People ooh and ahh about my trip through Canada and Alaska. Sounds great, what a life, how cool. The truth, however, is that my daily life is not much different than it was before. I do the same routines here that I do in my “normal” life, like walking Tango in the morning while drinking…
Everyone worries about me getting eaten by a grizzly. That may happen still, but I have always known that moose are more dangerous, in many ways, to humans. Bears, for one thing, do everything they can to avoid humans. That is why you are supposed to travel in groups and talk aloud when hiking in…
Time for some practical advice! Nothing on the list will be surprising but some people have asked about must-have “stuff” on a trip like this so here is my list! Before I give you the tangibles, from my perspective, here are some intangibles that you must bring: Flexibility. On a shorter trip, it is possible…
This morning on our walk we met Hector. He is from Mexico, in his mid-thirties, and riding a motorcycle through the Americas. He has been on the road for 2 years already, heading first through all of South America. He crossed into the U.S. at El Paso and then made his way through the U.S.…
For a moment I will remember and share a story about the rain in Juneau and then never write of it again. I was there on Memorial Day weekend along with quite a few local TENT campers. I wondered, why on earth would they come out camping in this weather? Are they crazy? Then, I…
I finally left Juneau, during a rainstorm, of course! I boarded the MV Fairweather, a high-speed catamaran/ferry and arrived in Haines only 2 hours later (4 hours via the slower ferry). As I left the ferry the weather was only partly cloudy with glorious blue skies and sunshine. After a week of rain, I felt…
Tango and I are sitting in the car, waiting for the ferry. It will be several hours before we can board, but the rain is falling so hard there is nothing else to do but sit and reflect on our time in Juneau. I can’t think of a city with a better location: on the…
Ok. I have found the limit of my positive thinking about endless rain. Arrrrggghhhh. Sometimes I get a reprieve for a few hours during the day, but rain pours all night, every night and during most days. I am here to experience the outdoors yet I am doing little more than driving around, visiting the…
We had a day that was mostly rain-free, so Vickie and I set out for the Mendenhall Glacier trail. When we arrived at 9 AM, the trail was mostly empty. By 10:30, it was packed with people from all over the world taking a day trip from their cruise ship. An Australian couple spotted Tango…
Rain all evening. Deep, drenching, pervasive rain. I dug into my clothing duffles and brought out my rain pants for the first time. I eagerly slipped them on over my new, fleece-lined tights and then wiggled unto my rain slicker. Ahhhh. All is well. I was reminded of the saying, “There is no bad weather,…