Home Again, Some Final Thoughts

Not many people get to do what I had the opportunity to do over the last two months.  To be able to leave home for that long a period and to have no responsibilities to anyone (well, I did let a group of people know where I was each night thanks to my SPOT), and to be free to do as I pleased was a gift that I still can hardly believe.  I had wanted to go to Alaska, wanted to drive the Alcan highway, wanted to see bears and moose and caribou and birds and fish in the wild, for many years.  Now I've actually done it!

First some statistics if you are interested:

Time gone: 7 weeks, 5 days

Miles driven: 10,727

Mileage: 37 MPG (I still can hardly believe that one – thank you Toyota)

Pictures taken: about 2000

Car washes: 5 (and there should have been at least 2 more!)

There were some little things that I noticed along the way that just didn't make it into the blog, but I wanted to write about them. The first is the roadside rests along the Alcan Highway.  These are outhouses, but they have little porches on them with trellises on two sides. It makes them pretty, certainly, but after a long while I think I finally figured out why they were there. In the winter, the porches, and trellises, help direct drifting snow so that it doesn't pack up against the door, preventing access. But can you imagine trying to use that facility when there is snow up to here and it's 30^o below zero?  I can't…but I'm not sure what else people who drive that highway in the winter would do.

Another is my assumption that things on the road would be similar to here in New Mexico. I couldn't have been more wrong. One of my weaknesses is fountain Diet Coke. I have one almost every day, and can't drink the canned or bottled stuff. Here it's easy to get one – McDonalds, and most every gas station, have drink fountains. I assumed I would find the same thing along the Alcan.  Ha!!  Gas stations were often a shack with two pumps outside.  Inside there was a wood stove, a chair, a small counter, and sometimes a cooler with cans and bottles of drinks. No "pay at the pump" card readers, no soft drink fountains. Some of the time I was just really glad there was gas. So when I found one, I was very grateful, and sometimes bought two drinks if it had been a while.

Gas was sometimes horribly expensive – about $7 per gallon.  I had one fill up where I needed just a little more than half a tank and it cost $72.  Ouch!!

Internet access was sometimes painfully slow. There were several occasions when it took almost an hour to upload 6-8 photos.  Those times had me pulling out my hair, but I kept reminding myself that I didn't have to be somewhere else, and I could spend the time.  It sure makes me grateful for what I have here at home. 

I've been asked what my favorite part of the trip was. That's a hard one to answer, but certainly Denali was a highlight. The other wonderful surprise was Valdez. I had not planned to go there, and did just on a whim.  I'm so glad I did. Not only did I meet some neat people, but I saw a place that was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Did I have any regrets?  Only one.  Last summer I toyed with the idea of getting a bicycle, riding it through the winter, and taking it with me. I decided that there probably wouldn't be much opportunity to use it, and didn't do it. I wish I had. There were lots of places I could have ridden it, and that would have been a lot of fun. There are bike trails in all the National Parks, and in so many of the other places I visited. So before my next trip, I'll be getting a bicycle, practicing on it, and it will go with me.  

So until the next trip (East Coast -- Maine and Nova Scotia), happy trails to all. 

                                                                    Sally