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

Snags

Messing around at the home store of Cabelas

Canola fields covered the Canadian landscape for the
first two days of the trip.

We made it into Alaska last night!!  Overall, the trip has gone very smoothly, but we’ve hit our share of snags along the way.  Mike drove most of the first day because our trailer wanted to get very squirrelly on us.  We tried to avoid packing much in the front of the trailer because that’s where the Harley is and we definitely can’t risk getting a scratch on it.  After the trailer trying to drive us, we had to flirt with disaster and rearrange to move more weight to the front of the trailer.  So, between shifting weight, finding room for our Cabelas purchases (we stopped by the home store on our way through Nebraska - suggested by me because I am an awesome wife!), and digging for stuff at the Canadian border, we’ve rearranged the trailer three times since leaving the house.



We also lost our trailer brakes for a day - during which I was forced to drive the lake of death.  We hit a really big bump in the road that bounced the trailer enough to pull lose and/or cut the wires to 3 of the 4 wheels on the trailer.  But we are the ultimate do-it-yourselfers so we have the skills to do those repairs on the fly - and I am small enough to fit under the trailer.  That proved to be very useful, even if it’s not really a skill.  So with some contortionist maneuvering and some electrical tape from our hotel owner we were able to get the brakes working before we hit the really big mountain driving - particularly the cliff of death.



We’ve had a few technical difficulties along the trip too.  My IPad isn’t communicating with the blog well, so I’ll have to wait to load pictures and I won’t even get started on auto correct.  We also lost use of our cell phones in Canada.  This made getting reservations in Canada a little more difficult, but we had built in WiFi in the truck . . . until we didn’t.  We eventually lost our Onstar satellite signal.  Fortunately I was able to get most of our rooms reserved through the internet or e-mail before we lost satellite signal.  We weren’t able to get a room on our last night before Anchorage, though, so we had to make use of our little sleeping quarters in the truck.

Despite our snags, I’m still agreeing with myself that driving is more pleasant than flying. And I say that after having the extremely traumatizing experience of using a port-a-potty for the first time (I knew I should have risked an indescent exposure charge and gone to the bushes out back).  We got to visit the Cabelas home store, which is like a life goal for my husband.  They did not search our vehicles at the Canadian border and we found the items they wanted without unpacking everything.  Unlike our last trip, we got a room in a really nice place in Watson Lake with the friendliest owners.  We’ve played leap frog with and met some really nice people along the highway.  And we couldn’t find a room last night so we had to spend it camped out in the truck in our mini lap of luxury.  That might seem like a snag for some, but it will probably end up being my favorite part of this entire trip.

 

Pipeline running across the river

 

This is a bridge, that is a metal grate as the "road", and yes,

you can seethe water through it as you drive across!

Bison - he was shy, or a snob.  Either way he wouldn't look at us.



Like Johnny Horton - we crossed the Yukon River!

This is the mama lake of death (I got to drive the scary
part so no pictures of that section).  One of the towns along
this never-ending lake is Destruction Bay, named as a result
of all the damage done by the winds this lake generates.

Why are there no guard rails?!

Experience is the Best Teacher . . . Sometimes

As we have been planning, preparing, and now taking this trip, our prior experience has definitely had it’s benefits.   I’ve already talked about all of the little details we’ve worked out to make traveling as pleasant and comfortable as possible.  Packing was also a little easier because we’ve been there before and have a pretty good idea about what we will and won’t need.  We were also better able to get everything at home ready for us to leave because we know all of the things we wished we had done the last time.  Because we know the area and services available, we’ve been able to get more things in Alaska set up ahead of time.  We have already made the arrangements for our phone and tv, and even went so far as to set up an appointment to get our oil changed on our way through Anchorage.  (The move itself will cover most of the 5000 miles between oil changes and doing it on our way through will save us a trip back later).

Prior experience, however, has also been a little problematic.  All of that preparation greatly expanded our to-do last before we left so it was a bit more work this time.  Prior experience, we have also learned, is only helpful if things haven’t changed.  Having crossed the Canadian border before, we knew which firearms would be a headache at the border so we didn’t bring them this time.  Last time we didn’t have any trouble with his AR15 magazines so we didn’t think anything about bringing them along or putting them somewhere easy to get to.  Canada, though, has since prohibited those magazines because they hold too much ammunition so we had to unpack a chunk of the trailer and dig through several tubs before we found where we had put them.  We would have had to wait until Monday for the post office to open to mail them so Mike had to abandon them at the border.  They won’t cost much to replace, but they had sentimental value because Mike used them in Iraq.  My plants were able to make it through free and clear, though.  I read Canada restricted the transportation of dirt, so I put those little guys in shredded paper for the trip.  I’m hoping they will survive the trip okay, but anyone who knows my abilities with plants will know their biggest disadvantage has nothing to do with shredded paper.  Surviving me will be the real challenge.

