13th day Alaska trip FAIRBANKS

Ice Sculpture

Fairbanks Ice Art Sculpture Contest/Exhibit

Hank behind one of the ice squares they use for the sculptures

Squirrels in ice

Ice Owl

Moose in ice--one of my favorites

Took the hotel shuttle to the airport to pick up our rental car. Nice one with all the bells and whistles--heated seats and skylite with all wheel drive. This was with Budget rental. Much more expensive to rent here than even Anchorage. Demand, I guess. To lunch at The Diner (didn't think they had any here). This was the ONLY restaurant open--ITS SUNDAY---DON'T COME TO FAIRBANKS ON SUNDAY!!
There is NOTHING open. Went back to the hotel as Hank is quite tired and no need to push on.
He rested and then we went to the Ice Sculpture Competition, one reason we came here.
I can't tell you how COLD it is here. Yikes! We had so many clothes on, difficult to move but we needed them.
They have a small "train" that takes people around the park--good for an overview of the sculptures.
The blocks of ice are from the river close by here. Artists, many Culinary chefs, sculpt these beauties. The artists are from all over the world. I took pictures so  I can share them with you. They have approx. 100 works. Many works are also for the kids--slides, ice tea cups to spin around in, animals to sit on etc. Many many kids and they all have smiles on their faces. Good fun and good to break up the duldrums of a tough winter. Thank goodness the had a warm up hall--packed!!!
We stayed till closing, 11pm. Then out to look for the aurora. It has been snowing lightly all day but I think we still may see something. I'll report on that tomorrow.