Trip Log: Saturday, August 3, 2002

Today was our last formal day, and we celebrated the conclusion of our month-long adventure at Chena Hot Springs. In the early afternoon, we all drove out to Barbara’s cabin, located within walking distance of the hot springs. There we enjoyed dipping into those hot waters (at right). Some of us could only dip our toes in for a few minutes, but other brave souls spent a good time soaking in the beautiful rock lake. Luckily there were cooling pools and hot tubs, which were at a lower temperature than the rock lake’s 105!

Judy and Roland cooked up dinner at the cabin. The yummy salmon was topped with pesto sauce. Thanks, Judy and Roland, for everything! After filling our stomachs, Judy and Roland presented each of us with a North Slope Dinosaur tee shirt and a gift which was personalized with the quirks they learned about each of us: Chris received some donut holes, Pam received a bubble set much easier to work than the bubble on the Brunton compass, Phil got a bottle of hair gel to re-enact the Colville hairdo… you just had to be there!

The highlight of the evening was the performance by Sam Strike and the Dips, AKA Steve Cutright and the rest of the Colville crew. We serenaded Roland to thank him for our wonderful experience in Alaska. Check out the lyrics to “Bone Man.” On a more serious note, we presented everyone with gifts, thanking them for everything they had done for us in this past month to make our trip so successful.

And thus ended this segment of our adventure together. Some of us are packing to return to California, while others of us are planning to stay and visit other parts of Alaska. But the adventure is not over – we are looking forward to getting back together throughout the school year to discuss what we’ve learned and build new earth science curricula together.

Pat (4 of 10) and Phelana (3 of 10) signing off.

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