Lisa and I had planned to spend our final day at Chena Hot Springs, dog sledding and taking in ice art. Sadly, we overslept and since we didn’t want to risk having to drive back after dark we had to scrap that plan. Instead Lisa found Golden Heart Dog Tours and managed to secure a reservation to go dog sledding just down the road from our hotel. We had a few hours to kill so we decided to drive out to Silver Gulch for breakfast and visit the antique car museum afterwards.

We didn’t actually ride snow mobiles to get there. but we could have…

It was a lovely drive to Silver Gulch, especially now that I’m such an experienced snow driver. We made good time and found it with no problem. The food was delicious. I had the French Quarter (poached eggs on a crusty baguette, topped with chorizo sausage, smoked gouda cheese, and a spicy creole hollandaise sauce). Lisa had a skillet. Her breakfast was good, but mine was better! Silver Gulch is also a brewery and Lisa tried their IPA. I’ve given up drinking this month (and don’t care for hoppy beers) so I can’t tell you how good that was. She seemed to enjoy it!

Lisa’s opinion was in no way influenced by the fact that she got carded. It really was good!

When we left, we drove back into town to the Fountainhead Antique Car Museum. This was another highlight of the trip for me!

1909 Oldsmobile and a lovely matching turn of the century traveling outfit.

The museum’s owners are divided. One of them is passionate about old cars. The other one is passionate about old dresses. The museum had some amazing examples of both!

1911 Oakland and a sparkly gown. Another one of my favorites.

And all of the dresses were displayed near cars from that period!

1906 Cadillac and a turn of the century coat. And that hat! #want

My favorite was the American Austin.

1934 American Austin, my favorite car in the museum!

But I also loved the Packards and the Hupmobile.

The Packard

The Hupmobile.

Lisa found an area in the back for photos, including a bunch of costumes! If you know anything about me, you know I love dressing up even more than I love cars!

I need more driving hats.

We spent a little time in the gift shop and then realized it was already time to head to the kennels for our dog sledding run.

I am such a confident snow driver now. This was no problem. Even in a Ford!

Tucked away down a narrow, snowy road we had no problem finding Trail Breaker Kennels where we were going to meet our guide. When they came out to greet us they told us they’d had a slight problem with a big moose on the trail and were running behind. They invited us into the barn to wait. Turns out, they were way behind! The tour before us hadn’t even left yet. But they were lovely folks so we chatted with them while we waited for their ride to come back.

When it did, they loaded up and took off. We stepped outside to watch them take off and then went back in to wait. After another thirty minutes it was our turn!

Lisa sat in the back and I sat in the front. Our musher was Laura. She’s from Milwaukee originally but has lived in Alaska for nine years. She was in the Iditarod a couple of years ago but it is very expensive so she’s saving up to try to do it again. She hooked up the team and then called out to them and they took off! As we rode she explained a bit about each dog. We got to the halfway point and Laura stopped to take a few pictures of us.

And the dogs.

Then she hopped on and we headed back to the barn.

That was totally the highlight of the trip!

Lisa and I both had a red eye home that night. The trip was fantastic and since I didn’t get to see the Northern Lights this time, I’m just going to have to visit again…

My new favorite car museum!