What an adventure our short excursion to Chena was! You can see in the video that we started out in our regular parkas, and ended up in our Cheeto gear because it was a LOT colder in Chena Hot Springs. But getting there was half the fun!
First our "coach" broke down because the air stabilization bags deflated in the cold air (did I mention it was 9 degrees?) -- and the bus began to list to one side. The bus driver (against the advice of his company!) pulled into the nearest space available which happened to be the very little town of Pleasantville. Based on what we saw, Pleasantville consisted of a few residences and one store, which you can see in the video.
The longer we waited in the bus, the more I worried that if the coach should be road worthy at any point, we would not be able to drive out of the snow drift that was collecting around us. However, our trip leaders were on top of the situation, and immediately called alternate transport to take us the rest of the way to Chena.
So, though we arrived quite late, we did arrive safe and sound in Chena that night.
The rooms at the resort were spare, and not "resort - like" but that's because it's impossible to spend any time in the hotel room when there is so much to do and so much beauty to see in Chena.
The pictures tell the story.
Tomorrow...our maiden dog sled voyage!