October 15 - “On to Galveston!”

After spending a week and a half together, we said our goodbyes and I love yous to the Winkles. Time to load up and make the final leg of this wild and insane journey. On to Galveston!

We made our usual stop at Buc-ees. Bathroom break and quick lunch. We both opted for their chicken salad in one of those little tubs. Goes great with crackers. Except …

When I opened mine I suddenly saw movement. Yes, movement. From within the product. I tracked it with my Sherlock Holmes sleuthing skills. Sure enough, there it was. My chicken was attempting to get revenge on those who tore off his feathers and shredded his body. He didn’t go without leaving behind … a flea. That was certainly a first for me. A flea in the chicken salad. 

I took it back inside and showed it to the cashier who sold it to me. She was appropriately grossed out. She immediately called her supervisor. I chuckled when he arrived. Mr. Supervisor looked to be 15 or 16 years old.  He heard the situation. Didn’t even look at the poor little critter. Just slammed the lid back shut and stormed off, promising to replace it. 

He did return right away with my replacement. It was with great fear and trepidation that I opened that one. A thorough inspection came up empty, thank goodness. Gotta say, though. My appetite wasn’t what it had been. 

We used the last bit of our off-Island moments to stop and see Cailyn. She told us all about her job at Starbucks and her applications to colleges. Ah. Being a high school senior is a tough time of life. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭10‬ says, Stop fighting, and know that I am God, exalted among the nations,exalted on the earth.

Father, be with Cailyn as she wades through senior year and college applications and ask the drama that comes with a real job. Amen. 

October 14 - “Redefining Early”

Let’s redefine early. We were up and at ‘em at 2 a.m.  we had to be at the airport for check in by 4:30. That meant loading up a luggage cart with the Winkles (there was only one left. Hard to believe. 2 in the morning and all the carts are gone? I think 3 people had a cart sleepover).

Our hotel shuttle guy got us to the airport in plenty of time.  We got our luggage checked and headed for the breakfast place - North Pole Coffee Company. And we had to wait for it to open. Of course. But it did, and we had plenty of time to get our bacon, egg and cheese English muffin.  Chris had the same, minus the bacon. 

We got all loaded up with little fanfare. Totally full flight, so we weren’t the only crazy people signed up for an early morning flight. Oh! There was a slight delay. They had to de-ice the wings. Let’s go South!

Aaaand … Chris maintained a personal record streak on a few counts. First, as we were loading our luggage onto the cart in the hotel, she misjudged her step distance and crashed into it about midway up her shin. That caused a balance snafu, and she went down. Well, not exactly down all the way. She shifted her weight, twisted around, and ended up sitting down on the cart. I managed to get my arms under her shoulders so she didn’t put a lot of weight on one in particular. After a good cry we got her up and finished loading. 

And then …  as she has on just about every major trip we have taken, she managed to squeeze in a bout of sickness right at the end. Except this time she did it on the plane between Fairbanks and Seattle. To her immense credit, she “kept it all contained” in the tiny little bag “provided in the seat back in front of you.”  The flight attendant was very kind. She provided a much larger very thick plastic bag. She didn’t touch it or anything, though. She also brought a cold wet compress for Chris’ neck. Oh, and a lady in the seat behind us passed forward one of those little handheld fans. That led to the flight attendant telling the pilot to turn down the temperature in the AC for the whole cabin. Whew. After all that, we made it into Seattle on time at 10 a.m. (local time). 

We had about an hour to kill there, so we got Chris a Sprite and some crackers. I got a cup of clam chowder (I’ve had much better) and some tea. 

Finally the time came to board for the final leg of our flight journey. We still have the trip back to Galveston to deal with, but that’ll just be a matter of Chris flying low as the pilot of the car. By the way … no “issues” arose on the flight to Dallas. On the ground at 6:07 (local time). 

We saw a beautiful Western Sky Light Show on the way back to the Winkle’s house. Great “Welcome Home”!

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬ says, The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed.

Father, thank you for this whole week of experiences. Bless the Winkle’s and the Huntley’s. Amen. 

October 13 - “Oh well. Old school.”

We finally reached the last day. No more Northern Lights chasing. No more Ryan and Aimee following. No more Arctic Circle gazing. Just time to pack up the suitcases. Why today? Because our flight is at 5:36 this morning. Yawn. 

We did the usual breakfast. One different item. Sausage patties instead of corned beef hash. Cary had all sorts of difficulties with the waffle maker, even after the lady sprayed it with their Pam-like anti- stick ingredient. 

