Swimsuit Insanity

Yesterday was a holiday, so Ava and my dad had the day off.  When waking up and it's -35, you don't particularly feel like getting out of bed, let alone doing anything outside.  So, what did my family do?  We headed up to Chena Hot Springs Resort to put on our bathing suits and go swimming outside!  Seriously.  We did that.  It looked kinda like this, except when it's -35 there is a ridiculous amount of fog over the water and you can't see anything!

From chenahotsprings.com

It was so foggy, there was no way to get any kind of pictures.  But let me see if I can paint you a picture with words.  Basically, you remove your 10 layers of normal Alaskan outerwear in the locker rooms.  Blinded by your own paleness, you proceed to don your swimsuit that hasn't been out of your closet since July.  Entering the indoor swimming pool area, you quickly head into a warm pool, embarassingly trying to cover your "winter warmth" layer of flubb that you've been able to hide so stealthily for the past 4 months since it first snowed.  After that warm water starts to feel chilly (after all, it's indoors, but still not hot by any means) then you go to hot tubs nearby.  These are hotter still, making you get goosebumps while your body adjusts to the temperature.

It is at this time you sit for a good 5 minutes, raising your body temperature, as well as your courage.  You see...it is at this point that you realize what the ultimate goal of this journey was...driving 1 1/2 hours outside of Fairbanks...in the middle of nowhere, quite literally where the road ends.  And the ultimate experience is to do the most stupid thing you can do in an Alaskan winter: walk outside in your  wet swimsuit in -35 degrees.  But I did it.  All for the sake of enjoying the therapeutic waters of the Chena Hot Spring...an area that has been hot since it was first discovered in 1905 by some Swedish brothers who obviously were lost in the wilderness and stumbled upon the best thing they could find...a hot bath!

So, before I passed out from the super hot tub inside, I worked up my nerves and told myself "You can do this...it can't be too bad...people do this all the time...and it'll all be over soon...and you probably won't lose an ear or anything!"  My dad gave me the "you ready for this???" look and I knew it was time.  I waved goodbye to Ava who was happily swimming in the pool, bidding farewell to my sweet girl, hoping I'd see her again soon with all my skin still attached to my body.  We opened the door to go outside and I was smacked by a wave of needles.  Then we walked quickly through fog, down a ramp, barefeet on the ice, getting poked by the hard salt they laid down so we wouldn't fall.  Ouch!  I could hardly see my dad leading the way because of the steam, but all I heard his saying was "Almost there!  Almost there! Almost there!"  And finally I heard him sloshing into the warm water ahead of me.  I would have gladly laid down in 2 inches of that warm water if that's all I had..but thankfully it lowered into a nice 4 feet of hot water.

It was such a surreal experience.  Snow covered the rocks on the perimeter, fog and steam inhibited viewing anything more than 2 feet away, it was quiet and relaxing.  Informed not to get my head wet or else my hair would freeze and break off, I kept my head up above the mineral water.  Soon icicles were on my eyelashes, and my dark hair frosted into white, snowy cobwebs.  But it felt lovely.  We waded around the pool in quiet relaxation, happy to have made the journey.  As I walked around, I'd feel random pockets of scalding water, almost hot enough to feel like my skin was burning.  Besides coming upon various "amorous" couples enjoying the water, I could have probably stayed in the water all day. 

Thankfully I didn't bump into this guy!

For a while I considered the possibility of just permanently staying in the hot spring...besides prune fingers, would it really be so bad to try and construct an abode in these waters?  That way I wouldn't have to feel that cold air all over my body again.  Adjusting to the reality that I would eventually have to see Ava again and not shirk the responsibilities of motherhood, I started working up my nerve to exit the pool.  It honestly wasn't as bad walking back up out of the water, because I was more prepared for the extreme pain and knew what to expect...kinda like getting your second tattoo..it's not as scary as the first time!  In the end, I'm happy I experienced such a unique kind of swimsuit insanity.  I can say I've been there, done that, and don't intend on doing it again.  Here's to living life and having the courage to freeze your booty in an Alaskan winter!