Eleven days and I am on a plane. Eleven days and a handful of years in the making of creating this dream of seeing the Northern Lights, meeting up with my dad to share the experience, and a mountain of hurdles that hopefully have all been cleared, and it looks like it is finally going to happen.
Alaska was supposed to be the 50th state for me to visit, but as Randy often states "that's the way the pickle squirts" so it will be the 49th and Hawaii will have to final state. I had originally wanted to visit Alaska after retiring and spend six or eight months roaming around that largest state in the Union, but that will have to be the return trip.
Four more days at the firehouse and I will be off for a week before leaving on March 11th. I am certain that once I start packing it will become very real and I will truly start getting excited about the adventure that lies ahead. Right now I am forcing myself to be a bit reserved as there have been several false starts on the chasing the lights trip over the years. Even this version has had some serious hits that have nearly derailed the train. Soon.
I decided to land six days before dad arrives in Fairbanks so I can tromp around solo. I managed to find an off-grid cabin out on the edge of BLM lands north of Fairbanks with only a potbelly stove and a propane lantern. It is going to be the perfect place to recharge my battery, catch up on some reading, and can continue my journey inward. This will also be my first experience below zero 🥶. I imagine the guys at Outdoor Research saw my Florida address and wondered way Arctic gear was being shipped to me 😂.
Well I am 24 hours out from take off. The day is almost here! Four years in the making across a couple of different countries and it is almost time. This trip will life changing I hope.
I also installed the Wix app on my iPhone so I can easily write without my Mac now. Stay tuned.
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