Getting Ready

We have been talking about a trip to Alaska for years.  Both of us retired at the start of the summer and decided this would be the ideal retirement gift to each other.  Danny declared he would NOT fly - ever again.  This is particularly ironic coming from an Air Force vet who used to love to fly everywhere.  Since Dad had worked on the construction of the Alaska Highway, I wanted to drive on it so, we will be driving to Alaska.  It took forever for passports to arrive so we can go through Canada.  We had hoped to leave on Monday, July 21, but we didn't have passports.  We continued on a day-to-day basis doing whatever we wanted.  Danny made the comment that nothing was ready but the car.  The car had new tires, oil changed, a new air filter, new windshield wipers, battery checked, and had been washed and vacuumed.  I had been getting snack type foods and bottled water and drinks.  Finally on Wednesday, July 23, our birth certificates came with a card saying passports had been issued and would arrive in a separate mailing.  On Thursday, July 24, Danny came in with the mail saying, "They're here; did you hear me, they're here."  Getting ready went into high gear.  All clothes were laundered.  Jenni had suggested getting plastic boxes to put bathroom stuff and medications in.  That required a trip to Wal-Mart and they had exactly the kind of boxes I visualized with locking lids with a handle.  I pulled out the clothes I intended to take and piled them on a bed.  How do you pack for a four-week vacation, especially when clothes for such different temperatures are needed?  Right now, at 10:00pm in Eden it is 74 degrees and in Fairbanks it is 57.  I decided to pack two suitcases, a medium sized one for the first week containing short-sleeved and sleeveless shirts and mostly shorts.  A pair of capris and a pair of jeans was included.  The second, much larger, case has capris and jeans with long-sleeved and a few short-sleeved shirts.  After the smaller case is empty, I will repack it from the larger case.  Danny is also packing two cases.  We will be making visits to laundromats; I haven't done that since the power was out for a week.  We have one more day to get everything ready before we leave Sunday morning.



This picture of Dad is from a book on the Alaska Highway.