From here, as I sort through photos and writings from the road, Alaska is but a memory. The van is on its 4th scrubbing and unpacking is almost done, though many vanning items still need to be cached until the next trip. Yes, my re-entry is almost complete. My thoughts have shifted to cool weather, fall colours and the upcoming holidays. This is certainly the best time to be in East Tennessee.
I am glad to wake up to October, September left us high and dry with not nearly enough rain. For me, October signifies a time of transition, a time to take stock in the year as it winds down and look toward the plans and dreams for the next. Fall is also time to prepare for winter, especially gardens, a task that is not terribly demanding this year as no annuals were planted or baskets of flowers were purchased; months long travel and gardening are not compatible. But mulch does need to be spread and the little rescues that I thought would not survive my absence, survived and need to be repotted. Maybe next year the rescues will be returned to the garden, or maybe they will remain in pots to brighten the veranda.
My re-entry is not complete without expressing much gratitude to my sister, Leslie and her husband Mike, who gave us the opportunity to be gone for so long without the worry of our house and family. Weekly walk-thru’s, fielding mail, caring for plants, checking on our other sibling and filling the refrigerator with food before we returned home are among the many things Leslie and Mike did for us. But Leslie has always been a selfless person, so her goodness does not surprise me. What does surprise me and brings me to tears is the 3-volume book of writings and pictures that Leslie compiled from my “in the moment” posts on facebook. So much time, so much energy on her part and every time I look through the books, I discover a new detail on the way she affixed photos and added little touches that delight me. A simple thank you seems not enough….
I have included a couple of pictures of Leslie’s beautiful books and have included text from the posts for you to read (the text in the pictures I made of the books is a bit blurry). I will expand more on our travels in the upcoming weeks…
Day 7* (Sturgis Motorcycle Rally)-“The earth rumbles and our van shakes as the concrete cowboys and girls roar past us. Their migration is complete now, for this year anyway. They have gathered in their tribes and travel in groups of 10, 20 or even 30. Unlike the drive north, we now see very few solo riders. We are fascinated.
Empty fields along I-90 have been rented, trailers, tents and rv’s fill the roadside near Sturgis (South Dakota). Texas flags, US flags and Trump flags fly high in these camps, this is their weekend, their scene. We are parked on I-90, an accident has occurred just ahead, we can see the flashing blue lights. My guess is it’s all hands-on deck for the regional police, fire and EMS departments for the next week. Too many of these motorcyclists are not wearing helmets, clearly they have never hit their heads on the pavement.
Yesterday, it rained, all day long. The rain was cold and the wind buffeted our van as we drove between the Badlands and Rapid City. I think the high for the day reached 55 F. We came for the cooler weather so we aren’t complaining. We had planned to visit Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore, both in the Black Hills, but only got to Mt. Rushmore. We will pick up some of the other sites when we return another time to see Wind Cave NP and Custer State Park.
Yesterday I wrote a post about our travels in the Badlands but lost it before I could post. Too many other distractions on a rainy, windy day. I will try to put something together today or tomorrow. Meanwhile I have posted a few pictures from yesterday. That’s all for now, I will see you down the road.
Note *: Day numbers are one day ahead of actual dates. We left Knoxville on July 31 so Day 7 translates to August 6.
Day 14-Driving the Alaska Highway “I have finally swept my sweet Tennessee home out of the creases of my mind. This morning, over 400 miles in on the Alaska Highway, I am on a grand adventure. I feel it in the relentless cold wind, I see it in the pine layered forests, the milky blue-green, braided rivers, the imposing mountains of layered rock. From deep in my soul, I love this landscape. I feel a meditative calm and unbridled excitement at the same time.
My lap is my office as I shift between cameras, my maps, the Milepost book, the petrol availability guide and writing. I am the passenger and navigator, John is the driver and Katies rides shotgun between us. The windshield is smeared with bugs, which my brother-in-law suggested is holding our windshield together. I am happy to report that the crack has not grown, so he just may be right. It’s another day in the office for me, another day in total paradise.” This is the first paragraphs of a much longer post but I will stop here and move on to Day 21 in Book 2.
Day 21-Thoughts on Prudhoe Day (Alaska) ” While dipping my toes into the Arctic Ocean was my main motivation for the rough, mostly gravel, pothole laden trek up and back on the Haul Road (Dalton Highway), I admit to some fascination with Prudhoe Bay.
Like many people, Prudhoe Bay came into my consciousness in 1989 with the 11.3-million-gallon Exxon Valdez oil spill. I was a buyer at Venture Stores in St. Louis at the time and Prince William Sound seemed so far away. Shocked by the pictures splashed across the TV screen, I watched the disaster unfold and wondered, what is this obscure place, Prudhoe Bay, where the oil spill originated?
Fast forward to August 17, 2023, when my less than happy husband is driving our nearly new van on a 990 mile trek from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and back, just to answer that question and to give me the opportunity to experience a tiny piece of the Arctic Ocean. Story spoiler, we made it.
Today is August 20th and we are thick into the worst of this rainy, mucky mess, on our way back to Fairbanks; our van no longer feeling new and shiny. The scenery on this journey is not so different from the Alaska I have traversed before, only on this trek, a challenging road runs through it and a pipeline runs beside it. But that’s for another post I have only half finished. This post is about Prudhoe Bay.”
Like Day 14, this post goes on for 3-4 more paragraphs. The part about “traversing Alaska before” refers to two backpacks I did with John and friends, one in 2001 and one in 2015. Both backpacks occurred in the trailless Gates of the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve, which runs along the west side of the Dalton Highway, also known as the Haul Road.
Beverly
