“Hey, that was where I used to work!” The YMCA day care where I was briefly a teacher, then was a cook for more than a year was housed right by the university at the First Congregational Church.

“Where?” Chris said.

“You missed it. I need to get my camera out.”

“Where to now?”

“Um….Let’s go up to Abbott Loop.”

“Where is it?”

I looked at the map. Abbott Loop road, right there on the map. But where on Abbott Loop road? “Let’s go over there and find it.”

We found the way on barely remembered streets across places that were the same and different. It took a few tries until I found it.

There is was:

A big monstrosity. I never saw it that way when I went there. This was the place where the super-polished Anchorage kids went to school.

THAT school had a cheerleading squad.

THAT school had kids that shopped at the big Anchorage mall and wore clothes from Banana Republic and Jay Jacobs and Lamonts.

THAT school had a whole crop of boys that had romantic possibilities.

And I had no romantic possibilities with my clothes from the hand-me-down closet at my church in Wasilla.

But it was the ugliest church I’d ever seen.

Driving through the city, we had the map. I remembered streets, but not which ones were one way. I also did not remember how the woods crowded the streets even in the big city.

It was almost 3 am, but it wasn’t dark. Dusky, but not pitch black. If it it had been black we would have seen stars. No stars.

I found UAA Drive, and we found the college. Chris said “That’s it?”

“Yeah, but keep driving. It’s really long.” Through the trees, I could see glimpses of the various buildings I walked past and studied it. We found the end. “See Chris, that’s how far I would have to walk to get from class to class. And in the cold!”

“Couldn’t you drive?”

“Once you parked, you would have trouble finding another space.”

The unpainted gray concrete buildings were kinda hard to see through the trees.

The thing about all these trees…No one planted them. They grew there all on their own. Landscaping was not part of their concept.

I didn’t have my camera, so I couldn’t take a picture of the big square sculpture like I wanted. I remembered it, in the parking lot of the first building. I remembered it as the first sight I saw when I would go to the classes at this university that meant so much to me. The HUGE student body that I could meet, and the thick book of classes I could choose from. That cockeyed square meant I could run out of the car and go learn something, go start my life.

“That’s my school.” I told Chris.

“It’s not very pretty.”

Not only was the car rental place open, there was a line. Okay, one person before Chris, but still. I guess with them being the only ones open till two thirty and our big plane landing, there would be some people.

It felt pretty good to stretch my legs across the airport. I didn’t feel too tired for 2 am.

I pointed out the big stuffed bears nearby. “Chris! See! They have the big bears I was talking about. “ They were HUGE.

Chris pointed out “The card says that this one is the largest bear on record.”

“Well, I guess they would pick the big ones to stuff and show. But still! This is a warning to keep away from bears! It’s not a joke.”

The car was ready for us, and I was ready to check out the city. Chris looked at me, “Where do we go now?”

The plane left Seattle just a little late, but the pilots were motivated to get to their destination:

“Thank you for choosing Alaskan Airlines. Skies are clear, and we do anticipate an early arrival in Anchorage today, landing at 2:15 am. Remember, there is an hour difference. Enjoy your flight!”

Good news, because the big worry so far was that the rental car desk closed at 2:30 am and accoring to the schedule we landed at 2:30 am. But we might get there early!

When the plane taxied in, I woke up from a nice nap (thank you Tylenol PM). Chris prepared to sprint through the airport to secure our vehicle.

We disembarked, and Chris said over his shoulder “Meet me at the car rental counter!” as he sped off.

I followed him at a slower pace. I passed a Mooselaneous store (gag), and the other usual vending establishments. Halfway out, I found a site of interest.

Now Chris had always been most concerned with the car, but my priority had always been getting a place to sleep. Our original plan of toughing it out for the first night had seemed like a bad idea.

In front of me, past the TSA security checkpoint, was a very smart business idea. They were selling little room with attached bathrooms to catch a couple hours of sleep. They charged by the hour–buy three hours, get the fourth free.

This was the perfect solution to our problem! just a couple hours to rest. That was all we needed. Chris didn’t want to pay for a full hotel room when we could only be there a couple hours! But this was a reasonable price. We could do this! They even had a room for two.

Except. Chris was already past security. We couldn’t do it, because he had run ahead to get the car.

Maybe we didn’t need to rest. I was feeling pretty good. I’d had a nice rest on the plane. Maybe it would be okay.

Look up there. Do you see the title? it says (6).

and it starts with “Alaska-”

And yet I have not talked about my trip yet. in (5) I left us not even in SEATTLE let alone on Alaskan soil.

kind of a long drawn-out build up, huh? Well, I did tell you I was anxious to go. I’d like to pause for a moment to talk about my life NOW.

There is me with my fabulous husband:

There is my cozy home:

My venerable and loving cat:

He’s thinking loving thoughts right there. You have to know him.

And my devoted dog:

Food proximity increases devotion.

Everyone knows that.

