The weather here is a constant surprise - we woke up to gray skies in our private campground (no other RV's and the RV Host cabin is locked up tight), but are seeing a couple cars in the day parking area. We walked Sara through "mosquito park" and then rushed in the RV door, trying to keep the mosquitos out. We are getting quite good at killing them one by one! So we got on the road to drive the 15 miles to the Hot Springs, and could see some brightness in the sky, a glimmer of sun. Chena Hot Springs is a big lodge and small RV park, a restaurant, their own greenhouses, pools and spa, dog sled kennels, hiking trails, and an ice sculpture museum. They are particularly known as the place to see the Northern Lights in winter, from the comfort of the hot springs. But you only see the Northern Lights when you have complete darkness, and we are lucky to get a couple hours of dusk here, so we won't be seeing the Lights this visit. First we decided to try the restaurant where they are known for their freshly grown lettuces and veggies from their land - veggies are supposed to be best here because they get so many more hours of sunshine here. We did have a great spinach salad, but I was a little disappointed in lack of other veggies in the salad - spinach and cherry tomatoes were great, but canned mandarin oranges and pecans are not very original!! Now it was chilly and gray so we head to "the waters", the thermometer showing waters at 106 degrees, and then the sun came out!! It warms up 20 degrees when the sun shines, so we were really cooking after about 15 minutes! We moved to the hot tub to cool down (only 90 degrees). We also stopped to minister to a lady we had talked to in the springs, who gave me her life history of living in Fairbanks, introduced me to her friend visiting from Orlando, and then had an episode of hypotension while trying to get out of the waters - she couldn't stand and looked as though she would faint, so Linda and I and another man got her up into a chair, and gave her some water until she had recovered...at which point she invited us to come park the RV at her house in Fairbanks since she used to run a B & B and loves guests!! We'll see! After the waters, we had great showers and returned to the RV to walk Sara and fix dinner - another day of that expensive bread, I guess that means it was a gourmet meal! And then it was a choice of hiking or seeing the ice sculpture museum. When we checked in today, we thought the bugs were less severe than at last night's campground, so we signed on for a campsite here - $20 for a dry camping spot compared to $15 at the State Campground - so $5 more for less bugs, I'll take it! So a hike seemed possible after dinner - we followed a dirt road outside the Springs gate, only because it looked like a good place to let Sara run off leash. But it turned into a steep uphill grade, and we started sweating, and the bugs started attacking (even Sara was coated with mosquitoes), and we were running (because they really attack if you aren't moving) and swatting and spritzing Deet Bug Spray like 2 crazed people. We weren't even sure where the road lead, and were a little nervous when we came past a cabin in the woods, but knew no one would dare approach these fools, and finally came out to the main road, right where we needed to be. We recovered ourselves as we walked back into the Hot Springs property, and finished our walk at a leisurely stroll. But upon return to the RV, we drug out the reserve, emergency store of M&M Peanuts, saved for just such an experience! Probably should go back to the Springs to soothe our muscles, but really don't want to open the door again. Did you know it's the female mosquitoes who bite, and we see blood spurt every time we kill the females! Like enough blood that you need a moist paper towel to clean up?!! We heard about these, but this is the first time since Wonder Lake at Denali that they interfered with our plans. Back to Fairbanks tomorrow, hopefully no bugs!