Alaska - Part 2

I was scared shitless.  We are 3,500 miles away with no way to get home and no way to do anything.  It was about 10pm in Alaska (1am in Chicago).  Damon & I regrouped at our Airbnb and with no way to do anything productive, we decided to go try to see the Northern Lights for a distraction.  If we only had one night, let’s make the best of it.  We packed the car with camera gear and layers of clothes and warming devices. In the pitch black, we were headed to a popular aurora viewing location called Murphy Dome.  The conditions were near perfect.  Before we had even gotten out of the driveway, we noticed some weird smudges in the sky and excitedly realized they were probably the lights.  Not 50’ from our house, we pulled into a random driveway and started looking at the sky.  The aurora was clear but not really the vibrant green I was expecting – it was, as I said “smudgey” looking.  I was worried that there was too much ambient light from passing cars, so we jumped in the car to get to Murphy Dome.  In the 30-minute drive, we could see the aurora forming and moving – still more whiteish than green ish, but clearly the aurora.  We were almost to the top (not knowing there was a top with a parking area) and Damon got excited and pulled to the side of the road. 

The road was hardpacked snow about 2 lanes wide.  We were driving a Toyota Highlander with all wheel drive.  When Damon pulled over, he realized quickly that the edges of the road were not hardpack, but rather very soft and very deep snow.  Our front passenger tire sunk immediately.  In attempting to get unstuck, we got more stuck.  So here we are, on the side of a hill, sunk in snow, in -10 degree weather, trying to see the elusive aurora.  Luckily, several cars stopped to help us.  A pick-up hitched a tow line to our car and dragged us out of the snow.  One of the girls in the truck came over and was showing me pictures saying that the aurora views at the top of the dome had been spectacular for the past few hours – she had pictures on her iPhone, which is near impossible.  By the time we got pulled out, the hole where the front passenger tire had been was easily 2’ deep – the car frame had been resting on the snow.  We do have a knack for running into car issues… but with all four wheels on solid ground, we were off again.

We got to the top of the dome where about 30-40 cars were parked.  Everyone had their tripods outside their car windows with remotes to take photos from inside their cars because it is flipping cold.  We stayed up there an hour or so watching and taking pictures going outside for a few, then going back to the car to warm up.  I think we caught the tail end of what had been a spectacular show.  We did not quite comprehend how cold it would be and how hard it would be to make camera adjustments mid-shoot, so we did the best we could and got fifty blurry green smudges that are pretty typical for first time aurora hunters.  The aurora was not what I expected – it moved slowly and created some interesting ribbons and swirls.  The green color was not obvious to the naked eye but was captured on camera.  I think we left around 1 or 1:30 local time (4-4:30 Chicago time) having been up nearly 24 hours. 

On our way back to the Airbnb, my sister finally called with a report that the doctors had been able to repair the bleed without surgery (no incision) and they were guardedly pleased with the results.  A huge weight was lifted but they couldn’t be sure that they found everything until time had passed.  I slept for about 2-3 hours, on high alert for a phone call or text with news, fearful of what news it might be.  I finally got a call that our mom was stable around 5am local.  With the speed in which the turn of events happened, I had to inform our close family and friends who had no idea that any of this was going on.  By the time that was done, the exhaustion set in and I slept for another 2 hours.

With my mom stable and no way to see her in the immediate future, we decided to take it day by day and stay.  We left the house to try to find breakfast and had some time to kill before picking up Elaine & Chris at the airport, so we went to a photography shop to rent a wide-angle lens and maybe get some better pictures on night 2, which was also predicted to be great aurora viewing.  The shop owner is a professional photographer who loves the aurora.  He told us that last night, from about 9:30-11, had been the most amazing display he had seen in his 40 years in Fairbanks – reds and greens, swirls, ribbons and a bunch of other lingo I can’t remember.  He said it was amazing.  And yes, we totally missed it.  We were literally right there but missed it.  Alas, the aurora has beaten me again.  We saw some pictures posted on Facebook taken that first night and damn that was some good aurora!

We picked up Elaine & Chris at the airport and with a few hours before sunset, we went to the 2021 World Ice Art Championship at the local Fairgrounds.  The first part of the exhibit was (to our untrained eyes), very cool.  There were some simple and intricate ice carvings of all sizes showing several techniques for clear, cloudy, and ribboned ice, among other things.  But the best part of the exhibit, says the 5-year-old in me, was the ice slides.  We came across the first one, which was about 3’ tall and had maybe a 6’ slide.  Once I shoved all of the small children out of the way (no, I waited), I slid down.  Then had to do it again.  Keep in mind that the steps are ice, the hand holds are ice and the slide is ice.  Lots of people have gone up and down and ice is slippery.  So I got up the second time and tried to sit down without sliding down on my feet, lost my center of gravity and just slid/fell down the back steps.  Ever the graceful one… or as Damon would say “mein fleur”.

As we wandered, the slides got bigger and bigger.  We found taller slides, “the temple of doom” with a turn, and eventually got to the ice luge.  We all did the ice luge.  When it was my turn, I had noticed another adult in line behind me.  Adults on an ice luge move faster and further than the average child.  When I came to a stop, I thought I saw the guy coming in hot behind me out of the corner of my eye.  In my haste to get out of the way, naturally, I slipped on the ice and opted to barrel roll over the ice wall to get out of the way.  Of course, he hadn’t even started his slide yet and my glamourous exit was captured on video because as Damon also says “when Donna is doing something stupid, you never stop recording”.

Having exhausted all the slides, we were like, wow - $15 well spent!  And then we saw a sign for the ice sculpture exhibit.  Apparently, we had spent all that time in the kid area and never even made it to the main event.  The ice sculptures were amazing – nestled in a pine (?) forest.  Single and multi-block competitors, youth competition, some interactive exhibits, some not.  All in all, truly talented people in this world.  I had been distracted from thinking about my mom and trying to enjoy the time that I could, and then the next horrific call came.

My mom had been complaining about pain in her abdomen all day, which is to a certain extent, normal, but with increasing doses of morphine not having an impact, the doctors were worried.  The medical team determined that she had intestinal blockages that she would not survive if they did not fix immediately.  With no option, she had consented, and we agreed to immediate surgery.  We were told in no uncertain terms that it was incredibly high risk and to “be prepared”.  Keeping in mind that one day prior, a surgeon had called this surgery a “hail mary”, we were completely freaked out.  How does our perfectly healthy and strong, independent, vibrant mother with genes that should have her living until at least 100 get reduced to a hail mary in one day.  I immediately booked a 1am red-eye flight home to be close by in preparation for the worst.