While we were standing in line, a little girl about 3 years old and wearing a tutu, noticed this old man here (aka … me). She stared for a very long few seconds. I realized I was being watched, so I grinned and waved back. She cautiously, without breaking eye contact with me, tugged on mommy’s pant leg, pointed at me, and whispered, “Santa.”  I added a quiet, “Ho!Ho!Ho”. And waved again. She shyly grinned and ducked behind mom’s leg, and they walked away. Cute. 

We all put our heads together to try to figure out how to get some lunch. The big ordeal? None of us had the faintest idea what we were doing. Kay Lynn braved the deepest waters. She actually waded through the DoorDash system and made the order. Then came the next hard part. Divvying up the cost. We got the math down. But actually getting the money to The Winkles took some figuring. We tried to install Venmo. Couldn’t get it to pick up my friends list. Oh well. Old school. We’ll give them cash. Or maybe write a check. 

We spent a few hours downstairs around a table hashing out what were the best and worst experiences of our time in Alaska. Gotta say … the bestests way outperformed the worstests. 

Finally we retired to our rooms to crash out, make sure everything is packed, and eventually have a bit to eat. Oh! I did locate one last critter to add to our fold. A beautiful, white Arctic Fox. I know it used to be Cailyn’s favorite animal. So now we play host to Falafel Fox. Welcome to the family. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭23‬:‭16‬ says, My innermost being will celebrate when your lips say what is right.”

Father, please ride with us on our airplanes today. Amen. 

October 12 - “Cold feet in Coldfoot”

The big news for the day was our trip to the Arctic Circle and beyond. We were on an eight-seater airplane to get us to Coldfoot. Fortunately, all 6 of our Texas company were on the same plane (along with our new friend from Germany, Decleff). Unfortunately (?!) Coldfoot had had around two feet of snow the night before. 

A good deal of the way our pilot, Bennett, had to navigate through clouds, so there really wasn’t much scenery to look at. I’m pretty sure our resident Texas pilot dude, Larry, was probably geeking out and maybe wishing he was in the driver’s seat. 

When we landed we had to be guided through the snow by a bulldozer. Bennett did a masterful job, though, and we were soon deposited at the Frozen Foot Saloon for lunch. 

And what a feast it was. Chris had a huge bowl of beef stew. I had some tater tots and a turkey club sandwich. Actually, it was more like two of them. But it was good. Especially the bacon.  We had time to take some pictures. Got one in front of the Coldfoot post office. Oh, and the whole time it was snowing. They had already had nine inches, so this was all bonus. 

Next we hopped in a van to begin our journey south. We got to say hello to the camp’s racing dogs. We weren’t allowed to touch them, though. All business hounds. 

Our tour of the entire town of Coldfoot took all of ten minutes, and that’s including the five minutes with the sled dogs. From there it was time to hit the Dalton Highway, home of the infamous Ice Road Truckers. We did see a few big rigs, but they were few and far between. And we averaged between 22 and 30 mph over the potholes and gravel and slush and ice and snow and in general, really rough road. Basically, think one gigantic rumble strip.  

We didn’t see many critters. The bears were all asleep. The alleged Bullwinkles were “too shy”to come out. We did see a bird. Looked like a raven. And an owl and a white hare. 

Speaking of birds, when we stopped at the famous Arctic Circle sign, our new guide Mike passed out tiny pistachios. Not for us to eat, though. Each of us held one up in our hand. Suddenly, an army of Canadian Jays swooped down. One landed on each hand and took up the nut. Pretty cool photo op. 

At this point we changed vehicles from our van into a full sized bus. We combined with a few other vans to fill it up. Our new guide was Mike. Mike liked to talk. He drove us quite a ways back towards civilization. 

There was an issue just before we stopped for dinner. All the gauges on the bus just stopped working. The bus didn’t stop, though. We made it all the way into the Yukon River food stop. We already had a sack lunch, so the eating part didn’t take long. After dinner some of us walked down to the Yukon River. I may or may not have touched it. If I did touch it, I would say it was pretty cold. Cary and I posed together for a pic. Our ladies stayed behind. 

Next stop was just a ways down the road. It was a great photo op with snow-covered trees behind us. Of course the bus lights provided the front lighting. Amazing. 

We made another stop in an effort to see some of the Northern Lights. They were up there, but it was pretty cloudy. Our iPhones did pick up a little. Chris got a few faint pictures with her phone. It’s tough to get excited about this when you have seen what we have seen. 

A few miles up the road, however, we did stumble upon a pretty good splash of the lights. Mike found us a safe spot to stop and let everyone take a bunch of photos. He was rapidly approaching his driving limit, though, so we had to hit the road. 