Putting Myself To the Test

In a previous post (way back in 2013) I made the statement I would rather drive to Alaska than fly because it was more fun and far more comfortable.  Little did I know a few years later I would be testing that statement.  We definitely have the set-up for comfort.  We have an air mattress made specifically for SUVs blown up in the back of the rig with a little over a half dozen pillows to be enjoyed by whomever isn’t driving.  I’ve tried it out for a nap or two already and it is a little slice of heaven!!  Since we have a fancy schmancy vehicle, we also have a DVD player we have yet to try out and built in WiFi I am currently using to write this blog and wondering how we ever survived without it.  Maybe I would find the WiFi less amazing if I had a smart phone . . . we’ll probably never know.  I think all of that qualifies as traveling in luxury.  The real test, however, will come at the end of seven days during which we will have driven an average of 10 - 12 hours a day.  Will we still think the technology, scenery, better snacks, and our little snuggly, cushy napping area worth the additional days of travel?  As I look out the window and watch the light show of a million lightning bugs over the soybean and corn fields, I think we will.

April: Russian Easter is not for the faint of heart

We were in the village the week before Easter and while we've been in the village during Easter before, we had never attended a service.  After attending one service, I decided that one really needs to train like it's a marathon to really ready oneself for Easter.  They have two services a day the week before and the week after Easter.  Each service lasts as least an hour and a half and there are no pews in their church.  You have to stand throughout the entire service.  Now I like to think of myself as still young and in relatively good shape, but my legs were tired by the end of one service.  My legs would be screaming abuse if they had to do that twice a day for two weeks.  They do it all while going through Russian lent - which is definitely not for the faint of heart.  I think the only meat they can eat for those 40 days is fish, but I'm not sure.  I know they can't have any red meat, which is a very long time to go without bacon.  They also do not eat cheese, eggs, sweets, or pretty much any of the things that make food so wonderful and there are several days when they do not eat at all, but fast through the day.  Easter in the village is like the ultimate endurance test.  All of it, though, is done to keep the focus on what Christ did for us.  When you want to whine about what you're giving up, you remember how much He gave up for us and appreciate it all the more.

April: North to Alaska

We made an impromptu trip to the village in April to attend a funeral of a very dear friend.  I don't want to go into a lot of specifics out of respect for our friend and his family, but do have to say that he is and will continue to be dearly missed.  He was one of the most giving people I've ever met and know that I am a better person for having known him.

This was the first funeral we attended in the village and they are carried out quite differently than in Missouri.  I usually avoid funerals and visitations as much as possible here at home.  There's just something I can't quite figure out about the process that feels impersonal.  That is not the case in the village.  There is a lot of attention to detail and everything seems focused on remembering the lost loved one and truly celebrating his or her life.  It is a beautiful thing.  There is no funeral home in the village so preparations for burial must take place in another town.  When the person is brought back to the village everyone is waiting for them at the airport.  The pall bearers have a bit more to do in the village as they help take the casket to the their home where the visitation takes place, then take them to the church, and then to the cemetery.  Individuals take turns reading the psalms over the loved one, even through the night so that they are never left alone.  I think that is part of what is so touching about their funeral process - the attention and care given to the person who has passed away.  It seems like everything that is done is done with love.  There are several things that could be done more conveniently, but they want to do everything themselves as a way of taking care of their loved one.  They have the equipment to dig the grave, but instead they choose to dig and bury by hand.  The funeral dinner is a community gathering for everyone to share stories and remember.  While they often make jokes about the village's concept of time being a little different from the rest of the world's I think that is definitely a good thing in this case.  Rather than focusing on what really matters, we get caught up in our schedules and to-do lists.  Some things are definitely more important than to-do lists.

March: Baby's First Birthday

Our "baby" - he still thinks he's a lap dog.

Our youngest celebrated his first birthday in March.  We didn't have a big celebration or anything, but he's a dog and unaware of time and age anyway.  As long as he has his family around he doesn't really care about anything else.  Our furry "family" tends to resemble a human family about as much as is possible.  We have our youngest who is full of energy to the point of exhausting those around him.  He loves his mommy and daddy completely (I have to include here, though, that he loves his mommy more) and thinks his older brother and sister are the greatest things in all of creation.  He wants to spend every waking moment playing with them and will follow his brother everywhere.  We're hoping the neighbors aren't just being polite when they say they don't mind.

Our oldest child is far too cool and mature to be bothered with her younger siblings.  She does NOT remember ever liking the middle child and has definitely forgotten the days when they played together.  She has her own, much more interesting things to do and does her best to avoid both of her younger brothers.  Like most older siblings, she has instilled a sense of fear and respect in her younger siblings by doling out pain whenever their efforts of affection annoy her.  They have learned to give her a wide berth.

Then there is the middle child.  He is sometimes still a little boy who wants to play with his baby brother.  At other times he feels like he's too old for silly games and tries to hide to avoid playing with his younger brother.  Most of all, though, he just wants to hang out at his girlfriend's house.  Again, we're hoping the neighbors aren't just being polite when they say they don't mind.