Dusty Roads to the Heart

The clock alarm went off where it sat at the side of our bed. It was 7:00 Monday morning. Today we would be leaving beautiful Alaska and flying home. I rolled out of bed and started to pull the sheets off, rolled them up, and gave them a toss, landing them in the corner. Slowly I walked to the closet and after wipping the stray hair back from my face, I started to lay all our cloths out on the bed. "Well guess all good things come to a end. Right?" Stan said sitting on the edge of the bed. "Yep that's what they say. But I'm ready to go home. It's been a wonderful vacation but I'm a bit homesick. It's ok." After a breakfast of cooked oatmeal, eggs and bacon, we put our backpacks in the trunk of our rental car and drove to the edge of town. One more hike. One more strainious hike. We were going to hike to the top of Flattop Mountain. Carolyn drove up the mountain for about two miles and pulled into the parking lot at the bottom of a tall ...

Carolyn, the boys and Stan stood on the upper deck of our tour boat, leaning on the rail, watching as a darling little otter swam lazily around among the other boats anchored there at the dock. He was just swimming there on his back, enjoying all the treats he was getting. He loved the attention. He was being spoiled rotten and loved every second. We were in the town of Seward, Alaska, about two hours from Anchorage. We were about to leave on a six hour tour of the mysterious world called the ocean. You know we as humans can walk, explore and stand in awe, at what we see around us.  But not many of us have the privilege of traveling under the great deep waters of the oceans. We didn't get to go down but we did spend a wonderful six hours out in the open waters and became a bit more acquainted with the life out there. So hop aboard with us as we take you on this mysterious, magnificent voyage of the underneath world. After warning everyone about motion sickness, the captain gu...

Mt Denali reaches high into the skies of Alaska. Its snow covered pecks sat way above the cloud cover that threatened our flight that day. Just as we were about to be forced to take the third flight down from the one we had planned, they came in and said they were going up on the second flight down. The cloud cover wasn't as bad as expected and it was lifting. So we were going, ready or not! This company is located two and a half hours north of Anchorage. It is a large business with many different twin engine and single engine planes. They give four different tours of Mt Denali. The one we were shooting for would take us to the very top of the mountain, 30,000 feet. On the last half hour we would be required to wear oxygen masks. How exciting is that? Smile. When we got there we were told that they were in question if our flight would be going because of cloud cover, but we were to come back a half hour before the scheduled time and they would have the final word. At that time ...

I have been asked to share our Alaskan trip with my blogger friends. I feel privileged to do that, so I will try my hardest to help you feel and see some of the outstanding sights and experiences we saw. So set back and enjoy. We rented a small basement apartment on the edge of Anchorage. It was above ground with large windows so it was bright and cheery. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, laundry, and bath so we came home every night to a very comfortable home away from home. Not far from our little home was the shoreline biking/hiking trail. The lady of the home had two bikes in the garage and told us to use them anytime. Once Stan and I took them out on the trail and we weren't sorry. It was a bright, warm, sunny morning and we peddled down through a tree lined trail, across a wooden bridge and out into the open. The trees followed us to our left, but out to the right the ocean opened up into a glittering open beauty. The water was a dark blue, and it went on for e...

She sat upright in the seat beside her husband in the Delta terminal in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her daughter and grandsons were sitting a little ways away, charging their phones for the long night flight ahead. She had just taken her first ever flight from Kansas City to here, and now they were all checked in and waiting for the final hours. She was 65 years old and just about to experience the joy of the great blue beyond. She had no idea the mystery and beauty that awaited her from the window of that great silver bird, that will take her to beauties beyond words. So she sits there, upright in her chair, her back pack on the floor between her feet. There are people everywhere. They are walking, running, eating. The lady sitting across from her, puts her back pack on the chair beside her, opens a novel and starts to read, one page after the other. One man is laying across the seats, cap over his eyes, trying to get in a wink of sleep. There are voices over the intercom everywhere. Vo...