But these are the things I have now. Alaska was where I grew up. It is not where I am now.

And because I am not there, I can go back. The story will get there soon.

It was kind of nice, leaving so late in the day. We had all day to finalize packing, etc. The plants were well watered and we changed the bed and everything so it would be nice to come home to.

We went to the store to buy food for the plane, because they don’t feed you anymore. We had books, and I charged up the iPod with some Chris music in case he needed some tunes.

It was HELLISHLY hot, of course, which left us with a problem. We wanted to wear minimal clothing where we were, but where we were going required long pants and sweaters.

So we changed at the last minute before leaving. Chris’s mom took us to the airport, very nice of her.

Things I forgot, and remembered almost immediately:

*my water bottle
*my iPod
*my current book

Too late! I would have to buy some water at the airport and my pod would get the charging of its life. I always have multiple books, so I was covered for reading material.

I was weak as a noodle in my long pants and hundred-degree weather. But the plane let us on quickly enough. CROWDED.

Warning: Alaska airlines does not have SkyMall. I was kind of looking forward to the showcase of absurd gadgetry. But no.

Chris sat by the window and deciphered all the freeways for me. I was still noodlish, and could only pay attention for short periods. He was rapt.

I sat back and snoozed til we landed in Seattle.

You know how Marty McFly in can’t stand to be called Chicken?

Nobody tells me I can’t do something.

We could go. I’d find a way to get myself together. I got better shoes. I learned to eat more protein.

“We’ll just have to take it slow. This will not be a trip where we go hiking. And maybe, you could go out without me if I need to rest in the hotel room. We’ll do it, baby!”

We packed carefully, so that we wouldn’t have to carry much.

I was just a little worried about not being able to sleep that first night.

Man makes plans, and God laughs.

I was pregnant. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. We meant to do it, and had talked and planned for a long time.

When we were talking and planning, I thought being pregnant would mean I’d slowly get larger and then be sorta clumsy and slow. Maybe during the first bit, I might be morning sick.

When I acutally was pregnant, at first it meant my feet hurt—like the many little bones in my feet might pop out of their perfect jigsaw puzzle fit with each other and I’d have to limp and say ‘ow! Ow!’ to move to where I needed to go.

And then it meant I was RAVENOUSLY hungry. Like, I had to eat, and I couldn’t eat fast enough. When I finished eating something, enough to make my stomach extremely full, I would feel a drop of strength that left me so weak I had to lean my whole body against the nearest wall. My head would loll against the wall and I’d shut my eyes to let them roll back. It took too much energy to see things, and the only solution I knew was to get food in my body now—NOW—so I could stay upright and conscious.

Soon the hungry turned into just tired. That lean-against-the-wall, the air-is-as-thick-as-cake-batter-can’t-move-through-it sort of tired.

But we had an adventure planned!

Chris said “Maybe we should cancel our trip.”

We had the frequent flyer miles and I was set to go over the summer solstice. THAT was the auspious time to go. One thing I remember fondly in the lack of night in the summer. Days that stretched into each other with no night.

The frequentl flyer staff were pretty good. They gave us a long layover—practically two days!—in Juneau. I liked that idea! I didn’t know Juneau at all, so that would be a new thing for me too. The downside was, the flights were very redeye. But hey, we adventurous travelers. We could handle that.

We landed in Anchorage at 2 am. And then they changed the flights, and it was 2:30 am.

“Don’t worry!” I told Chris. “It will not be dark.”

His logistical nature was kicking in, thought. Would the car rental place be open at 2:30? And if we were landing at 2:30, it would not be worth our money to get a hotel for that night. We’d just have to rough it through until we could check in for the next night.

Same thing on the return trip from Juneau. We left at practically midnight.

His verdict: “I guess we’ll save money on not having a hotel room for the first and the last nights.”

So, here’s the thing. Of course Chris knew that I was from Alaska. He’d known it from the start, and I’d known that he was into hiking around nature from the start. We were going to go to Alaska, Denali especially, eventually.

Chris was the one to plan the vacations, though. He picked great places, and he was so good at it.

Really, he always thought of everything, making the vacation from start to finish a complete escape even if were only for a weekend. My trips and getaways with him accumulated and I had got to wondering what it might be like to see Alaska with him.

But I still was not ready to go. I was not anxious to go. As a matter of fact, I was anxious TO go. But maybe with Chris it would be okay. Maybe we could plan it into a good adventure.

We went on lots of adventures and then seemed only to get better and better.

When he was planning the next one, sometimes I would bring up Alaska as a possible choise. He always had a different spot in mind. It finally occurred to me that _I_ would have to plan the trip to Alaska.

With 10 years and my husband between me and the last time I stood on Alaskan soild, I figured I coulud do it. We had some frequent flyer miles, and it was time to show Chris I wasn’t making it up. All that stuff about Anchorage and Wasilla and the woods and the water.

Plus, Chris loved national Parks. And Denali was the big one. That was worth seeing. Right?