AK 2023

As I hefted the final tote overhead in the RV, it fit how I had envisioned, like a colorful yet awkwardly shaped jigsaw piece. It’s become easier, after more than a decade of summer repetition, to pack our motorhome and ready the house for renters. However, it’s become increasingly more difficult to leave Vermont and our children and grandchildren behind. Perhaps it’s because as I age, so do they! Our grandchildren are no longer babies and toddlers, but children and young adults with whom I now share conversations and life experiences. Most of our six grandchildren weren’t born when we began traveling to AK and now the eldest has graduated from high school! Heading off leaving infants and toddlers behind was much easier. I’ve now spent years bonding with these dynamic youngsters. We share so much time together during the year that when a small voice asked, “why do you have to go?”, it left me wondering. I miss summer birthdays, family bbqs, pond swims and seeing youthful exuberance unfold during summer vacation. 

It’s a 4800 mile drive through the US and much of Canada to reach our cabin in AK. Averaging 450-500 miles a day, it will take us ten days with very limited stops….almost three weeks of our summer devoted to “the drive” that started the summer of 2008.

Tonight, with our motorhome nestled between a large box truck and tractor trailer, I crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep to the rumble of diesel engines. Our dog positioned herself on the bed and I welcomed the familiar pressure of her warm back against my thigh. Our first day of travel was relatively short, ending near Utica, NY, but as in years past, we celebrated the beginning.

Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, and now, 540 miles later we’re parked beside an island of grass in the Walmart parking lot of Angola, Indiana. The dog has quickly remembered the requirement to sit and wait until I navigate the RV steps and invite her to leave for her long awaited walk. I’m proud of her for remembering these life saving tasks that aren’t necessary in VT. I wonder if the woodchuck she sniffed out in the underbrush a year ago still lives here. By her twitching tail I assume it is.

Parking lot walks, strip mall store fronts and abutting neighborhoods can look familiar but in turn can be indistinguishable after repeated stays at the same Walmarts. I often ask my husband, Bucky, “does this look familiar to you?” I have a book, the Walmart Atlas, which helps us locate stores along our route. Then, I call to see if overnight stays are allowed. Many stores have changed their policy of welcoming travelers. I write in the “atlas” the date of our stay and sometimes a comment…..nice!, train whistles or crowded. 

Chicago, Wisconsin Dell, Minneapolis, Fargo, Devils Lake, ND…..

The smoke of the wildfires burning in Canada dulled the usually green hills of Wisconsin. Red barns appeared pink in the haze and the sun had an eerie red glow. My throat scratched from breathing smoke.

 

The highway can present some interesting sights. Such was the case when this bus passed. It’s been a while for these boys.

Tomorrow it’s Montana, about half way to AK.