Many years ago, I had a co-worker who was an Alaskan living in Pennsylvania, and she would tell me stories from Alaska— how her parents had driven to Alaska in a school bus and proceeded to raise their family of 18 children in the land of the long winters, permafrost, and grizzly bears. As fascinated as I was by tales of such an exotic frozen land, I didn't dream of actually visiting Alaska. I'm not particularly fond of winter, and visiting Alaska didn't seem likely. More than a dozen … [Read more...] about Getting Ready for Alaska