(June 20121)
It has always been my dream to go to Alaska. This past June I finally was Afforded that opportunity.
Sometimes things come about in strange ways. I trained to be a Doula but, due to circumstances beyond my control, I never actually became one. However, through my various trainings, I met 4-5 really great women who I still keep in touch with from time to time. One such person is Ruth.
Ruth was a trainer for one of the classes I helped organize. She was gracious enough to come up to our tiny town for a small class because it mattered to us and she happened to have family nearby.
As we got to know each other better it turned out that we both like to travel, especially a bit off the beaten path. She had joked offhandedly that she was running out of travel companions. Fast forward a couple of years and she was planning several trainings in Alaska. I asked if she would want somebody to help haul all her equipment around in exchange for sharing her accommodations with me? Sure she said. Due to Covid the trainings didn't get enough students to happen, but the tickets were booked already and she graciously let me tag along anyway. It would just be a vacation.
This was a different experience for me. Because Ruth also rented the car and had been to Alaska before, I put myself in her hands. Where she went, I followed. I have never done that before and it was definitely a growing experience for me.
I was bummed I never got to see a grizzly. Well in the wild anyway. The ones at Anchorage zoo were both massive and adorable! Or caribou, except at the reindeer farm. Yep, same critter just one is the wild name and one is the domestic name. But I did help Ruth spot a rare bird, and of course the moose! Did I mention the crazy cute porcupines?
As imagined Alaska is vast stretches of panoramic views almost everywhere you look. Even in the clouds dancing across the sky. With forest, alpine, and tundra-type landscapes there were a broad variety of interesting plants as well. I did go off on my own one day and booked an all-day excursion that began and ended with a scenic train ride up into the mountains. But, in the middle, we all loaded into kayaks out onto the lake at Spencer Glacier. Although you can't safely get very close to either the glacier or its icebergs, just paddling around in between them was surreal. It really was the highlight of the trip I think.
It's still on my bucket list to drive from Vancouver WA all the way up the eastern seacoast into Alaska. But this was still an adventure for the books.
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