6/19/13
It's a bit of a mouthful to fit into John Denver's song, so I won't even try to accomplish it in my head, but the time has come to leave the village and return to Missouri. We got to the airport early this morning, gear in tow, to head out and start the drive to Anchorage to catch our flights and was quickly reminded of the difficulties we faced as we were leaving Alaska last year. Last year I learned it was easier to get an assault rifle on a plane than a cat and it is apparently also easier to get firearms on a large commercial jet with TSA security, than on a small plane with no security. I did not think to mention that we would have a lot of luggage when I scheduled a flight because usually people have all of the freight going into the villages, not coming out. You only bring your clothes and such out, but you return with all of your groceries and other shopping. They shouldn't have any problems getting our stuff . . . not exactly. They decided to be ultra efficient and scheduled six people out of the villages that morning, leaving room for only our luggage and the cooler - not the gun case. Of all things we were faced with leaving behind, it had to be the gun case. It's contents cost more than this entire trip and are priceless to my desperately needs to find a support group for his firearms addiction husband (and no, the NRA does not count). Fortunately, as the pilot looked as his manifest he noticed we were short one of our scheduled people and since she was a no show, there was just exactly enough room for us and our things. Small crisis averted! Next, of course, came the really hard part . . . "Please, God, don't let me die today. . . " I won't go into the entire discourse for you, but will say that it did involve not having gotten a will written yet, and I really should since I keep doing crazy stuff like getting in little planes, etc. If God has a sense of humor, I'm sure I keep Him laughing.
The drive up to Anchorage was very nice. It's amazing to see the transformation in the landscape in the short three weeks since our arrival. The large lake (on the side of the road, by the way - so it also is a lake of death!) that was frozen completely across the top is now entirely melted with no hint of winter. The landscape has shifted from mostly brown to fully green. Mountains once nearly covered with snow are half to almost completely rid of that chilly covering and streams are now flooded with the run-off. Summer is short and nature seems to know it has to get things going quickly. Solstice is but a few days away and then each day will be shorter than the last, bringing winter closer and closer with each sunset.
We stopped along the way to enjoy the scenery, look for bears with no luck, and see some of the streams along the way. Mike and I lived here for a year, traveling this road to Anchorage several times, and didn't see half of what we've seen on this trip. I suppose there are disadvantages to being too goal oriented. When Mike and I are on a trip, we have our final destination in mind and drive towards that goal, and that goal only. We usually make very good time, but I think we sometimes miss a lot of great scenery along the way. I definitely think goals are important and good, but I think we can allow those goals to make us miss out on some great experiences in life as we hurry to achieve the destination without taking time to stop and enjoy the sights along the way. Alaska has given me a lot of great experiences, and a few lessons along the way. We will definitely miss her, but all things must eventually come to an end.
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