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.