We met up with another driver after a while. Mike had reached his limit. The plan was for the other guy to do some more chasing of Northern Lights. However … Mike offered the opportunity to bail on the new guy and call it a night with him. Our six jumped at the chance. 

As it was we made it back to the hotel by around two instead of the 4:30 or 6 on the original schedule. We set an alarm for nine so we wouldn’t miss breakfast. On to bed. 

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ says, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Father, bless Mike and his family. And help him as he learns to live with a cat. Amen. 

October 11 - “Beginning goodbyes”

In spite of my earlier speculations, we did pass by a McDonald’s on the way to our next lodge. Actually it was on the way to the airport. Everybody went on the ride to deliver Nancy first. She left the bus to a chorus of “Nancy! Nancy!” Lots of hugs. 

Our flight is not until Monday, so Ryan took us on to our lodge. Tom’s flight wasn’t until 6, so he hung out with us. We managed a photo of the group (sans Ryan and Aimee) in front of the bus and the Gondwana logo. 

Inside I checked in at the front desk, but our room wasn’t ready yet. They were gracious enough, though, to issue us parking passes for our suitcases. Then we all confiscated a chair in the waiting area by the fire. Cozy. Cozy enough for a nap … 

For lunch we walked back over to the on site restaurant that we ate at last time we were here. Same waiter. Great guy from Serbia. Chris had the same thing as last time. Halibut chowder. I had the clam chowder. Very tasty. We then ordered dessert. The guys insisted that I order a chocolate moose. Come on, Guys. I succumbed to the peer pressure though. 

And then the waiter returned … empty-handed. Something about there not being enough moose left for a full serving. Sure. Yet another verification that there is no such thing as a moose. 

Next we made a stop in the hotel lobby. This was a matter of desperation rescue. Actually it was an opportunity to poke a little more fun at the whole moose legend. There in the gift shop was a tiny stuffed critter in the image of that perpetual hoax. Of course I liberated it (don’t worry. I paid the bail). The rest of the day that mooselett named Mabel rode around in my shirt pocket. 

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ says, A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

Father, be with Nancy and Tom and the rest of our group who are traveling or back home by now. Amen. 

October 10 - “I told you he was real!”

After breakfast we called the Arctic Circle tour people. We are all set for our travels to the Arctic Circle on Sunday. 

First excursion on the agenda … Paws for Adventure dogsledding. We joined the group that walked over through the woods from the Lodge to the kennels. Lots of barking and howling to greet us. 

After the organization’s introduction, we were given free rein to pet all of the dogs. We even got to harness the dogs to the leads when it was time for the ride. They pulled their training wagon - a 5-seater ATV loaded with tourists. It was lots of fun to watch the dogs get beyond excited just by our presence. The ride itself was fun but extremely bumpy. 

After a lunch of some really good soup (pasta Italiano), Diana Campbell shared a lecture. Seems her family were among the first to climb Denali. And her grandfather was the first of their tribe to attend and graduate college. What did I learn from the lecture? Well, I was really sleepy. Remember we didn’t get much sleep the night before.  I may or may not have been dozing the while time. But I did learn that the Alaskan mountain Range is ultimately part of the Rocky Mountain Range. Well, how about that. Small world …

After the lecture we loaded up the bus and headed to my most anticipated part of the trip … Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole. What an experience. 50-foot tall Santa statue. Massive mural on the front and side walls. Thousands of square feet of Christmas merchandise. However, the best part of the whole thing? Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were on site. 

They were absolutely amazing. They even spoke fluent Spanish to a little Spanish kid. They were excited to chat with us, and they even posed for a picture and a quick video with us. I told you he was real!

Back at the lodge we had a little downtime before Aimee made a presentation about a Gondwana tour in her country, Argentina. 

The evening ended with a farewell video by Laurie, compiling all the photos and videos uploaded to date. Also, we enjoyed a farewell dinner prepared by a private chef named Ben. Thanks for coming over to us, Ben. 

P.S. I think Laurie missed us. She sounded the Aurora Alarm around 11:30 to wake us up one last time. The lights were there, but not nearly as active as the night before. Gonna be hard to beat that one. 

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬ says, Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Father, thank you for our incredible week. Bless Ryan and Aimee and Jack and everybody else involved in making it a really great experience. Amen. 

October 9 - “Moose on top”

We had some excitement early on yesterday. I got a text from Cary that read: “Moose on top.” Strange. Then he knocked at our door and insisted that there was a moose at the top of the hill. Well, what else was I supposed to do? My only option was to do my best to quell this myth, to nip this fairy tale in the bud. 

