When the alarm went off Friday morning, I had no trouble getting out of bed. We were about to begin our big trip. Lee and I got ready, loaded all of our huge bags into Lee’s car, and Trent gave us a ride to the airport.
We woke up, showered, then headed for a hearty breakfast at “Mother’s,” a nice restaurant in downtown Portland. I ordered macadamia nut pancakes with coconut, and they were delicious. We all ate well.
At 4 a.m. Sunday, June 1st, the alarm clock woke Lee and me from our deep sleep on Anna and Jason’s sleeper sofa in Portland. It was a terrible hour to wake up, but on this day, it wasn’t so hard to throw back the covers. We were headed to Alaska.
We checked out of the hotel, and headed for Kincaid Park. It was a beautiful day as we drove into the wooded area – said to be home to the largest population of Moose in Anchorage. That’s just cool.
Seward television is the best. I was flipping channels in our hotel room, just to see what kind of TV they had in Seward. The town is home to the Alaska Sea Life Center, a facility dedicated to researching and rehabilitating Alaska’s marine animals.
Wednesday morning, we began the first of two very long drives. Alaska is a huge state, and we wanted to see a good bit of it. We left Seward, and enjoyed the trip toward Anchorage again on beautiful Highway 1.
Thursday morning, Lee and I woke up half frozen. We hadn’t turned on the heater that night, the temperatures had dropped considerably and we were shivering under our two blankets. We quickly dressed in our warmest clothes, and headed for the park.
We left our cabin on the river and headed for Fairbanks and family. My cousin Jason and his wife Jennifer live in Fairbanks, stationed there with the Air Force.
After a quick breakfast and quick good-byes to Jason and Jennifer, Lee and I headed south on the only highway out of town. We had a long 7-8 hours of road ahead, followed by an equally long flight.
After a wonderful ten days of travel, seeing friends and family, and finally experiencing Alaska, we’re home. I have mixed feelings. It’s definitely good to be home. No more digging socks out of the bottom of a mammoth suitcase, no more trying to sleep despite the midnight Alaskan sun. But I already miss the place. Flying away (Today? Yesterday? The days and time zones all bleed together) we had beautiful weather, and you could really get a good, long look at all the mountains stretching so close to the plane. I wish it weren’t so far away, and so hard to reach – but I guess that’s part of Alaska’s charm. I took almost 8 full rolls of film, and I can’t wait to get the photos developed. I’ll probably write about it all soon, but first, I need to unwind, unpack, and sleep.
