Today I went back to the park near the local Visitors Centre to get photographs of the river and the environment. It was a very cold experience. But I did get some very nice photographs. I was surprised to see the ducks on the last bit of the Chena River that was not frozen.

The “Alaska Siberia WWII” memorial is a bronze statue of a USA and a Soviet pilot wearing cold weather gear. The monument commemorates the flights of American planes from the continental USA via Alaska to Siberia. These pilots flew around 8,000 warplanes to protect the war effort between 1942 and 1945. Alaska was the exchange location (USA pilots from the continental USA to Alaska, and handing them over to USSR pilots for the flights over Western Alaska to Siberia.

After an hour, my head had gotten pretty cold and my toes too, so I needed to warm up. So I had to pop into the Visitors Centre to warm up, before heading back out to take some more photos. One thing that I have realised is to not pay attention to the instructions for Toe Warmers. They are little pads around 3cm x 4cm that have a sticky side which you are meant to stick to the top of your toes (above socks, not directly against your skin) before you put your shoes on. So you walk around and they are meant to keep your toes warm. But the ice and snow is below your shoes, not on top of them. So the top of your toes stay a little warm whilst the bottom of your feet and toes freeze. So I started to put them under my toes and they worked a lot better after that. Anyway, here are a couple more photos.

It was a fantastic place to spend time in quiet contemplation. Just a spectacular place.

Then I popped back to the hotel and watched some One America Network News (more right wing than Fox News) – the biggest issues were Fidel Castro’s death and Trump’s team trying to paint him into a corner on his picks for leadership.

I went to Red Lantern restaurant and had an entrée of potato twists with mayo and other sauces; with a main meal of steak, mashed potato and vegetables (carrot, sweet potatoes, pumpkin) with a glass of Cranberry Juice. The meal was delicious. I was nearly falling asleep during the meal (not sure why!) so went off to bed.