We’re back!

Sept. 18, and we’re in CO with my sister, Janis, and family. Leaving Fairbanks August 30 we camped (out of touch w no phone or internet connections) all but 3 of the last 20 days. Two of the three motel nights were necessary dry-outs following cold rainy nights in the tent, now-named “river runs through it,” and the third was to enjoy clean-up and sheer luxury before returning to “society” and the family reunion today.

It’s been an excellent 8-month adventure spanning two nations and more than 13,000 miles. Along the way we’ve been privileged to experience a wide range of landscapes and wildlife, to meet a variety of interesting people and to make a few new friends. Still, it’s great to be back home in the southwest! We are proud to have survived the rigors of travel/tent camping and communal living with no major illnesses, accidents or automotive problems. Are we glad we undertook this journey? YES! Will we do it again? No. Our days of tent camping, other than short jaunts, are over. We’ve come to accept that a 60's road trip meant the 1960's rather than in one's 60th decade.

We’ve seen and experienced so much more since leaving Fairbanks, and still have so much of our Alaskan experience to process that we’ll be writing and sharing photos for some time just to catch up. Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta - Canada is a great county! We delighted in the scenic beauty of her national parks, especially Jasper and Banff, followed by Glacier,Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in Montana and Wyoming. I am grateful for the wisdom and foresight of those who preserved these areas. On that note, Ken Burns of PBS is just completing filming a series on our national parks and how they reflect our society and culture to be aired 2009. Should be great. Stay tuned here as well because we’ll soon share more of our own impressions!

Today’s photos reflect some of the agonies and ecstasies of camping. Our last night in AK was in a state park near Chicken (another off-the-grid hardscrabble village) on a bluff overlooking a lovely pond. We saw more than 20 snowshoe hares in transition from their muted browns to solid white coats. Beautiful evening, frost-covered morning.