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So what have I been doing lately? So glad you asked!
First, on our way from Wasilla, Alaska, to Beaverton, Oregon, we drove up to the Arctic Circle, so as to say we've been there. I'll say it now: we've been there! It was two days before summer solstice, when the sun does not set at all. It did not get dark. That part was very cool. The mosquitoes - the swarming fogs of mosquitoes - were not cool. We therefore spent an uncomfortable"night" under the midnight sun and jetted out of there at 6 in the morning.
We drove all across Alaska and into Canada. We drove across a huge corner of Yukon Territory. We drove deep into British Columbia. We drove for days and days and we were tired. We looked at our map and were dismayed as we realized we were barely halfway. For a while there we though we'd never get home.
We enjoyed our trip immensely. We saw a lynx hunting a ground squirrel. We saw elk and buffalo and lots of bears - even a grizzly mama with her two little 'uns. We drove through a forest fire no one seemed to be worried about. We looked at glaciers and waterfalls and lovely mountain vistas. We found a ghost town called Silver City. We drove through Smithers, BC, which turned out to be a remarkable place. We met interesting people. For the last leg of our wilderness journey, we had a wonderful couple of days wandering around civilized Vancouver and Victoria and then got off the ferry in Port Angeles, Washington. And finally, after 3700 miles on the road exactly (according to our odometer), we were home.
It's very surreal to be back. It's been a year since we lived here, and we did not expect to come back. I couldn't figure out where to put the plastic grocery bags we'd accumulated on the trip, and then in the laundry room, I looked up and saw bags stuffed in the same place I've stuffed them for over twenty years. It felt weird that I'd forgotten. I watered the front lawn in the evening, and when I stepped out the door to shut off the faucet, it was such a familiar summertime evening thing I felt almost dizzy. This confusion will wear off as we engage and reestablish our presence.
I'll write again soon.
Love,
Cat
First, on our way from Wasilla, Alaska, to Beaverton, Oregon, we drove up to the Arctic Circle, so as to say we've been there. I'll say it now: we've been there! It was two days before summer solstice, when the sun does not set at all. It did not get dark. That part was very cool. The mosquitoes - the swarming fogs of mosquitoes - were not cool. We therefore spent an uncomfortable"night" under the midnight sun and jetted out of there at 6 in the morning.
We drove all across Alaska and into Canada. We drove across a huge corner of Yukon Territory. We drove deep into British Columbia. We drove for days and days and we were tired. We looked at our map and were dismayed as we realized we were barely halfway. For a while there we though we'd never get home.
We enjoyed our trip immensely. We saw a lynx hunting a ground squirrel. We saw elk and buffalo and lots of bears - even a grizzly mama with her two little 'uns. We drove through a forest fire no one seemed to be worried about. We looked at glaciers and waterfalls and lovely mountain vistas. We found a ghost town called Silver City. We drove through Smithers, BC, which turned out to be a remarkable place. We met interesting people. For the last leg of our wilderness journey, we had a wonderful couple of days wandering around civilized Vancouver and Victoria and then got off the ferry in Port Angeles, Washington. And finally, after 3700 miles on the road exactly (according to our odometer), we were home.
It's very surreal to be back. It's been a year since we lived here, and we did not expect to come back. I couldn't figure out where to put the plastic grocery bags we'd accumulated on the trip, and then in the laundry room, I looked up and saw bags stuffed in the same place I've stuffed them for over twenty years. It felt weird that I'd forgotten. I watered the front lawn in the evening, and when I stepped out the door to shut off the faucet, it was such a familiar summertime evening thing I felt almost dizzy. This confusion will wear off as we engage and reestablish our presence.
I'll write again soon.
Love,
Cat
Happy to have "been there" with you. Happy to be here with you. :)
ReplyDeleteAwwww, how sweet, all mushy and everything... I'm truly happy with you, too, now you've mowed the lawn. ;)
ReplyDelete