Home from Alaska

I'm home! But maybe you didn't even know I had left. I've been sporadic at best in my blog writing lately.

It's been a whirlwind of events the past few weeks. First my son, Taylor, returned from his mission to Pohnpei, Palau and Guam in the west Pacific. We hadn't seen him for just over two years, so that was extremely exciting!

He was home for less than a week when we left for a family vacation to Alaska, squeezing in a quick (very quick!) trip to the Yukon just to say we did. We traveled by car to Seattle, where we boarded the Norwegian Star, a cruise ship that took us to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Prince Rupert, B.C. with a visit to Dawes Glacier on Endicott Arm. We rented a car at Skagway and drove north to the Yukon through some gorgeous scenery where we saw a family of black bears. It was a beautiful trip and I will post pictures when I get them onto this computer.

For now, it's good to be home. Driving home from Seattle seemed to take forever! We've been reunited with our dogs, Sherpa and Panda, but the family room is still full of luggage and piles and piles of dirty clothes. It will all get straightened out eventually, right?

But the big news is, Taylor and I reached a lifetime goal by visiting our 50th state. Scott, Tom and Abby are holding impatiently for now at 49, and Emily has 47. I couldn't have done it without my two travel facilitators, Mom and Scott. Mom is the original adventurer in the family and taught me everything I know about hitting the road.

Scott was once lost on a business trip in Atlanta, so he pulled over and asked an elderly black man for directions. The gentleman thought a while then said, "I'm afraid you can't get there from here." We often laugh about that because there's really no where you can't get to if you really want to get there. There are certainly a lot of obstacles, not the least of which are money and time. Travel requires you to re-evaluate your priorities. Would I really rather go to Alaska or spend the money on (fill in the blank)? Of course, travel to distant places is a luxury, but we are all surrounded by beauty just beyond our own imaginary boundaries close to home. Day trips and overnighters can be just as fun as far-flung adventures, and much more relaxing.

Checking Drudge Report for my political fix as soon as I'd booted up, I read that Mitt Romney visited ND for the first time on June 23. I beat Mitt to 50???!!! Amazing. Maybe Taylor and I need to take a pre-emptive visit to Puerto Rico in case it becomes the 51st state. If Guam becomes a state, Taylor will be one up on me.