When Your GPS Lets You Down When I entered in the address for Red Eagle Lodge at the border crossing into Alaska, my excitement surged. I sat up with prairie-dog alertness, noting every landmark, road sign and tree. Finally! We had entered the home stretch! Sarah started texting, wondering when we would arrive, and offering …
Toyota Tundra
The Surprising Lesson I Learned Along the Alaska Highway
We left Champagne, Yukon Territory by eight thirty and hoped to make it to Chistochina, Alaska by suppertime. But, as we had learned, traveling the Alaska Highway often yields the unexpected. Before we left we heard road rumors such as, “The Alaska Highway is gravel, isn’t it?” and “The potholes will swallow your car!” We …
Don’t Stress the Small Stuff on the Long Roads of Life
The Long and Winding Road I have always suffered from incurable optimism (in most areas of my life). Sell a house on my own? No problem. I read a book and did it. Weave baskets? Sure, why not? I gave the results to everyone for Christmas one year. Make twenty period costumes each October for …
The Walmart Parking Lot is NOT the Destination
Things That Distract From Reaching the Destination We figured that we should try to travel about 500 miles a day in order to reach our destination in Alaska in five days. I could have spent a month in Banff National Park, but alas, I haven’t retired yet. A constant push and pull plagues me when …
The Importance of Shedding the Unnecessary Stuff
Unnecessary Stops When traveling with my camera, I find it difficult to not stop every time I see something beautiful. Just about any time I step outside, I have an urge to record the beauty with whatever photographic device I have at hand. So you can imagine my dilemma when we started our drive through …
Running in Calgary, Running to Calvary
Running After a Hiatus After five short days in Bozeman, we headed north to Alberta. Unfortunately, we started late in the day and only made it to a Calgary Wal Mart parking lot the first night of our adventure. I decided that the time had come to get back in shape—I hadn’t run very much …
Why it’s Better to Have a Learner’s Attitude for Life’s Tests
My First Driving Test My first real driving test came when we left Bozeman and headed towards Canada. We decided that I would drive so that Pedro could work while we still had Internet. He hooked up the trailer, and I nervously hopped in the driver’s seat and adjusted it for me. I like driving …
Off-Kilter Perceptions Make ME Unbalanced!
Perceptions Motivate Us Back to that desire of my heart I didn’t want to mention. I really wanted to visit Sarah at her summer job in Alaska. Ever since we stood Sarah up for a Christmas visit to Argentina, I’ve felt the need to visit her during a vacation. I know it seems silly, maybe …
Don’t Miss Out on the Rewards of Hospitality
Hospitality Has its Rewards “Can I visit you in May and bring a friend?” our Chinese daughter Weixuan asked in a text message. Sarah’s junior year, Weixuan lived with us when she attended the school I worked at as part of their foreign exchange program. That year we also opened our home to Jeanne, a …
The Importance of the Master Switch
Messing Up the Maiden Voyage of Beauty After signing the papers for Beauty, we quickly realized that we couldn’t just throw on a hitch and haul her home. For one thing, the dealer wouldn’t let us drive off the lot pulling an RV unless our truck had the proper accouterments. They offered to sell the …
