Roller Coasters

We arrived in Anchorage yesterday and the last two days of our trip have been like a roller coaster both literally and figuratively.  There are obvious similarities between a roller coaster and the road as it winds through the mountains with its ups and downs and twists and turns.  There are also a few less obvious similarities.  You always hope both are very well and frequently maintained and feel a much rougher ride when they are not well maintained.  Your ride will get shut down and you will get stuck waiting an eternity, sometimes in precarious positions if the road or roller coaster requires maintenance while you’re on it.  Most importantly, I begin each roller coaster ride with my little conversation starter with Jesus,  “Please, God, don’t let me die today.”  This trip has also incurred several conversations with Jesus.

The road is an emotional roller coaster as well.  As we travel through the mountains, I am frequently humbled and overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounds us.  I also find myself horrified by the constant presence of danger.  There seems to be a direct correlation between the intense beauty and the imminent death waiting to pounce it’s unsuspecting prey.  The more beautiful the landscape, the more dangerous the terrain.  Some of my thoughts as we’ve traveled:

“Wow!  That is amazing!”
“Oh my gosh!  That is a really long drop off!”
“That lake is so pretty!”
“How did I get stuck driving along BOTH lakes of death?!”
“How lucky am I to get to experience all of this!”
“Who thought this was a good place to put a road?!”
“God’s creation is incredible!”
“Why is there no guard rail here?!”
“How lucky am I to be a part of His creation when He already had all of this to enjoy!”
“Why does that guard rail not start sooner?  The drop off is right there!  Anyone could drive right off and die!”
“I wish everyone could see how beautiful this land is!”
“Why is that guard rail so small!  They should have a large concrete wall at least 10 ft tall!”
“A guard rail that tall would obstruct this breathtaking view.”
“Who cares!  I won’t be enjoying the view as I plummet to my death!”

I also have a bone to pick with whoever designed a few of the built in “safety features” in our truck. First, the doors will not open when the truck is in motion.  Even with the doors unlocked, they still will not open.  So if one of the many death traps tackles my truck along the way, I can’t open the door to bail out before plunging into oblivion.  It also has lane assist so if I get too close to the edges of my lane it will gently steer me away from the line.  Well, truck, I am fully aware I am hugging the yellow line.  Do you not see that huge lake of death beside the road I am trying to avoid falling into?  Stop pushing me toward it!  I have decided these safety features really need to have a cliff of death and lake of death override.

Our poor truck - and we weren't done adding to the layers
of mud yet.

I don't remember if I intended to get the mountain in his
photo or not.  I was focusing on the road conditions.  This
almost made us miss the mud and gravel.

Glacier!

That's where we're going - who thought it was a good idea to
put a road here! And that's not even the cliff of death!



This is not the cliff of death either (I didn't take pictures of it
because I was too busy talking to Jesus).  Road construction - yay!

And we're on the death side!  Mike was super comforting
saying things like "Look at how long of a drop that is!"

You are not seeing things, his front wheel is no where near
the road and his back wheels are right on the edge.  I'm not
sure if he's crazy or stupid, but I am sure he's underpaid.

Coming into Anchorage

Leaving Anchorage