, and, after picking up an interesting couple at a local hotel, we headed out to Chena Hot Springs, a resort, campground, bio-energy plant with an ice-house and a full selection of pools and spas, indoor and out. We had a pleasant conversation with the couple, who were South African but had been living in Perth, Australia, him as a mining engineer and her as a teacher. We all took the ice house tour, which is really a gallery of exquisite ice carvings done by two resident (married) artists, including a couple of ice bedrooms for those adventurous enough to stay overnight on a caribou quilt. We also took the bio-energy plant tour and learned how the facility is trying to become geo-thermally independent, helping to design a prototype that may one day be a viable option for energy. After that, we headed to the locker rooms, and spent an enjoyable 90 + minutes in the outdoor spa, where the geothermal water (at 165 degrees) is mixed with creek water to a temperate 105-110 degrees. It was wonderful! We enjoyed the water, and the company, and the conversation, until I'm sure our driver was afraid we'd never leave! We finally headed out, keeping our eyes peeled for moose, which our driver said they saw on nearly EVERY trip, but, alas, this was one where we never did see one. Darn it, still haven't seen a moose yet! We were dropped off back at the Convention Center, and headed down to Pioneer Park, where we enjoyed a crepe (not your usual crepe, these were more like calzone with a lighter crust) before heading down to the Palace Theatre (what else?) They put on a very funny show that had us laughing out loud many times, making it better than average tourist fare. Cute stories told by a cast of five (two guys, two girls and a male pianist) who seemed to be having as much fun as the audience. Broad and melodramatic, of course, but fun nevertheless. The show ran a bit more than an hour, and we were so relaxed from the day, we had no trouble sleeping well, despite it being in the parking lot. In hindsight, we would have driven out to Chena ourselves, as the day pass is only about $15, so the $165 each we paid was mostly inflated transportation costs. Another valuable lesson learned!
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