I grabbed my coat and phone. One of our fellow travelers was standing alone in the field staring off into the distance. I adjusted my position, heading closer to her. Finally I caught my first glimpse of the object (actually, objects) of her staring. It was a mother and two youngsters. But they didn’t look at all like Bullwinkle. No antlers. No goofy looks. Just a poor mother elk, deformed as often happens when they give birth. Hunchback. Weird snout. An extra two or three feet in height. And before you say anything, they don’t really like it when people call them names (like “moose”). They are very sensitive about their deformity. People did their best to convince me they were mooses. I wasn’t fooled. 

Momma and the two kiddos soon bolted for the woods, so I directed my attention to the very top of the hill where James was calling out and yelling. Best I could tell, he was saying, “Denali!” I headed up there, and sure enough, there in the distance was the outline of a mountain called Denali (or sometimes Mount McKinley). Guess I can check that one off again (we saw that one when we were here before). 

Our morning excursion was a different kind of experience. We went to the Chena Hot Springs. Yep. We were scheduled to crawl into a giant hot tub. 

The road there was a bit scary. Lots of snow around. In fact Ryan did a great job keeping us in the ruts in the snow. 

Upon arrival, we had a box lunch. Turkey sandwich. Tomatoes. Grapes. Nuts. Hummus (yuk). Several cheeses. Crackers. Really random stuff, but really hit the spot. 

After lunch we toured their ice museum. Kind of like the Moody Gardens one. This one was much smaller, though. But the detail was amazing. You can even rent out one of the carved ice beds for the low, low price of $600 a night. My favorite was the jousting scene between two full sized knights on horseback. Amazing detail. 

Next we changed into swimsuits for a dip in the Chena Hot Springs.  They cool it down to 106 degrees for bathing. It was every bit of that. Felt nice and relaxing. I even made an attempt to photo bomb an impromptu photo shoot going on with some young oriental beauties. I was the first one of our group out of the little lake, though. Had all the hot water I could stand. 

Next we climbed back on the bus to head back to the hotel. But wait! Diane couldn’t find her teal  water bottle. That would be green, but also blue. Sort of. It’s so much easier to be blind to these nuances of color. Ryan did a jog back through the property looking for it. But while he was gone, Diane found it. Thanks for all your effort, Ryan. You are awesome. 

Finally we were back on the road and ready for some dinner. There was great speculation therein. Ryan and Aimee were both tight-lipped about where we were going and what would be the fare. Oh, there were some guesses. Leftovers from lunch. The chocolate candies Aimee passed out on our rides together. Or my favorite, McDonald’s. Actually, McDonald’s was never mentioned. In fact I’m not sure there is even one in Alaska. 

As it turned out, the surprise was more than worth it. We went to a family farm (named “Frigid Farms.” Pretty appropriate).  The family fixed us some (allegedly) moose stew, hot tea, and homemade bread. They also had sauerkraut. Chris loved that. I passed. 

Their three dogs greeted us as we drove up. The biggest was a Belgian karackachan, a huge dog that is their chicken guard dog against foxes and the like. The middle sized one was a beautiful golden retriever. Then the smallest was a frisky little black lab. Lots of energy. 

The husband of the family was at work. He is a firefighter in Fairbanks, so I got some stories about their approach to shifts (2 days on, 4 days off. Momma loves that shift). 

The kids all homeschooled until junior high. The youngest, a girl named Marley, was especially proficient at holding her own in conversations with a bunch of strange adults. 

We heard all kinds of stories about life on a farm in Alaska. Growing seasons. Crops that work. Watermelons the size of a ping pong ball. Hunting bear. Oh, and we each got a vial of their homemade lip balm (Thanks, Frigid Farms bees). 

It was quite a popular stop among our group. We all left with a much better sense of Alaskan farm life. Thanks for that surprise, Ryan and Aimee and Gondwana. 

We decided to forego getting much sleep last night. Instead we went upstairs to the viewing deck and hung around with Laurie. We got to be the first ones to see when the lights started their show. It wasn’t nearly as breathtaking as it was last Saturday, but it sure  was … well, more. 

We also saw some satellites passing by, just trekking through on their journey to wherever satellites go. Oh! I saw the first shooting star of the night. And added another later. Meanwhile, the Auroras got greener and greener. Shoots popped up over and over again. We got some really good pictures. And it actually turned into an Aurora Borealis Northern Lights viewing party with our little gang. Lots of fun. 

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

Father, be with the Hamlin family. Bless them in their farm life. And watch over Dad as he serves as a firefighter. Amen.