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 years have come and gone since I listened to Willow’s stories in the stock room at Sharp Shopper and this Friday, I’m going to Alaska! Life is filled with happy surprises.
I’m going with a volunteer group for two weeks in the middle of summer, so it won’t be cold. We’re going on June 21, which is the longest day of the year and it won’t get dark at night.
Although it won’t be June 21 anymore by the time we actually arrive in Alaska. At 4:30 a.m., the group meets in Gordonville, PA. At 7:50 a.m., our flight leaves from Philadelphia. From there we fly to Seattle. We have an 11-hour layover in Seattle, which sounds plenty long enough to do some sightseeing. Our flight leaves Seattle at 11:30 p.m. and we arrive in Fairbanks at 2:05 a.m. From there, it’s about 2 hours of driving to Healy. So, all told, we’ll have about 24 hours of travel time, plus the extra 5 hours time zone change.
I’m working on a careful packing list. Several years ago, I traveled to Europe with only a carry-on, so surely I only need a small suitcase this time. Yesterday I finally downloaded a Bible app that works properly— no more carrying a heavy Bible. I tested the app in church this morning, it worked great.
One thing I can’t take along is my brother’s bear spray. Years ago, my brother purchased bear spray for protection when he went on a biking trip out west. The expensive bear spray never got used (a good thing), and it’s been sitting in a cabinet at home ever since.
Because we might go hiking in bear territory, it would be nice to bring the bear spray along. But I checked TSA guidelines , and bear spray isn’t allowed, even in check-ins.
This morning in church I requested prayer for our trip during prayer time. After church, someone wondered if we would be eating whale blubber. I told him that we would be pretty far from the ocean and that hunting whales is probably illegal, but I assured him that “If I get a chance to eat whale blubber, I definitely will, and I will tell you all about it.”
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